In a startling development, a US Army intelligence analyst, Sergeant Korbein Schultz, has been arrested on Thursday for allegedly providing sensitive national defense information to China. The arrest took place at Fort Campbell, a military base on the Kentucky-Tennessee border.
Schultz, who held a top-secret security clearance, is accused of supplying documents, maps, and photographs related to US national defense to a contact in Hong Kong since June 2022. While the indictment did not explicitly name China as the recipient country, media reports have identified it as such. The Justice Department disclosed that Schultz received a total of $42,000 in exchange for the classified information.
The sensitive data allegedly shared by Schultz encompasses a wide range of strategic military details, including contingency plans in case of a military threat to Taiwan, information about fighter aircraft, helicopters, hypersonic equipment, and the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS). Additionally, the documents reportedly included studies comparing the military capabilities of the US and China.
This arrest comes on the heels of similar espionage-related incidents involving US Navy personnel. Recently, two Navy sailors were apprehended in California on charges of spying for China. One of them, Petty Officer Wenheng Zhao, was sentenced to 27 months in prison after pleading guilty to conspiring with a foreign intelligence officer and accepting a bribe. The arrests of Zhao and his accomplice, Jinchao Wei, in August have raised concerns about espionage activities targeting sensitive military information.
The allegations against Schultz underscore the ongoing challenges faced by security agencies in safeguarding classified data from foreign adversaries. The incident serves as a reminder of the constant vigilance required to protect national security interests in an increasingly complex geopolitical landscape.
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