The FBI and Department of Defense have reportedly tracked more than 100 incidents of Chinese nationals posing as tourists to attempt to breach U.S. military bases and other federal sites.
Those responsible, dubbed “gate crashers,” range from Chinese nationals detected crossing into a U.S. missile range in New Mexico, to scuba divers caught swimming in murky waters near a U.S. government rocket launch site in Florida, several U.S. officials recently told The Wall Street Journal. The growing trend represents a potential espionage threat, as authorities believe the Chinese government in some cases is compelling nationals into service in order to test out and report back about security practices at the installations.
The FBI, Department of Defense and other agencies held a review late last year centered around deterring these incidents. It is not known how many incidents were benign in nature. For example, some Chinese nationals claim to have been following Google Maps to the nearest McDonald’s or Burger King, which happens to be located on a nearby military base.
In other more concerning incidents, Chinese nationals arrived saying they had a reservation at a hotel on a military base. Recently, a group of Chinese nationals purporting to be tourists tried to force their way past guards at Fort Wainwright, Alaska, claiming they had reservations at a commercial hotel on the base, according to the Journal.
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A memorial park on Fort Wainwright, Alaska. The Wall Street Journal reported that Chinese nationals posing as tourists tried to rush guards at the base. (Michel du Cille/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Fort Wainwright is home to the U.S. Army’s 11th Airborne Division focused on Arctic warfare.
A Pentagon spokesperson told the Journal that in some cases Chinese nationals have achieved unauthorized access to military bases by speeding through security checkpoints. In those incidents, they are “often cited criminally, barred from future installation access and escorted off-case,” the spokesperson said.
Officials told the Journal the incidents have occurred in rural areas where tourism is less common and far from a commercial airport. They said the Chinese nationals often use what officials described as scripted language, claiming when stopped that they are tourists who have lost their way.
This type of low-level Chinese intelligence collection is more of a numbers game, a former Senate Intelligence Committee official told the Journal, explaining how the Chinese government is willing to throw numerous people at collection, knowing that if a few get caught it will be difficult for the U.S. government to prove anything nefarious beyond trespassing.
The same treatment of shrugging off the incidents as trespassing would not be afforded to Americans if they were caught doing the same inside China, the former official added.
NASA’s SpaceX Crew-7 mission lifts off from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center, on Saturday, Aug. 26, 2023. The Wall Street Journal reported Chinese nationals were recently found scuba diving by the rocket launch site. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
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Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo, who sits on the House Intelligence Committee, told the Journal that Congress might consider legislation on the issue amid concern the growing numbers of incidents could fall through the cracks, as most trespassing laws are state and local, and not federal.
The Journal reported that repeat incidents have occurred at an intelligence center based in Key West, Florida, dating back to a few years ago involving Chinese nationals found swimming in nearby waters and taking pictures. Officials said other repeat incidents occurred at a U.S. Army range where Chinese nationals claiming to be tourists at nearby White Sands National Park crossed into the adjacent missile site and took pictures. And in another incident, Chinese nationals were caught scuba diving off Cape Canaveral, home to the Kennedy Space Center, which is used as launch site for spy satellites and other military missions, but that occurrence reportedly remains under investigation.
Military equipment is seen at Missile Park on Friday, Oct.14, 2022 in White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico. The Wall Street Journal reported Chinese nationals claiming to be tourists were caught taking pictures at the site. (Matt McClain/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
U.S. officials also described Chinese nationals at the White House leaving tours to take photos of the grounds, communications equipment and positions of Secret Service and other guards.
Few, if any, of those cases resulted in espionage charges, officials said.
Two Chinese diplomats who drove with their wives onto a Virginia base where U.S. Navy SEALS train were expelled from the country in 2019 on suspicion of espionage.
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In another public case in 2019, a Chinese woman was sentenced to eight months in prison after she entered former President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate without authorization and was found to be carrying two passports, four cellphones and other electronics.
Fox News Digital reached out to the FBI, Defense Department and the White House National Security Council for comment Monday but did not immediately hear back.
