US News

Man busted for spying on defense contractors for China

The feds said Tuesday that a Chinese national living in Chicago was busted for spying on US engineers and scientists — including defense contractors — on behalf of the Chinese government.

Ji Chaoqun, 27, was charged with one count of knowingly acting in the US as an agent of a foreign government without prior notification of the attorney general.

They say he worked at the direction of high-ranking intelligence officials with the People’s Republic of China and was tasked with providing information about eight people for possible recruitment.

Ji was scheduled to appear Tuesday afternoon in federal court in Chicago.

According to a criminal complaint, Ji was born in China and arrived in the States in 2013 on an F1 Visa, supposedly to study electrical engineering at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago.

“In 2016, Ji enlisted in the US Army Reserves as an E4 Specialist under the Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest program, which authorizes the US Armed Forces to recruit certain legal aliens whose skills are considered vital to the national interest,” prosecutors said in a statement.

Ji could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted.

With AP