A U.S. Navy sailor was convicted on Aug. 20 of spying for China and for selling sensitive information about U.S. warships to a Chinese intelligence officer who recruited him through social media.
Wei Jinchao, 25, who also goes by Patrick Wei, was born in China and became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2022, according to prosecutors. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 2021 as a machinist’s mate aboard the USS Essex, an amphibious assault ship homeported at Naval Base San Diego.
