FOX NEWS 

WASHINGTON —  A Defense Department analyst and a former engineer for Boeing Co. were charged Monday in separate spy cases for allegedly handing over military secrets to the Chinese government, the Justice Department said.

Additionally, two immigrants from China and Taiwan accused of working with the defense analyst were arrested after an FBI raid Monday morning on a New Orleans home where one of them lived.

The two cases — based in Alexandria, Va., and Los Angeles — have no connection, and investigators said it was merely a coincidence that charges would be brought against both on the same day.

The arrests mark China’s latest attempts to gain top secret information about U.S. military systems and sales, said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Wainstein. He described China as “particularly adept, and particularly determined and methodical in their espionage efforts.”

“The threat is very simple,” Wainstein said at a Justice Department news conference in Washington. “It’s a threat to our national security and to our economic position in the world, a threat that is posed by the relentless efforts of foreign intelligence services to penetrate our security systems and steal our most sensitive military technology and information.”

An official at the Chinese Embassy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In the first case, prosecutors said weapons systems policy analyst Gregg W. Bergersen, 51, of Alexandria, Va., sold classified defense information to a New Orleans furniture salesman. In return, the salesman, a Taiwan native identified as Tai Kuo, a 58-year-old naturalized U.S. citizen, forwarded the information to the Chinese government.

The data outlined every planned U.S. sale of weapons or other military technology to Taiwan for the next five years, prosecutors said.

It’s not clear how much money Bergersen received for the classified information, or if he was even aware it was intended for the Chinese government. Court documents portray him as nervous during at least one meeting when he handed over a diskette of documents to be recorded, asking Kuo to keep their deal a secret.

“I’d go to jail, I don’t wanna go to jail,” Bergersen said in a conversation taped by the FBI.

“I’d probably go to jail too,” Kuo responded. Prosecutors described him as chuckling.

A third alleged conspirator in the case, Chinese national Yu Xin Kang, 33, served as the go-between for Kuo and the People’s Republic of China, prosecutors say.

Kuo and Bergersen, who worked at the Defense Security Cooperation Agency in Arlington, Va., were arraigned before Magistrate Judge John Anderson at the federal courthouse in Alexandria. Bergersen was charged with conspiracy to deliver national defense information to a person not entitled to receive it. He faces a maximum of 10 years in prison.

Bergersen, who was arrested at his home early Monday, wore a long black T-shirt and blue shorts. His wife, who identified herself only as Ofelia, told reporters Bergersen was innocent and the charges “came out of the blue.”

Lee ADDS: If you can unravel the snarl I’d bet that the names Bill and Hillary Clinto are involved in this debacle! The ties between the Clintons and China are almost as strong as their ties with the Mid-East! Money means more to Bill and Hillary than anything!