31-Year-Old Chinese Engineer Sentenced to 8 Years for Espionage
Engaged in Spy Activities in the Military... Passed Information on 'Recruitment Targets'
"Plan to Obtain US Citizenship and Work for CIA and NASA"
A Chinese engineer who voluntarily enlisted in the U.S. military was caught engaging in espionage activities and sentenced to eight years in prison.
On the 26th (local time), according to CNN and others, the U.S. Department of Justice announced in a press release that a federal jury in the Northern District of Illinois sentenced Ji Chaokun (31), a Chinese national found guilty of espionage charges, to this sentence.
Ji is accused of providing personal information of Chinese-American engineers holding U.S. citizenship who worked at defense contractors under the direction of China’s Ministry of State Security (MSS). He was arrested by the FBI in 2018 on espionage-related charges.
Born in China, Ji came to the U.S. in August 2013 on a student visa to study electrical engineering and earned a master's degree from the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) in Chicago in 2015. In 2016, he voluntarily enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserve through the MAVNI (Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest) program. This program allows foreigners to be recruited into the military if they possess skills deemed vital to national interests.
To Chinese agents: "With just a military ID, you can take photos of an aircraft carrier"
While serving in the military, Ji was assigned the task of providing information on individuals who might be Chinese spies under the orders of Xu Yanjun, deputy director of the Jiangsu Provincial State Security Department under the MSS.
He passed on personal information of eight U.S. citizens of Chinese or Taiwanese origin who were aerospace technology experts, including scientists and engineers. Some of these individuals were reportedly employed by U.S. defense contractors.
The U.S. Department of Justice stated, "Ji’s activities represent a Jiangsu provincial-level effort to access advanced aerospace and satellite technology being developed in the United States."
Ji is also charged with making false statements during his military enlistment interview, claiming he had no contact with foreign governments in the past seven years.
He reportedly told Chinese agents, "With just a military ID, you can take real photos of a Roosevelt-class aircraft carrier," and mentioned plans to obtain U.S. citizenship and security clearance to work for the CIA, FBI, and NASA. Investigations revealed he intended to access scientific and technological data at these agencies.
Xu Yanjun, who directed Ji’s activities, was indicted in 2018 for stealing trade secrets and various classified information from major U.S. airlines and aviation-related companies.
He was arrested in Belgium and extradited to the U.S., where he was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year. The Department of Justice explained, "In addition to stealing trade secrets and classified information, he is accused of recruiting experts within these companies to come to China," and "He used methods such as university lecture invitations to bring aviation experts to China."
Meanwhile, the MSS is China’s intelligence and security agency responsible for critical information gathering and investigations, similar to the CIA in the U.S. Xu Yanjun was a senior official responsible for overseas intelligence and counterintelligence missions. He is the first case of extradition to the U.S. after being arrested on industrial espionage charges in a third country.
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