A US Army Reservist Arrested in Chicago for Spying Charges in China: NPR

A Chinese citizen was arrested on Tuesday accused of helping China recruit engineers and scientists to US defense companies for possible espionage.

In a 17-page criminal complaint dated September 21, federal prosecutors accused 27-year-old Ji Chaoquan of acting knowingly as an agent of a foreign power.

Associated Press writes: "Ji appeared in the downtown Chicago federal court, looking tired and agitated in front of Judge Michael T. Mason.Ji met with a Chinese-speaking interpreter for much of the court hearing. 15 minutes But when the judge asked if he understood his rights, Ji raised his head and said in English: "I understand."

Ji, who lived in Chicago, reportedly worked under the leadership of a senior intelligence officer from the Jiangsu Province's Ministry of Security, a provincial department of the Chinese Ministry of State Security. Ji was "charged with providing the intelligence officer with biographical information on eight people for possible recruitment by the JSSD," according to a statement from the Justice Department.

The criminal complaint states that Ji arrived in the United States in 2013 on a nonimmigrant student visa to study Electrical Engineering at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, earning a Master's degree in Electrical Engineering in 2015. .

The following year, Ji 's enlisted in the US Army Reserves as part of the MAVNI program (military accessions indispensable to the national interest), which authorizes the recruitment of military personnel. legal aliens deemed to have essential skills for the national interest.

In the application process for MAVNI, Ji submitted a security clearance form on which he answered "no" to a question regarding contacts with governments or foreign representatives, the complaint said. Later, in an interview with a US military officer, Ji did not reveal his contact with the Chinese intelligence agent.

Security issues resulted in the suspension of MAVNI later in 2016. The army then began firing the staff recruited under the program, but then declared that she had interrupted this process pending a program review. However, a New York Times article published earlier this month suggests that the military is still trying to deport people recruited under the umbrella of MAVNI.

According to the complaint, a search warrant executed in October last year revealed that electronic messages and SMS had been exchanged between Ji and the intelligence officer.

In April and May of this year, Ji met someone who, unbeknownst to him, was an FBI agent. At the May meeting, Ji revealed that he had been introduced for the first time to the intelligence officer in question at a recruitment fair while he was in class in China.

U.S. reportedly provided basic information on eight individuals – all naturalized US citizens born in Taiwan or China who lived in the United States.

"The eight people, who are working or have recently retired in a career in the science and technology sector, including several people specializing in aerospace," says the complaint. He adds that "at least seven of the eight people who worked for, or had recently retired, had authorized US defense companies."

It was not known if one of the eight had been subsequently recruited by the Chinese intelligence services.

Speaking at the hearing, US Deputy Prosecutor Shoba Pillay said that Ji was risking up to 10 years in federal prison when he was found guilty.