Chinese nationals have attempted to gain access to or conduct surveillance on the U.S. military base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, at least 14 times since 2018, according to law enforcement records first obtained by the Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project.
The Chinese nationals sought to enter Joint Base Pearl Harbor Hickam under a pretext or were caught operating surveillance equipment near the base, reported The Daily Signal, which is the Heritage Foundation’s in-house news outlet. While some incidents did not appear to pose a threat, others sparked investigations by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS).
Joint Base Pearl Harbor was the only base to provide records to the Heritage Foundation regarding Chinese nationals’ attempted infiltration of U.S. military bases, according to The Daily Signal. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: RNC Resolution Condemns Biden Admin’s ‘Systematic Illegal Alien Invasion,’ Cites Chinese ‘Sabotage Risk’)
On the afternoon of Oct. 29, security nabbed a Chinese man and woman under “suspicious circumstances,” of “video recording and taking digital photographs,” according to the documents. It was
“The subjects stated they are visiting Hawaii for two days and have no hotel room,” according to the report. A NCIS agent arrived at 4:31 p.m., less than an hour after the two Chinese nationals were stopped, but at 4:54 they were released.
A more anodyne instance involved a delivery driver attempting to pass unauthorized through the wrong entry point
On Oct. 2, a Chinese man demonstrating poor English skills told officers through Google Translate that he “was outside the Nimitz Gate to meet with a friend and to exchange items,” the documents show. The alleged sponsor inside the military facility confirmed the national’s explanation, saying they used “the Chinese social media platform [WeChat] which serves as a medium for … the business of Chinese food.”
It was unclear from the reports if any of the incidents were connected.
In one Sept. 29 instance, police responded to a call near a security gate for the Pearl Harbor base, the documents show. A Chinese man and woman engaging in suspicious activity near the base fled in what police identified as a 2021 silver Nissan Altima with unidentified license plates before appearing at another entrance point later the same day.
The two suspects were “capturing digital media of the entry control point,” police said in the filing.
In 2018, two intrusions were reported at Pearl Harbor, including a pursuit using the base’s chase vehicle, and asking for Honolulu police for help to nab Chinese nationals trying to flee pic.twitter.com/3RZF2ZXI3j
— Oversight Project (@OversightPR) February 2, 2024
Earlier, on March 14, police responded to a call and “made contact with the subject who stated they were taking pictures of the USS Missouri and Arizona Memorials.” The USS Missouri is a battleship commissioned in the 1940s that currently serves as a museum on base.
“Patrols verified that there were no assets in the photos taken and deleted the photos” and escorted the man to a bus stop, according to the documents.
The Department of Defense did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment. However, U.S. officials have previously expressed concern about a seeming trend of Chinese nationals attempting to access military bases under suspicious circumstances.
The practice appears intended to stress-test security measures at the military sites as a form of low-effort reconnaissance or espionage.