If you’re a former or current member of the U.S. military, the Chinese Communist Party wants you—to spy on your country for the CCP.
Three U.S. senators are warning the Pentagon about China’s aggressive recruitment efforts as a former soldier in the American military, Joseph Schmidt, faces trial for spying for China. Gary Warner reports in Stars and Stripes (November 1, 2023):
“These actions by the [Chinese Communist Party] to gain insight on and exploit U.S. national security information and tactics present a current and ongoing threat to our national security,” Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., a member of the Senate Armed Services and Foreign Relations committees, wrote in a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Air Force Gen. Charles “CQ” Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Sens. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., a former Army captain, and Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., a former Navy captain, also signed the letter.
The senators are requesting a briefing from the Pentagon by Dec. 15 on the issue and what steps can be taken within the Defense Department to curb attempts by Chinese intelligence agents to meet and recruit U.S. service members, especially those who are leaving the military and looking for employment.
The letter follows a federal judge in the U.S. District of Western Washington setting a Jan. 2 trial date for a former sergeant in the military intelligence section of Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., accused of stealing and then trying to offer top secret documents to China.
Another American spy for China, Wenheng (Thomas) Zhao, who worked with electronic equipment for the Navy, is about to be sentenced to up to twenty years in prison for giving China operational plans on U.S. military exercises in the Indo-Pacific region. He delivered the plans over a period of two years.
In 2018, Wired’s Garrett Graff outlined “a well-known five-step espionage road map” that China uses to recruit spies: spotting, assessing, developing, recruiting, and handling. Ideology, coercion, and cash are the means of recruitment.
