Two Chinese nationals have been arrested after they acted as agents on behalf of the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
The defendants, Yuance Chen and Liren “Ryan” Lai, were involved in activities such as “facilitating a ‘dead drop’ payment of cash for information relating to the national security of the United States previously provided to the [Ministry of State Security], gathering intelligence about U.S. Navy service members and bases, and assisting with efforts to recruit other individuals from within the U.S. military as potential MSS assets,” the Justice Department explained.
In 2022 and 2023, Chen visited a U.S. Naval installation in Washington State and a U.S. Navy recruitment center in San Gabriel, California, where he gathered information pertaining to Navy recruits, many of whom listed China as their hometown. In 2023, Lai traveled to the U.S. from China to give Chen a cellphone to communicate with MSS.
“This case underscores the Chinese government’s sustained and aggressive effort to infiltrate our military and undermine our national security from within,” Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a statement. “The Justice Department will not stand by while hostile nations embed spies in our country – we will expose foreign operatives, hold their agents to account, and protect the American people from covert threats to our national security.”
FBI Director Kash Patel said the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) “thought they were getting away with their scheme to operate on U.S. soil, utilizing spy craft, like dead drops, to pay their sources.” He said the case was a “complex, coordinated effort and is an example of outstanding counterintelligence work done by FBI San Francisco, Portland, Houston, San Diego, and the Counterintelligence Division. The FBI will continue to vigilantly defend the homeland from China’s pervasive attempts to infiltrate our borders.”
