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Navy Officer Lt. Cmdr. Edward Lin Court Martial to Begin Tuesday

Lt. Cmdr. Edward Lin, the U.S. naval officer accused of spying for Taiwan, and possibly China, will be arraigned on the charges in Norfolk, Va.
Image: Lt. Edward Lin
Lt. Edward Lin, a native of Taiwan, tells personal stories about his journey to American citizenship to 80 newly nationalized citizens at a naturalization ceremony on Dec. 3, 2008, in the U.S. American defense officials say Lin, a Navy officer with access to classified information is accused of passing military secrets to China or Taiwan, or both. A document that describes multiple charges against Lin accuses him of failing to report foreign contacts and says that on multiple occasions he gave or attempted to give secret national defense information to representatives of a foreign government.Sarah Murphy / U.S. Navy via AP

Lt. Cmdr. Edward Lin, the U.S. naval officer accused of spying for Taiwan, and possibly China, will be arraigned on the charges in Norfolk, Va. on Tuesday— a move which marks the start of his court martial proceedings.

He is charged with espionage and mishandling classified documents and adultery with a prostitute. His defense team insists he is a victim of entrapment by the FBI and that the information was dealing with was not classified.They also argue that he was ambushed when he was arrested and never read his rights.

Lin's unit oversaw several Navy spy planes and, as such, he was in a position to glean information about Navy intelligence gathering through its use its sea-going aircraft. The intelligence officials say he passed on was classified at the "Secret" level, one step below "Top Secret," which covers the military's most closely guarded information.