WASHINGTON, United States: A US military intelligence analyst was arrested on Thursday on suspicion of providing national defence information to China.
Sergeant Korbein Schultz was arrested at Fort Campbell, a military base on the Kentucky-Tennessee border, the Justice Department said in a statement.
Indictment of Schultz, who held a top-secret security clearance, did not specify the country to which classified military information was allegedly provided, but news reports identified it as China.
According to the indictment, Schultz has provided US national defence documents, maps and photographs to Hong Kong contacts since June 2022.
Mr. Schultz is said to have paid a total of $42,000 for the information.
The Justice Department said the documents contained information about potential US plans in case Taiwan comes under a military attack.
Also included are documents on fighter jets, helicopters, hypersonic equipment, the High Mobility Artillery Missile System (HIMARS), and research on the US and Chinese militaries.
Schultz’s indictment came after two US Navy sailors were arrested in California on suspicion of spying for China.
Petty officer Wenheng Zhao was sentenced to 27 months in prison in January after pleading guilty to conspiracy and accepting bribes from foreign intelligence agents.
Zhao and another American sailor, Jinchao Wei, were arrested in August.
