On January 12, a federal judge in San Diego sentenced former US Navy sailor Jinchao Wei to more than 16 years in prison for espionage. Wei had been selling technical and operating manuals for ships, as well as other sensitive information, to a Chinese intelligence officer.
The sailor, who worked on the USS Essex and held security clearance, was approached in 2022 via social media by a so-called Chinese ship enthusiast requesting information. Wei, albeit having already told a friend that the request was clearly an espionage attempt, moved the conversation to an encrypted messaging platform. He began selling information about the defensive and weapons systems of his—and similar—ships until August 2023, when he was eventually discovered.
US officials have long expressed concerns about Chinese espionage activities, and several cases of such incidents have already been discovered.
For the most part, spying is about committing treason, carrying out espionage, and betraying one's country. However, among the spies listed in this gallery are one or two genuine heroes whose supreme acts of bravery and selflessness saved many lives and helped end wars.
Click through this veritable rogue's gallery of treacherous individuals to find the good among the bad.