MARITIME

3 August

Two U.S. Navy sailors were indicted and arrested for allegedly sending sensitive U.S. military information to Chinese intelligence officers. Jinchao Wei was arrested as he arrived for work at Naval Base San Diego, according to a statement released Thursday by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California. The other sailor, Petty Officer Wenheng Zhao, who was arrested, worked at Naval Base Ventura County in Port Hueneme in California. Wei appeared in federal court, where federal defenders submitted a not guilty plea on his behalf, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California said in a statement. “The charges demonstrate the (People’s Republic of China’s) determination to obtain information that is critical to our national defense by any means, so it can be used to their advantage,” Matt Olson, the Justice Department’s assistant attorney general for national security, said at a news conference.