Washington, United States - A former US Army sergeant was arrested on Friday for attempting to provide classified information to China, the Justice Department said.

Joseph Daniel Schmidt (29), who served in an army intelligence unit from 2015 until 2020, is charged with retaining national defense information and attempting to deliver it to China.

Schmidt had access to secret and top-secret information while serving in the 109th Military Intelligence Battalion at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state.

The Justice Department said that, after leaving the military, Schmidt offered national defense information to the Chinese consulate in Turkey and the Chinese security services.

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In March 2020, he went to Hong Kong, where he "continued his efforts to provide Chinese intelligence with classified information."

"He allegedly retained a device that allows for access to secure military computer networks and offered the device to Chinese authorities to assist them in efforts to gain access to such networks," the DOJ said.

Schmidt stayed in Hong Kong until his return to the United States on Friday. He was arrested upon arrival in San Francisco.

"Members of our military take a sworn oath to defend our country and the Constitution," acting US attorney Tessa Gorman said. "In that context, the alleged actions of this former military member are shocking – not only attempting to provide national defense information but also information that would assist a foreign adversary to gain access to Department of Defense secure computer networks."

Schmidt could potentially be facing up to 20 years in prison.

His arrest comes two months after two members of the US Navy – Jinchao Wei and Petty Officer Wenheng Zhao – were arrested on suspicion of spying for China.