Two Chinese Nationals Arrested in Alleged Spy Operation Targeting U.S. Navy for Beijing’s Ministry of State Security

by Worthy News Washington D.C. Bureau Staff

(Worthy News) – Two Chinese nationals have been arrested and charged with conducting clandestine operations in the United States on behalf of the People’s Republic of China’s Ministry of State Security (MSS), including efforts to gather intelligence on U.S. Navy service members and recruit personnel for espionage, according to the Department of Justice.

Yuance Chen, 38, a U.S. permanent resident living in Happy Valley, Oregon, and Liren “Ryan” Lai, 39, who entered the country on a tourist visa in April 2025, were apprehended Friday by the FBI in a coordinated effort with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS). Chen was taken into custody in Oregon, while Lai was arrested in Houston, Texas.

Federal prosecutors say the two men operated as undeclared foreign agents, conducting intelligence-gathering missions for the MSS — China’s primary foreign intelligence service — and attempting to recruit U.S. Navy personnel as assets. According to a criminal complaint unsealed in the Northern District of California, the pair facilitated a covert $10,000 “dead drop” in a California day-use locker as part of an MSS-directed payment scheme in January 2022.

“Today’s arrests reflect the FBI’s unwavering commitment to protecting our national security and safeguarding the integrity of our military,” said FBI Director Kash Patel in a statement. “The individuals charged were acting on behalf of a hostile foreign intelligence service — part of the Chinese Communist Party’s broader effort to infiltrate and undermine our institutions.”

Court documents allege that Lai first recruited Chen to work for the MSS in 2021, prompting multiple trips to Guangzhou, China, where Chen met with intelligence officers and received assignments. Chen allegedly began photographing Navy facilities and recruitment materials, including bulletin boards listing the personal details of recent Navy enlistees — many of whom were of Chinese origin — and transmitted the photos back to Chinese officials.

Prosecutors say Chen also maintained social media communications with a U.S. Navy member and arranged a tour of the USS Abraham Lincoln in San Diego. He then sent the service member’s information to MSS handlers, while receiving guidance from Lai on what assignments to seek, how to make payments, and how to minimize the risk of exposure.

Lai, who claimed to be visiting the U.S. for business as an online retailer, allegedly overstayed his intended visit and was seen traveling extensively across state lines, including to California and back to Texas, in what authorities believe were operational movements tied to MSS activities.

Both men are charged with acting in the United States as agents of a foreign government without notifying the U.S. attorney general, a serious federal offense. If convicted, they each face up to 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

The Department of Justice emphasized that the PRC’s Ministry of State Security is responsible not only for foreign intelligence and counterintelligence but also political surveillance and domestic repression — and increasingly seeks to project its influence abroad through agents planted in American institutions.

This case is the latest in a growing number of espionage-related investigations involving Chinese nationals targeting U.S. military, technology, and research sectors, underscoring what officials describe as the “relentless” effort by the Chinese Communist Party to infiltrate American security infrastructure.

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