Five University of Michigan graduates originally from China have been charged with conspiracy, making false statements and destroying records in a federal countersurveillance investigation, MLive.com reported.
According to an FBI complaint filed Oct. 1, the flagship alumni—Zhekai Xu, Renxiang Guan, Haoming Zhu, Jingzhe Tao and Yi Liang—were seen with cameras at Camp Grayling, a training facility for the Michigan Army National Guard, during a training exercise in August 2023. About 7,000 military officials, including some from Taiwan, were participating.
The complaint says that Taiwanese participation was made public prior to the event. China has consistently challenged Taiwan’s sovereignty. All five of the former students had graduated from the university in May and were studying through a joint program with Shanghai Jiao Tong University, court records show.
The students were originally found near military vehicles and classified equipment by a U.S. sergeant major. They told the sergeant major they were members of the Chinese media and quickly left.
Local police later found the students in a Super 8 motel, which records show was booked one week before the Aug. 13 encounter. All five were later stopped at U.S. airports before departing the country, Guan last December and the other four in March. Customs agents found evidence on Guan’s external hard drive of two photos of military vehicles at Camp Grayling.
The students each shared conflicting descriptions of the events during interrogation, some of which denied their presence at Camp Grayling entirely. Investigators later found messages on the Chinese messaging app WeChat that showed the group discussing the trip to Camp Grayling. Tao discussed the interaction with the sergeant major, while Liang and Guan talked about deleting photos and messages to prevent FBI agents from thinking “we are colluding,” records show.
The complaint states that the students departed the United States after graduation in May. It is not clear, however, if the students are in custody. Messages left with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Detroit were not returned. University of Michigan spokespeople directed any questions to the FBI office in Detroit.
