Accused spy Navy Lt. Cmdr. Edward Chieh-Liang Lin, who was based at Marine Corps Base Hawaii at Kaneohe Bay, was arrested at Honolulu Airport as he attempted to fly to either China or Taiwan about eight months ago, U.S. officials said.
Lin, a Taiwanese native who was naturalized as an American citizen, has been in custody at the Naval Consolidated Brig in Chesapeake, Va., since his arrest.
A redacted charge sheet accuses the 39-year-old officer with two specifications of espionage for allegedly communicating secret information relating to national defense to a representative of a foreign government.
The name of the accused is blacked out, but a U.S. official confirmed the charges were leveled against Lin.
The Navy flight officer is suspected of providing secret information to China and Taiwan, with Navy investigators believing Lin passed the material to a Chinese girlfriend, The New York Times reported.
Although the charge sheet lists Lin’s unit as the Patrol and Reconnaissance Group in Norfolk, Va., that actually is the higher headquarters for Lin’s unit at the time of his arrest, the highly secretive Special Projects Patrol Squadron 2 (VPU-2) “Wizards” at Kaneohe Bay.
The group, which flies specially modified spy planes, had been known to change P-3 Orion aircraft paint schemes and identifying numbers to blend in with other Navy planes.
Lin’s biography provided by the U.S. military shows that his home of record is California and that he had been with VPU-2 since Feb. 15, 2014.
To give an indication of some of its airborne capabilities, a Navy website said the EP-3E Aries II based on the Orion P-3 airframe provides fleet and theater commanders with near-real-time tactical signals intelligence.
“With sensitive receivers and high-gain dish antennas, the EP-3E exploits a wide range of electronic emissions from deep within targeted territory,” the Navy said.
Bryan Clark, a naval analyst with the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, told U.S. Naval Institute News that China “would like to know the types of stuff a VPU guy would know,” including what kind of Chinese systems the Americans are looking for and listening to.
Lin also was assigned to U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor from April 13, 2007, to Feb. 16, 2009, according to his biography.
A 2008 Navy story said Lin, then a lieutenant, spoke at a naturalization ceremony at U.S. District Court in Honolulu about how he was 14 years old when his family left Taiwan.
“I always dreamt about coming to America, the ‘promised land,’” the officer was quoted as saying at the ceremony. “I grew up believing that all roads in America lead to Disneyland.”
LIN shared his personal story with 80 individuals becoming American citizens. He noted diverse motivations for wanting to become an American citizen.
“Whether it is economical, political, social or religious reasons,” Lin said, “I do know that by becoming a citizen of the United States of America, you did it to better your life and the life of your family.”
Also listed on the charge sheet were three specifications of attempted espionage for allegedly trying to pass secret information.
The officer additionally was charged with patronizing a prostitute and adultery, five specifications of communicating defense information that could be used to injure the United States, and three specifications of making a false official statement relating to foreign travel.
Lin was attached to the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower in 2009-10 and was with Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron 1 (VQ-1), the “World Watchers” flying the EP-3 signals intelligence and reconnaissance aircraft out of Whidbey Island, Wash., from 2004 to 2007.
A preliminary Article 32 hearing was held Friday for Lin with a decision on what charges to bring to court- martial expected to be made next week, the Times said.
