(CNN) A former Defense Intelligence Agency officer is being charged with allegedly attempting to send national defense information to China.

Ron Rockwell Hansen was arrested on Saturday while en route to the airport for a flight heading to China, according to the Department of Justice.

"His alleged actions are a betrayal of our nation's security and the American people and are an affront to his former intelligence community colleagues," Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers said in a statement. "Our intelligence professionals swear an oath to protect our country's most closely held secrets, and the National Security Division will continue to relentlessly pursue justice against those who violate this oath."

The Justice Department said that from 2013 to 2017, Hansen traveled between the US and China regularly and gave information he obtained from military and intelligence conferences to China.

In exchange for the information, Hansen received as much as $800,000 from China since May 2013 through various types of transactions, including cash and wire transfers, the department said.

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