Washington has tracked about 100 incidents involving Chinese nationals trying to access American military and other installations By Gordon Lubold , Warren P. Strobel and Aruna Viswanatha Updated Sept. 4, 2023 12:02 am ET 83 The incidents appear designed to test security practices at U.S. installations, such as a government rocket-launch site in Florida. PHOTO: EVA MARIE UZCATEGUI/GETTY IMAGES WASHINGTON—Chinese nationals, sometimes posing as tourists, have accessed military bases and other sensitive sites in the U.S. as many as 100 times in recent years, according to U.S. officials, who describe the incidents as a potential espionage threat. The Defense Department, FBI and other agencies held a review last year to try to limit these incidents, which involve people whom officials have dubbed gate-crashers because of their attempts—either by accident or intentionally—to get onto U.S. military bases and other installations without proper authorization. They range from Chinese nationals found crossing into a U.S. missile range in New Mexico to what appeared to be scuba divers swimming in murky waters near a U.S. government rocket-launch site in Florida. The incidents, which U.S. officials describe as a form of espionage, appear designed to test security practices at U.S. military installations and other federal sites. Officials familiar with the practice say the individuals are typically Chinese nationals pressed into service and required to report back to the Chinese government. These cases at times occur in rural areas where officials indicate there is little tourism far from a commercial airport. The FBI examined evidence earlier this year after the U.S. shot down a Chinese spy balloon that caused rising tensions between Washington and Beijing. PHOTO: FBI/ZUMA PRESS Concern over the base intrusions comes amid rising U.S.-China tensions, which spiked after a Chinese balloon overflew the U.S. earlier this year carrying what officials said was surveillance equipment. The incidents also cast a light on concerns that Beijing is using nontraditional means to gather intelligence on U.S. soil, whether through proximity to bases or through Chinese-produced commercial equipment that could be used to spy. Officials at the White House and the Department of Homeland Security declined to comment, and the Pentagon only responded broadly to the issue. Government officials referred queries to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which said it wouldn’t comment on the issue. The Chinese Embassy in Washington challenged the U.S. view of the incidents. “The relevant claims are purely ill-intentioned fabrications,” said Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson with the embassy. “We urge the relevant U.S. officials to abandon the Cold War mentality, stop groundless accusations, and do more things that are conducive to enhancing mutual trust between the two countries and friendship between the two peoples.” The incidents are concerning enough that Congress might look at legislation on the issue, according to Rep. Jason Crow (D., Colo.). Crow, a member of the intelligence committee, said lawmakers are concerned that some of these cases fall between the cracks, because most trespassing laws are state and local, and not federal. “We need to work closely with our state and local partners to train them and equip them,” he said. “Right now, they don’t know how to deal with it.” Some incursions are benign, such as those involving people who say they are following Google Maps to direct them to the nearest McDonalds or Burger King, which happens to be on a nearby military base. Others appeared to be more troubling, people familiar with the review said. Officials described incidents in which Chinese nationals say they have a reservation at an on-base hotel. In a recent case, a group of Chinese nationals claiming they were tourists, tried to push past guards at Fort Wainwright, Alaska, saying they had reservations at a commercial hotel on the base. The base is home to the Army’s 11th Airborne Division, which is focused on Arctic warfare. Congress is looking at legislation to deal with gate-crashing, according to Rep. Jason Crow (D., Colo.), a member of the intelligence committee. PHOTO: MICHAEL BROCHSTEIN/ZUMA PRESS These cases at times occur in rural areas where officials indicate there is little tourism far from a commercial airport. The individuals use what appears to be scripted language when confronted by security guards, according to officials familiar with the tactics. When stopped, the Chinese nationals say they are tourists and have lost their way. The problem of low-level Chinese intelligence collection like this is well known in intelligence circles, said Emily Harding, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington and a former deputy staff director at the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. It is a numbers game, she said. “The advantage the Chinese have is they are willing to throw people at collection in large numbers,” she said. “If a few of them get caught, it will be very difficult for the U.S. government to prove anything beyond trespassing, and those who don’t get caught are likely to collect something useful.” Harding said that because most incidents in the U.S. can be pursued only as trespassing, the Chinese government gives a collective shrug for those who do get caught. That would be unlikely if an American were to be caught inside China, she said. “The latter is unlikely to get what we would consider a fair trial,” Harding added. The base penetrations are considered a concerning and growing trend, U.S. military and other officials said. In some cases, individuals did gain unauthorized access to a base, “often by speeding through security checkpoints,” said Sue Gough, a Pentagon spokeswoman. “These individuals are often cited criminally, barred from future installation access and escorted off-base,” she said. Gough declined to comment on any specific incidents, citing security concerns. The Pentagon said it has conducted several base security reviews since 2018, some of them in concert with other agencies. A review done late last year focused on the physical security of the roughly 1,400 gates at the U.S. military’s bases, as well as other aspects of base security. “The results of the reviews have and will continue to inform changes to the protective posture of our bases,” Gough said. SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS What steps can the U.S. take to reduce the threat of espionage? Join the conversation below. Every day, there are more than 10,000 “controlled turnarounds” of individuals who arrive at military-base gates. They are mostly drivers who are confused about where they are supposed to go, and are turned around without incident. Some of those warrant additional checks and some trigger an investigation. “The incidents are generally low-level, and so far none of them indicate espionage,” Gough said of those turnaround cases. However, there are other incidents serious enough to raise concerns with U.S. officials. There are repeated cases in which Chinese nationals have been found taking pictures at a U.S. Army range, according to people familiar with the matter. They often start off at nearby White Sands National Park, where visitors like to barrel down the sand dunes on rented slides, but then leave that area and cross into the adjacent missile site, the officials said. In some cases, the individuals have used drones to bolster their surveillance efforts. There have been repeated incidents at an intelligence center based in Key West, Fla., starting some years ago, where Chinese nationals, saying they were tourists, were found swimming in the waters near the military facility and taking pictures, according to officials familiar with the matter. In at least one instance, an incursion there resulted in arrests and prosecutions that were made public. In 2020, three Chinese citizens were sentenced to about a year in prison after pleading guilty to illegally entering the naval air station in Key West, and taking photos by either walking around the fence line and entering it from the beach, or driving in and ignoring orders to turn around. In another incident, Chinese nationals appear to have been found scuba diving off Cape Canaveral, home to the Kennedy Space Center. The area is the launch site for spy satellites and other military missions. A spokesman for Homeland Security Investigations’s Tampa, Fla., field office said the incident was part of a continuing investigation and declined to comment further. U.S. officials also describe incidents around the White House in which Chinese nationals posing as tourists leave the designated tour area to take pictures of the grounds, including communications gear and the positions of security guards, before being shooed away by the Secret Service. In 2019, a Chinese woman was sentenced to eight months in prison after being convicted of unlawfully entering former President Donald Trump’s Mar -a-Lago estate in Florida. She entered the estate carrying two passports, four cellphones and other electronics. At Alaska’s Fort Wainwright, home to the Army’s 11th Airborne Division, Chinese nationals said they had reservations at a hotel on base and tried to push past guards. PHOTO: JOHN PENNELL/ARMY In many cases, those who have trespassed on bases, apparently deliberately, have simply been detained briefly and then escorted out of the country, officials familiar with the incidents said. No cases appear to have resulted in espionage charges, but in a 2019 incident, two Chinese diplomats were expelled from the country on suspicions of espionage after they improperly drove, with their wives, onto Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek, Va., a highly sensitive U.S. military facility where U.S. Navy SEALs train. Base officials pulled a firetruck into the road to stop the vehicle, officials said. China denied the diplomats were involved in espionage.
The Chinese have completely lost their mind. What do they expect to gain while losing diplomatic reputation in exchange? Security infos about military bases?
Chinese and Russian hackers helping to secure US networks by stress-testing them... We normal people should be thankful that the Western bigbrother surveillance state gets forced to taste its own medicine... The US and its "allies" does much more cyber attacks/hacking/spying against China and Russia, but the corrupt Western media does not report the Russian and Chinese complaints. One learns this only when reading their news..., for example this one: "How CIA uses cyber weapon ‘Beehive’ to monitor, attack global key targets" https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202204/1259749.shtml
This kind of stuff is how China (modern China at any rate) has always acted. One guy smiles and offers you a toast while two others stab you in the back and rifle through your pockets. On the other side, US govt officials would rather die than risk being accused of racism, so nothing is done.
Did the US ever gate crash other country's base? Did they use other form of espionage? Remember big fish eats small fish. Quite big fish will try to eat big fish.
LOL, SERIOUSLY? USA WTF? This is ridiculous, the US Army beeing a woke joke scouts camp for everyone to join and have a great time? best army in the world my ass have they had some weed while producing it?
SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS What steps can the U.S. take to reduce the threat of espionage? 1. Shoot the bastards that invade military bases or arrest them and throw them into jail with no fair trial either or better yet treat them nicer so they can turn around and spy on the Chinese for you. If any US citizens are caught spying on Chinese soil and they won't get a fair trial, why should we give them a fair trial when they are caught? We allow regular homeowners to shoot any trespassers on their private properties and yet we just bar those spies from further access and politely escort them off the bases with nothing? LOL This does not make sense. 2. Make those military bases federal land and jurisdiction and deploy all security measures necessary. Forget about state and local crap and training them and whatever. If this concerns national security and it does, then it should be a federal matter. Any investigation of these incidents is referred to the FBI which stands for FEDERAL Bureau of Investigation so why should the security of these premises not be a federal matter? 3. Do a better job at keeping things secret. "In another incident, Chinese nationals appear to have been found scuba diving off Cape Canaveral, home to the Kennedy Space Center. The area is the launch site for spy satellites and other military missions. " - HOW did the Chinese know that that area is a launch site for spy satellites and other military missions in the first place??!! These should be classified information, WHY and how a foreign country know about it? If they didn't, they do now thanks to this article. LOL Start with these measures and I am sure these "security breach" incidents would be lot less. Just like you don't show your guests everything in the house, this is the same thing especially with your national defense.
The differences are striking. And sad. Note the distinct lack of anything denoting violence in the USA one, like a gun or other military vehicle (OK, the missle defense system is nice, but so underwhelming in animation.) Can't offend the sensibilities of parents! Gotta' make it a cartoon!
Still number uno story was where they created ~50 (secret) police stations in foreign countries (Germany, Italy, UK, US etc.), all around the globe. ,,Why to speak with local authorities when we can have our own" https://decode39.com/4217/china-police-station-prato-italy/