Two Chinese nationals were indicted in a federal espionage matter for allegedly carrying out clandestine surveillance and intelligence collection activities for the Ministry of State Security (MSS) of China, the US Justice Department revealed Monday.
The two suspects, Yuance Chen, 38, and Liren “Ryan” Lai, 39, face charges of acting as unregistered foreign agents, taking photographs of sensitive US Navy facilities, trying to recruit armed forces personnel, and conspiring to orchestrate clandestine cash drops. The charges were made public in San Francisco federal court.
Chen, who entered the US in 2015 and subsequently became a lawful permanent resident, was groomed as a Chinese asset by Lai since mid-2021, prosecutors allege. Lai, who is based in China, went to Texas earlier this year to direct espionage operations on the MSS’s behalf.
The duo allegedly monitored a Navy recruitment station in California and a Washington state military base, providing Chinese intelligence with photos and videos. The duo also supposedly negotiated how to recruit US Navy personnel and gathered personal information of new recruits, many of whom had Chinese connections.
An FBI affidavit discloses that the two planned a $10,000 cash “dead drop” to another MSS-connected operative as part of a larger scheme to infiltrate US military infrastructure.
“This case reaffirms the Chinese government’s ongoing and aggressive pursuit to infiltrate our military and subvert our national security from within,” said Attorney General Pam Bondi. “We will uncover foreign operatives and hold them accountable.”
The arrests are the latest in a string of US prosecutions against Chinese intelligence operations. Previous cases in recent years have included Chinese nationals collecting military information, such as one near a Michigan base and another two US Navy sailors sharing sensitive information with Beijing.