The U.S. expelled two Chinese officials on suspicion of espionage

For what may be the first time in more than 30 years, the U.S. expelled two Chinese Embassy officials on suspicion of spying this fall, according to people with knowledge of the episode.

Neither Washington nor Beijing has made the case public.

The officials and their wives had driven without authorization onto a sensitive installation near Norfolk, Va., in late September that included Special Operations forces, said the people with knowledge of the incident. They evaded military personnel pursuing them and stopped only after fire trucks blocked their path, claiming not to have understood a guard’s directions to leave the base.