A Chinese student arrested in South Korea for illegally taking drone footage of a United States aircraft carrier is a model Communist Party member, local media reported.
The incident happened on June 25 when USS Theodore Roosevelt, a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier, docked at the Naval Operations Command of South Korea in Busan, a port city located on the country’s southeastern coast, where U.S. aircraft carriers frequently visit.
Seoul is a treaty ally of Washington, and the U.S. military is committed to using its full range of capabilities, including nuclear, to support extended deterrence in South Korea. There are 28,500 U.S. troops stationed on the Korean Peninsula to deter aggression and to defend the ally.
South Korean newspaper Korea JoongAng Daily reported on Monday that one of the three Chinese students under investigation for filming the U.S. aircraft carrier was recognized as being an “excellent Communist Party member” at a university in China in May 2021.The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has been the sole ruling party since the establishment of the People’s Republic of China in 1949. Xi Jinping, the president of China, has been the leader of the party and its military arm since 2012.
Song Kyung-Seok/Pool Photo via AP
The report also claimed that the investigative authorities are not ruling out the possibility that China sent Communist Party members to spy in South Korea.
The Chinese students, who were caught in an operation conducted by the South Korean military and police, claimed they filmed the U.S. aircraft carrier “out of curiosity.” It was not immediately clear whether the two other students are also CCP members.
Newsweek emailed the Chinese foreign ministry in Beijing, the Chinese embassy in Seoul, and U.S. Forces Korea for comment.
According to the report, the South Korean authorities are presuming the suspects were collecting information on bases and equipment in South Korea, as well as on U.S. aircraft carriers, over an extensive period and reporting their findings back to China.
The suspects were acting in an organized manner under the direction of a Chinese spy agency, the South Korean authorities concluded. Forensic results showed that they had contacts for Chinese public security officials and CCP newsletters in their mobile phones.
South Korean investigators discovered the suspects had taken “hundreds of photos” of South Korean and U.S. military facilities. In Busan, they conducted what the investigative authorities called “a preliminary survey” of the Korea Fleet Command in September 2022.
Besides the Theodore Roosevelt, the Chinese suspects filmed at least two other U.S. naval vessels, including USS Springfield, a nuclear-powered fast-attack submarine, and USS Nimitz, a sister ship of the Theodore Roosevelt, while visiting Busan last year.
Kyodo via AP Images
The suspects, who have been charged with violating South Korea’s Military Base and Facility Protection Act, can be charged with treason if the June 25 incident was planned under the direction of a Chinese intelligence agency, the report said.
“We are keeping a close eye on people involved in intelligence activities from countries such as China,” a South Korean military official said, referring to the case of the Chinese suspects. They could face life in prison if they are found to be guilty of treason.
