PRC NATIONALS CHARGED WITH EXPORTING AI CHIPS TO CHINA
Two Chinese nationals, Chuan Geng and Shiwei Yang, were arrested and charged with illegally exporting restricted Nvidia AI chips to China. Between October 2022 and July 2025, their California-based firm, ALX Solutions, transshipped the high-tech chips through Singapore and Malaysia to conceal the shipments' true destination. A 2023 invoice for over $28.4 million showed an order for Nvidia H100 and GeForce RTX 4090 GPUs, allegedly placed by a customer in Singapore. However, ALX received payments not from the listed firms, but from China-based companies. A U.S. export control officer in Singapore later confirmed the chips never arrived, and the supposed recipient company did not exist. "ALX Solutions appears to have shipped the Nvidia products to different end users," according to court documents. Authorities arrested Yang, and Geng later surrendered. Both face up to 20 years in prison. (BBC, August 6, 2025)
U.S. NAVY SAILOR CONVICTED FOR SPYING FOR CHINA
A U.S. Navy sailor, Wei Jinchao, has been convicted of espionage for selling sensitive information to a Chinese intelligence officer. A jury found him guilty of conspiracy to commit espionage and "unlawful export of, and conspiracy to export, technical data related to defense articles." Wei will be sentenced on December 1st. He was arrested on August 2, 2023, at Naval Base San Diego, where he served as a machinist's mate on the USS Essex. Recruited via social media in February 2022, Wei admitted that over the course of 18 months he provided his handlers with photos, videos, ship locations, and "thousands of pages of technical and operational information" in return for $12,000. "The defendant's actions represent an egregious betrayal," says U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California Adam Gordon. (CNN, August 20, 2025)
[EDITOR'S NOTE: Around the time of Wei's arrest, another Navy sailor in California, Zhao Wenheng, was also arrested for selling sensitive military information. He pleaded guilty to conspiring with a PRC intelligence officer and accepting a bribe and was sentenced to more than two years in prison.]
PRC NATIONAL CONVICTED OF SENDING WEAPONS TO NORTH KOREA
A Chinese national has been sentenced to eight years in prison for smuggling firearms and military equipment to North Korea. Wen Shenghua, a resident of Ontario, California, received $2 million from North Korean officials to procure and ship weapons and sensitive items from the U.S. He pleaded guilty to conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and acting as an illegal agent of a foreign government. Before entering the U.S. on a student visa in 2012, Wen met with North Korean officials at their embassy in China. He overstayed his visa after it expired in 2013. In 2022, the Korean officials contacted him and instructed him to send firearms. With money from a North Korean agent, Wen then bought around 60,000 rounds of 9mm ammunition and purchased a gun shop in Houston. Last September, he drove the weapons and bullets from Texas to California for shipment to North Korea. (BBC, August 20, 2025)
NIGERIA DEPORTS CHINESE NATIONALS IN CYBERCRIME CRACKDOWN
Nigeria has deported 50 Chinese nationals convicted of cyber-terrorism and internet fraud as part of a crackdown on foreign cybercrime networks. The PRC citizens were among nearly 200 foreign nationals arrested in Lagos during a raid targeting one of the largest cybercrime syndicates in the country. Since the crackdown was launched on August 15th by Nigeria's Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the immigration service, 102 people have been deported, according to spokesperson Dele Oyewale. (Reuters, August 21, 2025)
CHINESE UNIVERSITY STUDENTS SPY ON CLASSMATES IN THE UK
Chinese students at universities in the United Kingdom are being pressured to spy on classmates to suppress discussion on topics sensitive to Beijing, according to a UK-China Transparency (UKCT) survey of British academics in China studies. The report cites Chinese officials warning academics to avoid certain subjects and intimidation from visiting scholars and Confucius Institute staff. Some UK-based Chinese academics involved in sensitive research have been denied visas, while others reported family members in China being harassed or threatened. Universities are often reluctant to confront Chinese interference due to financial dependence on Chinese student fees. The report comes just days after a new law took effect, increasing universities' responsibility to protect academic freedom and free speech. The UK's higher education regulator, the Office for Students, called these freedoms "fundamental" and warned that universities must amend or end any agreements — such as foreign-funded scholarships or programs — that threaten them. Institutions that fail to comply could face millions of pounds in fines. (BBC, August 4, 2025)
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