Two Chinese Embassy officials were quietly expelled from the U.S. this fall for allegedly spying, The New York Times revealed in a report Sunday.
The
allegations came after the two officials drove to a sensitive military
base in Virginia in September with their wives, two people with
knowledge of the matter said – and this appears to be the first instance
in more than 30 years that Chinese diplomats are suspected of
espionage.
Six people with knowledge
of the expulsions say that U.S. officials believe at least one of the
Chinese officials was an intelligence officer posing with a diplomatic
cover.
The incident was not announced or made
public by Washington or Beijing, and U.S. intelligence officials say
China poses a bigger espionage threat than any other country right now.
The
two embassy officials and their wives were able to evade military
personnel through persuasion, but were eventually stopped on the base
after fire trucks blocked their path.
American
intelligence officials say the infiltration of the military base is
only the most remarkable instance of increased boldness by Chinese
diplomats.
Chinese officials with
diplomatic passports have been showing up at research and government
facilities more often in recent months, U.S. officials told the Times in
exhibiting how China is expanding its spying efforts in American.
This
particular base intrusion was on a sensitive installation, which
includes Special Operations forces, near the U.S. Navy base in Norfolk,
Virginia.
Several bases in the area have these sensitive units, including one with the headquarters of the Navy’s elite SEAL Team Six.
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