Five University of Michigan students hailing from China were charged Wednesday by federal law enforcement after being discovered at a U.S. military site where drills with Taiwanese forces were underway in 2023, according to The Detroit News.
The five students were allegedly found in the middle of the night with cameras in proximity to tents, military vehicles and classified communications gear at Camp Grayling, a huge National Guard installation where significant training exercises were occurring with military personnel from Taiwan, according to The Detroit News. The five individuals were charged with conspiracy, lying to federal investigators and destroying records during a federal investigation, though they are not thought to be in custody and may not even be in the U.S.
The students were reportedly present in the U.S. with the help of a joint program between the University of Michigan and Shanghai Jiao Tong University, according to The Detroit News. The group was allegedly spotted by a member of the Utah National Guard within about 15 feet of military equipment despite multiple types of markings and signage making clear that the area was restricted, allegedly fleeing shortly after being found.
Other Chinese nationals in the U.S. have been suspected or confirmed to have scoped out American strategic sites, including two Chinese University of Michigan students who were busted taking pictures of a Naval Air Station in southern Florida in 2020, according to The Detroit News. A Chinese national attending the University of Minnesota also pleaded guilty in July to federal charges for photographing a shipyard that was producing naval ships.
Camp Grayling is approximately 90 miles north of the area where China-linked battery company Gotion is looking to set up shop with the help of hefty state and federal subsidies, according to The Detroit News.
The Daily Caller News Foundation has investigated and reported extensively on Gotion’s ties to the U.S.’ primary geopolitical rival via its parent company, China-based Gotion High-Tech. The American arm of the company is “owned and controlled” by Gotion High-Tech, and the subsidiary recently disclosed in Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) filings that it has received subsidies from the Chinese state despite an executive’s past suggestion that the Chinese government has no presence in the American company.
Moreover, Gotion High-Tech employed more than 900 Chinese Communist Party (CCP) members as of 2022, and unearthed video footage shows Gotion High-Tech employees dressed as Red Army soldiers and pledging loyalty to the CCP while on a company trip.
Proponents of Gotion’s plans to establish operations in Michigan and Illinois, where the company also plans to build a subsidized facility in proximity to a U.S. military installation, have asserted that suspicion of the company’s China ties is misguided or even bigoted. However, former CIA Directors Leon Panetta and Mike Pompeo testified to Congress in January that they firmly believe the CCP will take advantage of facilities like the Gotion plants inside the U.S. for espionage or other nefarious purposes.
Joseph Cella, a former U.S. ambassador who now chairs the Michigan China Economic and Security Review Group, issued a statement Wednesday in response to the charges against the five Chinese nationals who are suspected of snooping on Camp Grayling.
“The Michigan China Economic and Security Review Group has long warned of the national security threats to Camp Grayling presented by [People’s Republic of China]-based and CCP-tied Gotion as it has all of the markings of a subnational incursion, influence operation and elite capture through a PRC-based company that is deeply tied to the CCP, and from which espionage is often integrated,” said Cella.
Featured Image Credit: AndrewHorne
