Five Chinese graduates of UMich were caught spying on US military base, FBI finds

Five Chinese nationals, all recent graduates of the University of Michigan (UMich), have been implicated in a federal investigation related to their suspicious activities at Camp Grayling, a military base in northern Michigan. 

The individuals, identified as Zhekai Xu, Renxiang Guan, Haoming Zhu, Jingzhe Tao, and Yi Liang, face charges for “[f]alse statements, conspiracy, [and] [d]estruction, alteration, or falsification of records in federal investigations,” according to an FBI complaint filed on Oct. 1. 

The complaint states that the five Chinese nationals were caught while taking pictures close to “numerous military vehicles, tents, and classified communications equipment.” The incident occurred during the Northern Strike exercise in August 2023. 

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Northern Strike is “one of the largest U.S. National Guard training exercises held in the United States, which included U.S. military personnel from across the United States and, in August 2023, members of the Taiwanese military.”

The communist Chinese government considers Taiwan, which is a sovereign, independent democracy, to be part of China, and has made increasingly aggressive moves towards the island nation. 

Describing the incident in more detail, the complaint states: “The SUBJECTS stood near the boat launch. When questioned, they said they were taking pictures. When the [sergeant major] asked what they were photographing, Subject 1 replied, ‘We are media.’ The SGM asked if they were with the Taiwanese, and Subjects 2 and 4 responded that ‘We’re Chinese.’ The SGM firmly told them they had to leave, that they should not be there because there were soldiers and equipment around. The group promptly gathered their things and walked quickly towards the road, and away from the TOC. The [sergeant major] followed the group until he was satisfied that they were leaving the area.”

It was later discovered that the five suspects had stayed at a hotel close to Camp Grayling. The five students graduated from UMich in May 2024, and were part of the school’s “joint program with Shanghai Jiao Tong University.”

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When questioned later, the students made numerous “false statements and misrepresentations” about their activities around the military base. 

As seen from records of conversations between the students on WeChat, a Chinese messaging app, the suspects seemed to have “coordinated their statements regarding the incident and discussed the deletion of photos from their electronic devices to prevent them being seen by law enforcement.”

Campus Reform has contacted the University of Michigan for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.