HONOLULU (AP) - A defence contractor for the US Pacific Command is being charged with giving national security secrets to a 27-year-old Chinese student he was romantically involved with.

A criminal complaint filed in US District Court in Honolulu says 59-year-old Benjamin Pierce Bishop sent the woman an email last May with information on existing war plans, nuclear weapons and US relations with international partners.

Authorities arrested Bishop at his workplace at Camp H.M. Smith in Hawaii on Friday.

His lawyer Birney Bervar says Bishop is a lieutenant colonel in the US Army Reserve and would never do anything to harm the United States.

Bishop is scheduled to appear in court on Friday for a hearing on whether he will remain in detention during the case.