US charges two Chinese nationals with plot to recruit Navy spies for China

The US Justice Department on Tuesday charged two Chinese nationals for spying on behalf of China’s security service, alleging they gathered intelligence on Navy bases and attempted to recruit American service members as spies.

The two men, identified as 38-year-old Yuance Chen from Oregon and 39-year-old Liren Ryan Lai, who entered the US in April on a tourist visa, were arrested last Friday. According to the Justice Department, they were acting on behalf of China’s Ministry of State Security (MSS), China’s main civilian spy agency.

“These individuals tried to find US Navy service members who might be willing to pass along secret information to China,” the department said. One of the tactics included a “dead-drop payment” of at least $10,000. This means they left the money in a locker at a recreational centre in Northern California back in 2022, in exchange for classified national security information.

FBI, COURTS, AND RESPONSE FROM CHINA

The men made their first court appearances on Monday in two different cities—Houston, Texas and Portland, Oregon. US officials have not revealed who gave the information to the suspects or which military personnel were approached.

According to the Justice Department, the alleged spying didn’t stop in 2022. In order to find more US Navy personnel who might be vulnerable to spying for the Chinese government, the two men kept up their work for China.

FBI Director Kash Patel commented, “The Chinese Communist Party thought they were getting away with their scheme to operate on US soil, utilising spy craft, like dead drops, to pay their sources.”

China has responded to the accusations. Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, told Reuters that he was unaware of the case and called the charges “assumptions and speculations.” He also said the US often accuses others of spying while running its own global intelligence operations.

The arrests come at a time of continuing hostilities between the US and China, particularly in relation to military and national security operations. In recent months, the US has taken a number of actions to combat suspected espionage activities involving Chinese officials and citizens.

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Inputs from Reuters