Former US Army Reservist Convicted Of Conspiracy To Act As Agent Of China - Justice Dept.

Former US Army Reservist Convicted of Conspiracy to Act as Agent of China - Justice Dept.

A former US Army reservist has been convicted by a federal jury for acting as an illegal Chinese agent in the United States, the Justice Department said in a press release on Tuesday

WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 27th September, 2022) A former US Army reservist has been convicted by a Federal jury for acting as an illegal Chinese agent in the United States, the Justice Department said in a press release on Tuesday.

"Ji Chaoqun, 31, of Chicago, was found guilty on one count of conspiracy to act as an agent of a foreign government, specifically the People's Republic of China, without first notifying the Attorney General; one count of acting as an agent of the People's Republic of China without first notifying the Attorney General; and one count of making a material false statement to the US Army," the release said.

Trial evidence showed that Ji, a Chinese national, reported to a high-level intelligence officer in the Jiangsu provincial department of China's Ministry of State Security, the release said.

Ji was responsible for procuring biographical information about potential recruits for the department, including Chinese nationals working in the United States as engineers and scientists, some of whom were US defense contractors, the release also said.

He enlisted in the US Army Reserves in 2016 under the Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest program and lied durign his application and a subsequent interview that he had not been in contact with a foreign government within the past seven years, the release added.

Ji faces up to ten years in prison for acting in the United States as an agent of China and up to five years for the conspiracy and false statement offenses, according to the release.