The FBI has arrested two Chinese nationals accused of operating as foreign agents and attempting to recruit members of the US military to betray the country on behalf of the Chinese government.
According to the Department of Justice, 38-year-old Yuance Chen and 39-year-old Liren “Ryan” Lai were taken into custody last week. Chen, a legal permanent resident living in Oregon, and Lai, who entered the US on a tourist visa in April, were both allegedly working for China’s Ministry of State Security (MSS), the country’s main foreign intelligence agency. The pair has been charged with operating within the US as a foreign agent without notifying the attorney general.
In 2022, Chen and Lai left a backpack containing $10,000 in a locker at a California recreation facility as a “dead-drop” payment intended to exchange for classified national security information. The pair also reportedly obtained recruitment information from a naval installation in Washington and a naval recruiting center in California. Prosecutors said Chen stole personal recruitment data and sent it to an MSS agent in China.
“The FBI arrested two Chinese nationals who were allegedly attempting to recruit U.S. military service members on behalf of the PRC,” said FBI Director Kash Patel in a statement. “The Chinese Communist Party thought they were getting away with their scheme to operate on U.S. soil, utilizing spy craft, like dead drops, to pay their sources. This 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.”
Attorney General Pamela Bondi said the case highlights the Chinese government’s aggressive campaign to infiltrate US institutions.
“This case underscores the Chinese government’s sustained and aggressive effort to infiltrate our military and undermine our national security from within,” Bondi said. “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.”
If convicted, Chen and Lai face up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
