I know we don't want to think about how much of this is happening across the country, but uhh...
Yuuuup.
Last year, 5 Chinese nationals were caught in the dead of night, 200 miles north of campus, taking photos of Michigan's Camp Grayling military base.
The FBI noted in the Tuesday court filing that there have been instances of college students from China taking photos of vital defense sites in the United States.
The Chinese nationals, identified as Zhekai Xu, Renxiang Guan, Haoming Zhu, Jingzhe Tao, and Yi Liang, claimed they were "the media" when authorities caught them sneaking around and taking pictures of the National Guard site. They had graduated as part of a "joint program between the university and the Shanghai Jiao Tong University in Shanghai, China."
The suspects are still at large.
'The five, who were University of Michigan students at the time, were not charged for what happened at Camp Grayling in August 2023,' the AP reported. 'Rather they are accused of misleading investigators about the trip and conspiring to clear their phones of photos, according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court.'
'The defendants are not in custody,' the U.S. Attorney's office said. 'Should they come into contact with U.S. authorities, they will be arrested and face these charges.'
The seeming attempt at CCP espionage also shed light on a Chinese effort to build a battery factory just a few miles from the base.
Michigan Republican Congressman John Moolenar said:
This case shows once again that CCP espionage can happen anywhere in America and we must be vigilant. The CCP obviously has an interest in Camp Grayling and this is further evidence it would be a mistake for Michigan leaders to allow Gotion to build in our state. State funding for Gotion's plan to bring Chinese nationals to Mecosta County is an open invitation for further spying on Camp Grayling.
Welp, I'll go ahead and assume these five Chinese nationals won't be turning themselves in anytime soon.
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