A US Army intelligence analyst on Wednesday was sentenced to seven years imprisonment for providing sensitive defense information to China, including documents about the US’ potential defense of Taiwan, weapons systems, and military tactics and strategy.
Sergeant Korbein Schultz, who held a top-secret security clearance, was arrested in March last year at Fort Campbell, a military base on the Kentucky-Tennessee border.
Schultz was sentenced after he pleaded guilty in August last year to sharing at least 92 sensitive US military documents, the US Department of Justice said in a statement.
Photo: Reuters
He admitted to charges of conspiring to obtain and disclose national defense information, exporting technical data related to defense articles without a license, conspiracy to export defense articles without a license and bribery of a public official.
“This sentencing is a stark warning to those who betray our country: You will pay a steep price for it,” FBI Director Kash Patel said in a statement.
According to the charging documents, Schultz provided dozens of sensitive US military documents to an individual living in Hong Kong who he believed to be associated with the Chinese government.
He was paid US$42,000 for the information, the justice department said.
Among the documents handed over by Schultz was one discussing the lessons learned by the US Army from the Ukraine-Russia war that it would apply in a defense of Taiwan.
Other documents discussed Chinese military tactics and preparedness, and US military exercises and forces in South Korea and the Philippines.
US Attorney General Pam Bondi on Wednesday said that the justice department “remains vigilant against China’s efforts to target our military and will ensure that those who leak military secrets spend years behind bars.”
Schultz’s arrest came less than a year after the arrests of two US Navy sailors in California on charges of spying for China.
One of them, petty officer Zhao Wenheng (趙文恆), was sentenced to 27 months in prison in January last year after pleading guilty to charges of conspiring with a foreign intelligence officer and accepting a bribe.
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
RSS