Image copyright AP Image caption Lt Cmdr Edward Lin, seen in 2008, is charged

A US Navy officer has been charged with espionage, accused of passing military secrets to China and Taiwan, according to US military officials.

The Associated Press news agency named him as Lt Cdr Edward Lin, a US citizen who was born in Taiwan.

He is being held in Navy brig in Virginia awaiting a court-martial.

Officials believe he passed information to a Chinese girlfriend, the New York Times reported. Lt Cdr Lin is also charged with lying about his travels.

United States Naval Institute (USNI) News first reported the charges against Lt Cdr Lin. The website said that Lin worked as a signals intelligence specialist on the Navy's EP-3E Aries II reconnaissance planes.

He joined the Navy as an enlisted sailor in 1999 and became a US citizen in 2008.

"I always dreamt about coming to America, the 'promised land'," Lt Cdr Lin said when he became a citizen. "I grew up believing that all the roads in America lead to Disneyland."