A Chinese national studying in Canada allegedly crossed over into the United States earlier this year to take photos of facilities near the Chicago airport at the direction of a suspected Chinese government official, according to newly filed court records.
uncertain
national → study → records
The Chinese official repeatedly told the student to destroy the SIM cards they used to communicate and stick to a Huawei phone.
asserted
they → tell → phone
The records provide insight into how Chinese state actors continue to use students to essentially crowd source imagery of sensitive U.S. locations or military aircraft, and how those students are told to remain undetected.
asserted
students → provide → locations
Seamus Hughes of Court Watch first identified and posted the records on Wednesday.
asserted
Hughes → identify → Wednesday
Weiheng Zeng is an undergraduate student at the University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada and has crossed into the U.S. around two dozen times since 2022, according to an affidavit from an FBI Special Agent.
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Zeng → cross → Agent
In April, an unknown person was seen inside the FedEx employee parking lot at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois, the document continues.
asserted
document → see → Chicago
This person looked like they were taking photos of aircraft or other parts of the airport.
asserted
they → look → airport
They climbed onto a forklift to take photos in the direction of the aircraft, and tried to get into a FedEx truck, according to photos included in the document.
uncertain
They → climb → document
Authorities later figured out this was Zeng based on the dark blue Chrysler Town & Country vehicle that left the area and that he was connected to
When Zeng tried to enter the U.S. again last Sunday, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) interviewed him repeatedly.
asserted
Customs → figure → him
At first, Zeng said he planned to travel with his sister and a classmate.
asserted
he → say → sister
CBP agents then reviewed his phone and found multiple photos of aircraft, the document says.
asserted
document → review → aircraft
Zeng told the agents “he takes pictures of model aircraft being tracked for a flight radar website,” it adds.
asserted
it → tell → website
At one point he said he takes the photos as his hobby.
asserted
he → say → hobby
Agents also found photos of Zeng and others in tactical clothing holding rifle-styled firearms.
asserted
Zeng → find → firearms
Zeng said this was an airsoft gun.
asserted
this → say → ?
Zeng changed his story repeatedly, before revealing taking the photos was more than a hobby.
asserted
taking → change → hobby
Instead, he knows someone referred to in the court record as his “Chinese Contact.”
asserted
he → know → Contact
This contact assigned Zeng specific planes and their tail numbers to photograph, and then paid Zeng $20 to $30 per picture.
asserted
contact → assign → picture
Zeng said this Chinese Contact sent him SIM cards to communicate, and then told him to destroy the cards, their chats, and delete the photos he took.
asserted
he → say → photos
Later Zeng said the contact told him to use his Huawei phone to communicate, and never take that phone into the U.S.
Zeng claimed the Chinese Contact approached him through “an aviation spotter website” around a year and a half ago, the document continues.
asserted
document → say → website
Zeng said he believed this person was connected to the Chinese Communist Party, and later told the FBI the person sent a photo of an official looking badge.
asserted
person → say → badge
The language the contact used “was very organized and managed, not language typically used between friends,” the document adds.
asserted
document → use → friends
When the FBI later looked into this site, the agency found it appeared to not exist, according to the court record.
uncertain
it → look → record
One of the photographed planes was an American United aircraft which had “a unique, temporary paint job, of which photographs were highly desired,” according to Zeng.
uncertain
photographs → photograph → Zeng
The contact wanted Zeng to go to places in Orlando, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles to take photographs of specific locations around airports, the document says.
asserted
document → want → airports
Zeng said he denied these requests and accepted two tasks over 18 months.
asserted
he → say → months
One of those was to get the photos of the interior of the FedEx facility at O’Hare International Airport.
asserted
One → get → Airport
In all, he made $500, the document says.
asserted
document → make → 500
“ZENG stated ‘Chinese Contact’ was not satisfied with the photographs and the photographs were fine, but not what were ‘expected’,” the document adds.
asserted
document → state → photographs
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