CNN
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Two US Army soldiers and a former soldier were arrested Thursday, accused in indictments of selling military secrets to buyers in China, according to the Department of Justice.
The two US Army active-duty soldiers were identified as Jian Zhao and Li Tian, stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, in Washington state. Zhao, a battery supply sergeant was assigned to the 17th Field Artillery Brigade and Tian is a health services administrator.
The former soldier, Ruoyu Duan of Hillsboro, Oregon, served in the Army from 2013 to 2017.
Tian and Duan were both charged with “conspiring to commit bribery and theft of government property.” Zhao faces the same charge and was also indicted for obtaining and transmitting “national defense information” to an “unnamed individual not authorized to receive it.”
According to an indictment filed Wednesday in the US District Court for Western Washington, Zhao, who managed over $55 million worth of army property, was accused of selling nearly two dozen classified hard drives marked “Secret” or “Top Secret,” as well as sensitive US military documents and information pertaining to High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) to buyers in China, including one “co-conspirator” based in the city of Changchun.
The sergeant also allegedly obtained and sold information related to the US’s military readiness in the event of a conflict with China.
The indictment stated Zhao received payments totaling at least $15,000 from August 2024 onwards.
A separate indictment in the US District of Oregon noted that between November 2021 and at least December 19, 2024, Duan and Tian conspired together to steal and transmit sensitive military information on the US Army’s operational capabilities, including technical manuals.
The indictment alleges Tian also sent Duan links to Google Drive accounts containing sensitive information on US military weapons systems, such as Bradley and Stryker US Army fighting vehicles.
“The defendants arrested today are accused of betraying our country, actively working to weaken America’s defense capabilities and empowering our adversaries in China,” Attorney General Pamela J. Bondi said in a news release.
“They will face swift, severe, and comprehensive justice.”
“These arrests should send a message to would-be spies that we and our partners have the will and the ability to find you, track you down, and hold you to account.” said W. Mike Herrington, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Seattle Field Office. The case was investigated by the FBI and the Army Intelligence Command.
These arrests are among several cases in recent years involving people in the US armed services charged with sharing sensitive military information with others, including China.
In March 2024, a US Army sergeant was charged with leaking classified information about the military’s most advanced weapons to a foreign national claiming to live in Hong Kong in exchange for $42,000.
In August 2023, two US Navy sailors were charged with sharing sensitive military information with a foreign country, one of whom allegedly sent blueprints of a US radar system in Japan, and a National Guardsman was arrested in April after allegedly posting a trove of classified documents on social media.
This story has been updated with additional information.
