National security is being threatened by a wave of Chinese and Russian nationals infiltrating US military bases, a top Navy admiral has warned.
US Fleet Forces Commander Daryl Caudle said infiltration attempts are occurring “two or three times a week” at Navy bases alone.
More than 100 attempts were made by Chinese citizens alone last year, and perpetrators often claimed to be innocent tourists when caught.
“This thing about our military bases being penetrated by foreign nationals is happening more and more,” Caudle told Fox News.
“This is Russian, this is Chinese, and it comes from all these different nations.”
U.S. Fleet Forces Commander Daryl Caudle said foreign nationals are now attempting unauthorized access to U.S. naval bases two to three times a week.
An unnamed illegal Chinese national was arrested at Palms Marine Corps Base Twenty-ninth in California in March after he “ignored orders to leave.”
“A lot of times they have passports, they have papers, but they are in no way authorized to be on our base and it’s really difficult for us to say the underlying motive in these types of cases.”
Communist Chinese operatives were caught diving near Cape Canaveral, wandered to a missile launch site in New Mexico and claimed they were searching for Holiday Inns when they were captured at a military base in Alaska.
In 2019, three Chinese nationals were sentenced to prison for illegally taking photographs of military infrastructure at the NAS Key West naval base in Florida.
That same year, two Chinese nationals were expelled from the United States after attempting to drive to Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story in Virginia Beach, the Virginia Pilot reported.
But most foreigners caught are cited, given small fines and asked not to return, since illegal entry is generally not considered a federal crime.
“This is something we see probably two or three times a week, where we stop these people at the door, and this is just from the Navy,” Caudle said.
‘And usually the cover story is that I’m a student, I’m an enthusiast and I want to see boats and that kind of thing. “We have to turn them around and typically we will involve NCIS and get biometrics if possible.”
Concern about Beijing’s intentions has spiked in response to an 8,000 percent increase in the number of Chinese nationals known to have crossed the southern border in the past three years.
It comes amid an 8,000 percent increase in the number of Chinese nationals known to have crossed the southern border over the past three years.
More than 24,000 have been intercepted in the current financial year, the House Homeland Security Committee reported last month, and more asylum claims are approved for Chinese immigrants than for any other nationality.
Emily Harding, a former Senate Select Committee on Intelligence official, told the WSJ that the Chinese spy operation is more of a numbers game.
“The advantage the Chinese have is that they are willing to send large numbers of people to harvest,” he said.
Rep. Glenn Grothman, R-Wis., says his administration encourages even ordinary Chinese tourists to spy on trips to the United States.
“If they catch some of them, it will be very difficult for the US government to prove anything beyond the invasion, and those who don’t get caught will probably take away something useful.”
The Navy was shaken in January when Petty Officer Wenheng Zhao, 26, was sentenced to 27 months in prison after spying for China at Naval Base Ventura County in California for more than 18 months.
The officer was arrested at the same time as his naturalized compatriot Jinchao Wei, who was detained aboard the San Diego-based USS Essex and faces trial on espionage charges in December.
But Rep. Glenn Grothman, R-Wis., of the House Oversight Committee, said even ordinary Chinese tourists were pressured by their government to register items of military importance on their trips to the United States.
“When you talk about the number of Chinese crossing the southern border, it’s not that they’re all here doing intelligence research, but when it multiplies by 80 in a year, you wonder what’s going on.” here,” he told Dailymail.com last week.
‘So it’s of particular concern because it’s very easy to get in here now. I mean, in essence, the United States has an open border.
Petty Officer Wenheng Zhao, 26, was sentenced to 27 months in prison after spying for China at the Ventura County naval base in California for more than 18 months.
Jinchao Wei, a former naturalized Chinese citizen, was arrested in August aboard the USS Essex and will face trial on espionage charges in December.
“There’s no more tempting time for foreign countries to come here and say, ‘let’s poke around and get information on American military bases.'”
“Why would a country send people here who are taking photographs of military bases or whatever, unless it’s in preparation or contingency for some terrorist act, or even concerned about war,” the Wisconsin lawmaker added.
“If you came to the United States, whether for work or tourism, I don’t think you would be outside the military bases.”
A spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in DC dismissed claims that its citizens are attacking US bases as “purely ill-intentioned fabrications.”
“We urge relevant US officials to abandon the Cold War mentality, end groundless accusations and do more things conducive to improving mutual trust between the two countries and friendship between the two peoples,” said Liu Pengyu. .