Los Angeles (United States) (AFP) – A Chinese citizen has been charged with flying a drone over Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, where he is alleged to have recorded images of the military facility, the US Justice Department said Wednesday. Yinpiao Zhou, 39, was arrested as he readied to board a flight to China from San Francisco, authorities said.
“This defendant allegedly flew a drone over a military base and took photos of the base’s layout, which is against the law,” United States Attorney Martin Estrada stated. “The security of our nation is of paramount importance and my office will continue to promote the safety of our nation’s military personnel and facilities.”
Charging documents indicate that detection systems at Vandenberg tracked a drone as it flew about a mile (1.6 kilometers) above the facility in late November. Security personnel at the base, which serves as the launch site for space missions — including Elon Musk’s SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets — as well as missile tests, traced the drone to a nearby public park where they allegedly found Zhou with the device concealed in his jacket.
Agents who obtained a search warrant examined the drone, which contained aerial photographs of the base. The Justice Department reported that Zhou is a Chinese citizen and a lawful permanent resident of the United States, and he had most recently been in China in February.
Zhou did not enter a plea when he appeared in a San Francisco court on Tuesday, facing charges of failure to register an aircraft not providing transportation and violation of national defense airspace. He is expected to appear in US District Court in Los Angeles in the coming weeks. Zhou remains in custody pending an appeal by prosecutors against the court’s decision to release him on bail.
This incident comes less than two years after a national security incident that significantly heightened tensions between Washington and Beijing. In early 2023, the United States discovered and tracked what it described as a spy balloon as it flew high above sensitive US military installations, subsequently shooting it down and retrieving its large payload of electronics. The incident raised concerns that China was gathering vital intelligence, while Beijing claimed it was a civilian airship that had been blown off course.
© 2024 AFP
