A Chinese national accused this week of taking unauthorized photographs of B-2 Spirit stealth bombers at an Air Force base in Missouri has been in the U.S. illegally since 2022 but was released from custody after claiming asylum.
Federal prosecutors said Qilin Wu, 35, was first spotted on Dec. 2 inside a minivan with Massachusetts plates at the perimeter of Whiteman Air Force Base, about 60 miles east of Kansas City. Mr. Wu told an Air Force security patrolman sent to investigate that he was there to look at B-2 Spirit bombers.
The aircraft that struck Iran’s nuclear facilities in June as part of Operation Midnight Hammer were B-2 stealth bombers that had launched 36 hours earlier from their home base at Whiteman Air Force Base.
Mr. Wu left after the security patrolman told him he wasn’t allowed to take photographs or make video recordings of the military installation. He was spotted the next day outside the perimeter and questioned by agents with the Air Force Office of Special Investigations.
“Wu admitted to taking videos of the B-2 Spirit aircraft and numerous photographs of Whiteman’s perimeter fencing, a gate and military equipment,” federal prosecutors said in a statement. “Wu showed investigators his phone, including images of Whiteman Air Force Base and military equipment that [he] had recorded.”
Mr. Wu acknowledged that he was in the U.S. illegally during questioning by federal agents. He said in 2022, he crossed the Mexican border into Arizona on foot, after first flying from China to Ecuador, where he then began to make his way north.
“Wu disclosed that he was detained at some point by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, but [he] reported that he was subsequently released after he claimed asylum,” according to court documents.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Missouri, Mr. Wu was released because of a lack of detention space. Immigration removal proceedings had been scheduled for 2027.
The criminal complaint against Mr. Wu said he admitted being a veteran of the Chinese military, but insisted that undisclosed “troubling events” led him to conclude that conditions inside the Communist country were “no longer good.”
Mr. Wu traveled from Boston to New York and then to Missouri around Dec. 2. Prosecutors said he made the 1,200-mile trip with the intent of observing B-2 stealth bombers.
“Wu described himself as an aviation enthusiast [and] claimed that the B-2 was his favorite aircraft, followed closely by the F-35,” according to the court documents “He further disclosed that he had previously visited Langley Air Force Base in Virginia, where he admitted that he had photographed multiple military aircraft, including an A-10, a B-2 and a B-52” bomber.
Mr. Wu was charged with unlawful photographing of a defense installation. He faces up to a year in federal prison if convicted, officials said.
• Mike Glenn can be reached at mglenn@washingtontimes.com.
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