Former Hawaii-based Navy Lt. Cmdr. Edward Chieh-Liang Lin will be arraigned Tuesday in Norfolk, Va., on charges that he passed secret information relating to national defense to a representative of a foreign government, a Navy official said.

U.S. Fleet Forces commander Adm. Phil Davidson on Tuesday approved charges against Lin, including two specifications of espionage, three specifications of attempted espionage, three specifications of making a false official statement, five specifications of improperly communicating defense information and other charges, said Navy spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Tim Hawkins.

Davidson dismissed accusations of patronizing a prostitute and adultery but left open the door to possible future punitive or administrative action, Hawkins said.

The Navy flight officer is suspected of aiding Taiwan, an official previously said, but media reports also have referenced China. Lin, 39, a Taiwanese native who was naturalized as an American citizen, has been in custody at the Naval Consolidated Brig in Chesapeake, Va., since his arrest Sept. 11 at Honolulu Airport by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, according to his family and U.S. officials.

A U.S. official said Lin was attempting to fly to either China or Taiwan.

A law firm representing Lin previously said he is innocent of the charges, while his family said that the Navy officer they know as “Eddy” is “no spy for Taiwan or any other foreign country.”

At the time of his arrest, Lin was with the highly secretive Special Projects Patrol Squadron 2 (VPU-2) “Wizards” at Kaneohe Bay. The group, which flies specially modified spy planes, had been known to change P-3 Orion aircraft paint schemes and identifying numbers to blend in with other Navy planes.

A court-martial for Lin raises complications over the potential revelation of top-secret information.

Tully Rinckey PLLC attorney Larry Youngner previously said that Lin “is innocent of espionage, innocent of failing to follow lawful orders (and) innocent of false official statements.” The law firm is based in Albany, N.Y.

A government prosecutor alleged at an April 8 hearing that Lin confessed to passing secret information, while Youngner maintained that the government entrapped Lin and that much of the information was publicly available, U.S. Naval Institute News reported.

Lin became the target of a sting operation, with an informant who spoke Mandarin providing information to the government, the Washington Post said.