Directed by China's Ministry of State Security to Photograph U.S. Navy Bases and Collect Recruit Information… Two Chinese Nationals Sentenced to 30 Months in Prison Each

WASHINGTON

Two Chinese nationals who conducted clandestine intelligence operations inside the United States under the direction of the Chinese Ministry of State Security (MSS) were each sentenced on October 30 (local time) to 30 months in prison, the U.S. Department of Justice announced. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Liren "Ryan" Lai, 40, and Yuance Chen, 39, were each sentenced to 30 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for conspiring to act as agents of the PRC government and acting as agents of a foreign government without prior notification to the Attorney General.

The U.S. Department of Justice titled its press release: "Defendants Facilitated Secret Cash Payments and Targeted U.S. Military Personnel on Behalf of the PRC's Ministry of State Security." The U.S. Department of Justice announced that the two men agreed to operate under the direction and control of the Chinese Ministry of State Security, facilitating secret "dead drop" cash payments in exchange for U.S. national security information, gathering intelligence on U.S. military personnel and facilities, and aiding efforts to recruit potential intelligence assets within the U.S. military.

"Liren Lai and Yuance Chen engaged in a long-running scheme to undermine U.S. national security by assisting Chinese intelligence operations and recruitment within our borders," said John A. Eisenberg, Assistant Attorney General for National Security. "Lai and Chen's activities at the behest of China were extensive and brazen." He added, "The National Security Division will hold accountable anyone who aids or abets such espionage activities."

Active as MSS Agents Since May 2021… $10,000 Cash 'Dead Drop' in Livermore Locker

According to court documents, Lai and Chen operated as agents of the Chinese Ministry of State Security beginning no later than May 2021. The U.S. Department of Justice described the Ministry of State Security as China's primary civilian intelligence agency responsible for foreign intelligence and counterintelligence operations. Lai brought Chen into the operation and initially served as an intermediary between Chen and Ministry of State Security intelligence officers. Chen subsequently received assignments directly from Ministry of State Security officers.

According to the government's sentencing memorandum, Lai and Chen facilitated a clandestine cash payment of approximately $10,000 in January 2022. While remaining in China, the two communicated with individuals inside the United States to have a backpack containing cash placed inside a locker at a recreational facility in Livermore, California. The U.S. Department of Justice noted that a "dead drop" is a method by which intelligence operatives transfer money or information without meeting in person. According to a U.S. Department of Justice announcement at the time of their July 2025 indictment, both men were in Guangzhou, China, at the time, and the backpack was placed in a day-use locker at the facility. The cash was payment for U.S. national security information that had already been delivered to the Ministry of State Security.

Photographing Naval Base Kitsap, Filming Sailors Inside Recruiting Office… Collecting Navy Personnel's Personal Information

The duo's activities extended beyond clandestine cash drops. Beginning in 2022, under instructions from Lai and Ministry of State Security intelligence officers, Chen gathered information on U.S. military facilities and personnel. This included photographs of Naval Base Kitsap in Bremerton, Washington, as well as photographs and videos of recruits and active-duty sailors taken inside a Navy recruiting office in Southern California. Chen also collected identifying information on a U.S. Navy employee and maintained detailed biographical dossiers on service members considered potential intelligence recruitment targets.

According to details from the criminal complaint unsealed at the time of the 2025 indictment, Chen visited U.S. Navy facilities in Washington state and a Navy recruiting station in San Gabriel, California, in 2022 and 2023 at Lai's direction. Inside the recruiting station, Chen acquired personal information on recruits, which the complaint stated he appeared to have transmitted to a Ministry of State Security intelligence officer in China. Chen received training from the Ministry of State Security on how to approach and recruit prospective sailors and how to minimize the risk of detection. Chen eventually initiated contact with a Navy employee via social media and passed that employee's information to the Ministry of State Security.

Delivering 'State Secret' Phone… 2025 Directive for $20,000 Drop to Phoenix

In March 2023, Lai traveled to the United States and delivered a mobile phone to Chen for covert communication with the Ministry of State Security. Chen referred to this phone as a "state secret." Chen subsequently traveled to China in 2024 and 2025 to meet with Ministry of State Security officers and receive additional taskings regarding U.S. military personnel. According to the complaint, Chen met with Ministry of State Security intelligence officers in Guangzhou in April 2024 and March 2025 to discuss compensation and specific operational tasks.

In April 2025, Lai returned to the United States from China to carry out a Ministry of State Security assignment. Entering Houston, Texas, on a tourist visa, he stated that he had arrived for an online retail business and intended to stay in the Houston area for two weeks. The following month, the Ministry of State Security directed Lai to travel to Phoenix, Arizona, to handle another covert cash payment of approximately $20,000 for intelligence operations. According to the complaint, on May 9, 2025—more than four weeks after arriving in the United States—Lai left Houston by vehicle with a companion, traveled through New Mexico and Tucson, Arizona, to Southern California, and returned to Texas on May 15.

Multi-State Coordinated Arrests in June 2025… Both Plead Guilty

Lai and Chen were arrested on June 27, 2025, in a coordinated FBI counterintelligence and law enforcement operation. Chen was a Chinese national and lawful permanent resident living in Happy Valley, Oregon, while Lai was apprehended in Houston. Both men made their initial appearances in federal courts in Portland, Oregon, and Houston, Texas. On July 1, 2025, a federal grand jury in the Northern District of California indicted the two men on charges of conspiracy to act as agents of a foreign government without prior notification to the Attorney General and acting as agents of a foreign government without prior notification. The charges were brought under 18 U.S.C. § 951, which criminalizes acting or agreeing to act as an agent of a foreign government inside the United States without notifying the Attorney General. At the time of the 2025 indictment announcement, the U.S. Department of Justice noted that each charge carried a statutory maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. Lai pleaded guilty to both counts on December 12, 2025, and Chen pleaded guilty to both counts on February 20, 2026.

"The defendants, acting at the behest of a foreign intelligence agency, collected information about the U.S. military for the purpose of undermining our national security," said Craig H. Missakian, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California. "Our office and our federal law enforcement partners remain vigilant, day and night, to prevent our adversaries from doing just that." He added, "There are many nations in the world that wish ill upon this country. Today's sentences demonstrate our resolve to hold accountable anyone who poses a similar threat to our nation."

"Chen and Lai, as they admitted, operated as illegal agents of the Chinese government on U.S. soil, conducting clandestine intelligence operations that included secret cash payments, gathering sensitive military intelligence, and attempting to recruit U.S. service members," said Roman Rozhavsky, Assistant Director of the FBI Counterintelligence and Espionage Division. "The Chinese government's efforts to infiltrate our military demonstrate the lengths to which it will go to threaten U.S. national security, but China underestimated the FBI's resolve to disrupt illegal activities and hold its operatives accountable," he said. "Let these sentences serve as an unmistakable warning: if you seek to compromise the safety of our service members, our citizens, and our nation, justice will find you."

At 2025 Indictment, FBI Director Patel: "The CCP Thought They Could Get Away With It"

At the time of the July 2025 indictment announcement, FBI Director Kash Patel stated: "The Chinese Communist Party thought they could get away with operating on U.S. soil, using tradecraft like dead drops to pay their sources. The FBI will continue to vigorously defend our homeland from China's persistent efforts to infiltrate our borders." Attorney General Pamela Bondi stated: "This case exemplifies the Chinese government's persistent and aggressive efforts to infiltrate our military and undermine our national security from within. The Department of Justice will not stand by and allow adversarial nations to plant spies in our country." Omar Lopez, Director of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS), stated: "NCIS and the Department of the Navy take foreign intelligence collection threats very seriously. For years, China has used various methods to recruit U.S. service members with access to sensitive military information as intelligence assets. NCIS and the Department of the Navy will work together to root out any attempt to compromise the Department of the Navy's core warfighting and shipbuilding capabilities."

Assistant Attorney General Eisenberg said at the time: "Hostile foreign intelligence services like China's Ministry of State Security spend years identifying, recruiting, and cultivating human assets to carry out their bidding inside the United States. The National Security Division will defend our nation and neutralize our adversaries' clandestine espionage networks." U.S. Attorney Missakian stated: "This indictment highlights the extensive efforts by foreign adversaries targeting the United States through illegal intelligence collection operations directed at our national security information and service members. Regardless of how complex and sensitive they may be, we will pursue counterintelligence investigations and prosecutions to stop attempts to undermine national security."

At the time of the indictment, the U.S. Department of Justice noted that the Ministry of State Security conducts China's civilian intelligence collection and is responsible for counterintelligence, foreign intelligence, and political security, seeking to acquire political, economic, and security policy intelligence affecting China, as well as military, scientific, and technical information of value to China, using clandestine and covert human intelligence operations with the United States as a primary target. The investigation was led by the FBI San Francisco Field Office, with assistance from the FBI Portland, Houston, and San Diego Field Offices, as well as the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. The Counterintelligence and Export Control Section of the Justice Department's National Security Division and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California prosecuted the case, with operational support provided by the U.S. Attorney's Offices for the Districts of Oregon, the Southern District of Texas, and the Southern District of California.

Sources (KST)

• U.S. Department of Justice press release, "Two Men Sentenced for Acting as Agents of the People's Republic of China" (2026-10-30): https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/two-men-sentenced-acting-agents-peoples-republic-china
• U.S. Department of Justice press release, "Justice Department Charges Two Individuals for Acting as Agents of the PRC Government" (2025-07-01): https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-charges-two-individuals-acting-agents-prc-government
• Official X post by the National Security Division, U.S. Department of Justice (2026-10-30): https://x.com/DOJNatSec/status/2116280898102423704