The United States expelled two Chinese Embassy officials after they drove onto Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek and Dam Neck Annex in Virginia Beach, home to Navy SEALs. The incident occurred in September, but news of it was just released in a report in the New York Times on December 15. The report, which cited anonymous officials, did not specify which area of the joint base the Chinese officials drove onto.
Navy Region Mid-Atlantic in Norfolk, which is in charge of security at Navy installations in Virginia, referred questions concerning the incident to the State Department. “We take the security of all our installations very seriously. We don’t have any information to provide about the alleged incident,” the command said in a statement.
The Times reported that the Chinese officials and their wives drove up to a checkpoint to enter the base. A guard told them to go through the gate and turn around to exit, after noting tht they were not authorized to be there. Instead of turning around, the group continued further onto the base, evading military personnel who were pursuing them. The vehicle finally stopped after fire trucks blocked its path.
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U.S. officials told the Times that Chinese diplomats have been exploring and appearing unannounced at research and government facilities.
In response to the Times report, a spokesman for China’s foreign ministry in Beijing called on the United States to reverse its decision. “The U.S. accusations against Chinese personnel severely disregard reality,” said Geng Shunag, spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, according to Reuters. Shuang called the accusations “completely contrary to the facts.”
“We strongly urge the U.S. to correct its mistake, cancel the relevant decision and protect Chinese personnel’s proper rights according to the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.”
Chinese officials said the diplomats did not understand the guard’s instructions.
The Times report noted that U.S. officials believe at least one of the Chinese officials was an intelligence officer who was working under a diplomatic guise, which is a common practice for “diplomats” from communist nations.
The New American’s foreign correspondent, Alex Newman, wrote a report back in 2010 entitled “Chinese Spying in the United States.” The article noted that the FBI had arrested dozens of Chinese citizens on U.S. soil in recent years for involvement in espionage operations on behalf of the communist regime, and pointed to various reports showing that there were close to 500 similar investigations ongoing.
Newman cited French journalist Roger Faligot, who has written dozens of espionage-related books, including The Chinese Secret Services From Mao to the Olympic Games. Faligot claims there are some two million Chinese spies working with the communist state’s security apparatus. The regime has countless agencies engaged in intelligence gathering, including the Ministry of State Security; various military intelligence agencies; multiple industrial, political, and economic espionage departments; and more.
Newman noted: “Hiding behind ‘diplomatic immunity’ and using blackmail, bribery, special privileges, strategic ‘business’ partnerships, cyber attacks, and a wide array of other methods, China’s spies have been extremely successful in their efforts.”
Photo: NatanaelGinting / iStock / Getty Images Plus
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Warren Mass has served The New American since its launch in 1985 in several capacities, including marketing, editing, and writing. Since retiring from the staff several years ago, he has been a regular contributor to the magazine. Warren writes from Texas and can be reached at [email protected].
