A Chinese national and former Army Reserve was convicted by a federal jury yesterday of acting within the United States as an illegal agent of the People’s Republic of China.
According to court documents and evidence presented at the trial, Ji Chaoqun, 31, of Chicago, was found guilty on one count of conspiracy to act as an agent of a foreign government, specifically the People’s Republic of China, without notifying the First Attorney General; one count of acting as an agent of the People’s Republic of China without first notifying the Attorney General; and one count of making a material false statement to the US Army. The jury acquitted Ji on two counts of wire fraud.
Evidence presented at the two-week trial showed that Ji was working under the direction of a high-level intelligence officer in the Jiangsu Provincial Ministry of State Security (JSSD), a provincial department of the Ministry of State Security for the People’s Republic of China. Ji, a Chinese citizen living in Chicago, was tasked with providing biographical information about certain individuals to the intelligence officer for possible recruitment by the JSSD. Among the individuals were Chinese nationals working as engineers and scientists in the United States, some of whom were US defense contractors.
In 2016, Ji enlisted in the US Army Reserves under the Military Enlistment Vital to the National Interest (MAVNI) program, which authorized the US Armed Forces to recruit certain legal aliens whose skills are deemed critical to the national interest. In his application to participate in the MAVNI program, Ji falsely stated that he had no contact with a foreign government for the past seven years. In a subsequent interview with a US Army officer, Ji again failed to disclose his relationship and contacts with the intelligence officer.
Ji faces up to 10 years in prison for acting within the United States as an illegal agent of the People’s Republic of China and up to five years for conspiracy and making false statements. A sentencing date has not yet been scheduled. Any sentence will be determined by a federal district court judge after considering the US Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Department of Justice’s National Security Division; US Attorney John R. Lausch Jr. for the Northern District of Illinois; and Assistant Director Alan E. Kohler Jr. of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division the notice.
The case was investigated by the FBI, with valuable assistance provided by the US Army’s 902nd Military Intelligence Group.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant US Attorneys Vikas Didwania and Barry Jonas for the Northern District of Illinois and Senior Trial Attorney Heather Schmidt of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Division.
