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A People's Republic of China (PRC) national used a modified drone to photograph the United States’ Vandenberg Space Force Base on November 30. Frequent infiltrations by PRC nationals into US military installations represent likely PRC efforts to spy on US military facilities, especially missile launch sites. The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on December 11 that US authorities arrested PRC national Zhou Yinpiao on federal charges after he flew a modified drone over Vandenberg Space Force Base in California and took pictures of the base from above. The base’s security personnel detected the drone flying nearly a mile overhead and apprehended Zhou, who was piloting the drone from a nearby park. US authorities found the drone on Zhou’s person and later discovered the photographs of the military base from an aerial viewpoint on the drone. US authorities arrested Zhou at San Francisco International Airport on December 11 before he boarded a flight to the PRC. The DOJ stated that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is investigating the case.
The criminal complaint affidavit by the Central District Court of California stated that Zhou told a contact on PRC-based messaging app WeChat that he “hacked” the drone so that it could fly higher than its intended range, which he told investigators he achieved by using software that he purchased online. Zhou sent the unnamed person photographs that he took with the drone. The affidavit stated that Zhou told investigators that he previously “got into trouble” for flying an unrestricted drone in the People’s Square in Shanghai, which the PRC designated as a restricted zone.
Frequent attempts by PRC nationals to gain access to US military bases indicate the PRC’s possible interest in gathering intelligence related the United States’ missile launch capabilities. The Wall Street Journal cited unnamed US officials who stated in September 2023 that PRC nationals had accessed US military bases and other sensitive sites up to “100 times in recent years,” including PRC nationals who crossed into a US missile range in New Mexico and scuba divers swimming near a US government rocket-launch site in Florida. Vandenberg Space Force Base frequently launches military and commercial spacecraft, including Starlink satellites. The National Reconnaissance Office, SpaceX and the Space Force launched a Falcon 9 rocket containing satellites bound for orbit on the same day that the base detected Zhou’s drone flying overhead.
Guam police apprehended seven PRC nationals attempting to enter the island illegally on December 10 and 11 during a US missile interceptor test off the island. The PRC nationals arrived by the same boat from Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands, which have a 90-day visa-exemption policy. The Guam Customs and Quarantine Agency stated in a press release that one of the three detainees arrested on December 10 had a standing warrant for her arrest and was found illegally entering the vicinity of a US military installation. Police also discovered four other detainees on Tanguisson Beach and near a US military installation on December 11. The press release noted that it did not discover any contraband in the detainees’ baggage. The arrests all occurred in northern Guam near Andersen Air Force Base. The US conducted its first Guam-based ballistic missile intercept off the coast of Andersen Air Force Base on December 10. The Guam Customs and Quarantine Agency stated that there were 152 instances of PRC nationals illegally attempting to enter Guam since 2022. The December 10 infiltrations are the latest known instance of suspicious activity by PRC nationals near US missile launch sites. Conducting espionage against US military facilities, especially those with missile launch capabilities, could provide the PRC with potentially valuable intelligence that would benefit it in a conflict with the US. Guam is the closest US territory to the PRC and a significant strategic location for both countries. Guam lies within the second island chain and within the range of PRC DF-26 intermediate-range ballistic missiles nicknamed the “Guam Express.” The PRC’s application of an anti-access aerial denial (A2/AD) strategy to prevent access to Taiwan is dependent on neutralizing threats from the first and second island chains. The US Department of Defense’s 2023 Report on the Military and Security Developments Involving the PRC states that Guam military bases are within PRC ballistic and cruise missile range and added that “in the future, PLA LACMs will also likely be deployable on surface platforms like the RENHAI-class guided-missile cruisers. H-6K bomber flights into the Philippine Sea demonstrate the PRC’s ability to range Guam with air-launched LACMs.” The US Missile Defense Agency said that the December 10 missile interceptor test “marks a pivotal step taken in defense of Guam initiatives and partnerships.”
Key Takeaways
- The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) uses exchanges with Kuomintang (KMT) leaders to legitimize the party while maintaining coercive pressure against President Lai Ching-te’s administration and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). This dual approach is likely intended to cause the Taiwanese public to associate the DPP with military escalation and the KMT with peaceful cross-Strait relations. Former Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou led a delegation of nearly 1,000 young Taiwanese people to the PRC and met with TAO Director Song Tao in another high-profile instance of CCP-KMT engagement. A PRC national used a modified drone to photograph the United States Vandenberg Space Force Base on November 30. Frequent infiltrations by PRC nationals into US military installations represent likely PRC efforts to spy on US military facilities, especially missile launch sites.
- Guam police apprehended seven PRC nationals attempting to enter the island illegally on December 10 and 11 during a US missile interceptor test off the island.
- The European Union (EU) sanctioned six PRC-based companies and one PRC citizen on December 16 for supporting Russia’s war in Ukraine.
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