The Defense Department is downplaying reports that Chinese nationals posing as tourists have attempted to breach U.S. military bases and other government installations more than 100 times in recent years.

The alleged gatecrashers ranged from divers spotted in the water near a rocket launch site in Florida to other Chinese nationalists discovered crossing into a U.S. military missile range in New Mexico. Some were required to report what they saw back to the Chinese government, according to the Wall Street Journal, citing officials familiar with the practice.

On Tuesday, a Pentagon spokesman declined to comment on any specific incidents, but Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder insisted that it remains a top priority, saying the military’s prevention measures take in a wide variety of potential threats, including attempted spying by adversaries.

“The [Defense Department] has conducted several base security reviews since 2018, some of which included support by our interagency partners,” Gen. Ryder told reporters at the Pentagon. “The results of those reviews will continue to inform changes to protective measures at our bases.”

The Defense Department tracks more than 10,000 incidents a day of what it calls “controlled turnarounds” of people at entrance gates to U.S. military bases.

“These individuals are people who are not authorized to access and depart the installations,” Gen. Ryder said. “These incidents are generally low-level and, so far, none of them indicated espionage.”

In some cases, the reason can be as innocuous as a confused motorist who pulls up to a military gate and is turned away. A driver who gets past the gate but is otherwise not suspected of illicit activity will often be cited and escorted off the base, Gen. Ryder said.

“A very small number of these ‘controlled turnarounds’ warrant additional checks and even a smaller number warrant an investigation,” Gen. Ryder said.

Liu Pengyu, a spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, told the state-controlled Global Times news website that the spying claims were “malicious fabrications.”

The nationalist news website mocked the Wall Street Journal report, adding, “Anyone with critical thinking skills can easily tell that the U.S. smear is riddled with loopholes.”

• Mike Glenn can be reached at mglenn@washingtontimes.com.