America’s enemies are bolder than ever. Now they’re coming to the mainland.
And Chinese infiltrators were arrested in the U.S. for committing this heinous act.
U.S. authorities have charged five Chinese nationals with lying and attempting to cover up their actions, more than a year after they were caught near a remote Michigan military site under suspicious circumstances.
The five, all former University of Michigan students, were confronted in the dark near Camp Grayling in August 2023, where thousands had gathered for summer drills.
However, their recent charges aren’t directly tied to their presence at the military site.
Instead, they are accused of misleading investigators and conspiring to delete photos from their phones, according to a federal court complaint.
The FBI, in its Tuesday filing, noted prior incidents involving Chinese students photographing critical defense sites in the U.S.
There’s no word on where the five men currently are, but authorities are ready to act.
“The defendants are not in custody. Should they come into contact with U.S. authorities, they will be arrested and face these charges,” said Gina Balaya, spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Detroit.
Back in the summer of 2023, the group was confronted by a sergeant major from the Utah National Guard after midnight near a lake.
One of them claimed, “We are media,” before they hastily gathered their belongings and left the area, the FBI reported.
However, the investigation later revealed they had booked a motel nearby a week before the incident, raising further suspicions.
Four months later, one of the men was stopped and questioned by border officers at the Detroit airport before departing for South Korea and China.
He tried to downplay the trip, telling investigators that he and his friends had merely gone to northern Michigan to “see shooting stars.”
However, an examination of his external hard drive revealed two photos of military vehicles from the night they were confronted by the National Guard.
The other four were questioned last March after flying into Chicago from Iceland. They admitted to being in northern Michigan in August 2023 but echoed the same story about a meteor shower.
When discussing the National Guard officer, they referred to him as just “the soldier,” a camper, or “nice guy,” according to the complaint.
In a move to cover their tracks, the men communicated via WeChat in December, discussing how to delete photos from their devices.
The FBI also revealed that all five men had graduated last spring from the University of Michigan as part of a joint program with Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China.
This isn’t the first time Chinese nationals have been caught in sensitive areas. In 2020, two Chinese students at the University of Michigan were sentenced to prison for illegally photographing military sites at a naval air station in Key West, Florida.
The new charges against these five individuals bring to light ongoing concerns about foreign nationals and espionage activities near U.S. defense installations.
Stay tuned to the DC Daily Journal.
