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2024-10-13 China-Japan-Koreas
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Chinese University of Michigan students charged [in absentia] after allegedly spying on military base
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[FoxNews] The former students were allegedly taking pictures of military vehicles and other equipment
Five former University of Michigan students have been charged after they were caught allegedly covering up spying on a National Guard training center in Michigan for the People's Republic of China (PRC) while a training operation with the Taiwanese military was taking place.
The former students, all Chinese nationals, were confronted by a sergeant major of the Utah National Guard in August 2023 after midnight near a lake at Camp Grayling, according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court Oct. 1.
They told the sergeant major they were with the media photographing a meteor shower and believed they were in a campground. They then took their belongings and left.
But four months later, one of the men, Renxiang Guan, was interviewed by Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) officers at the Detroit Metropolitan Airport before traveling to South Korea and China.
He told investigators he and others had taken a trip to northern Michigan to see shooting stars, but he was unable to recall where they went.
CBP officers then searched his electronic devices and found images of the Grayling Military Installation, including military vehicles and other equipment. The data from an external hard drive showed the photographs had been taken during the time that live firing exercises were taking place, around two hours before the sergeant major encountered the students.
The other four men were interviewed in March after arriving in Chicago on a flight from Iceland. They told investigators they too were in northern Michigan in August 2023, but it was to see a meteor shower, according to court documents citing the FBI.
WeChat messages in a group chat among the Chinese nationals discussed clearing photos from their cameras and phones.
They have been charged with giving false statements to investigators, conspiracy and the destruction and falsification of records as they tried to cover their tracks by deleting data.
The Chinese nationals remain at large and are understood to have returned to China, according to local reports.
| That’s the piece we previously lacked. |
The other four individuals are named as Zhekai Xu, Haoming Zhu, Jingzhe Tao and Yi Liang.
The students attended the university as part of a joint program with Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China. They graduated in May, according to the complaint.
Rep. John Moolenaar, R-Mich., says the case exposes the serious threat the nation faces from Chinese spies. 
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Posted by Skidmark 2024-10-13 00:00||
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