According to a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) article, Chinese nationals have been eavesdropping on US military facilities and other sensitive sites in recent years, often posing as tourists. According to the story, which was released on Sunday (September 3), it has happened more than 100 times in recent years, according to senior US officials. Last year, the Defense Department, FBI, and other agencies attended a joint conference to try to prevent incidences involving “gatecrashers” who attempted to enter US military stations without legal authorization, according to the WSJ story.
Examples of “gatecrashing” include the Chinese entering a US missile range in New Mexico
According to the paper, examples of “gatecrashing” include the Chinese entering a US missile range in New Mexico and scuba divers swimming in murky waters near a US government rocket launch site in Florida. Other occurrences, according to the study, featured people following Google Maps directions to a McDonald’s or Burger King located on military bases. Other more serious incidents include a group of Chinese nationals attempting to get past guards at an army base in Alaska, claiming to have reservations at the base’s hotel. Officials in the United States suspect that these trespassing events are connected to a more detailed scheme to spy on key US locations.
The majority of these occurrences occurred in remote locations with limited tourism flow—areas not recognized as tourist hot spots and located far away from major airports—leading officials to conclude they were not visitors. According to the report, the Chinese nationals engaged were pressured into duty and were required to report back to the Chinese government. The US Departments of Defense and Homeland Security did not reply quickly to a request for comment on the WSJ report. The report comes at a time when Washington and Beijing are taking tentative moves to ease tensions that erupted when a suspected Chinese high-altitude surveillance balloon crossed the US before being shot down off the East Coast by the US military. Last month, China’s state security ministry announced the arrest of a Chinese national for allegedly spying on behalf of the CIA.
