The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on October 30 that two Chinese nationals had each been sentenced to 30 months in prison for acting as undeclared agents of China’s Ministry of State Security (MSS). Both men will also serve three years of supervised release following their prison terms.
According to the DOJ, Liren “Ryan” Lai, 40, and Yuance Chen, 39, conspired to act as agents of a foreign government and did so without notifying the U.S. Attorney General. Prosecutors said the two operated under the direction and control of China’s MSS while conducting covert intelligence activities in the United States.
Court documents indicate that the two began working for the MSS at least as early as May 2021. Lai recruited Chen and initially served as an intermediary between him and MSS officials. Chen later received assignments directly from Chinese intelligence officers.
Beginning in 2022, Chen collected information on U.S. military facilities and personnel under instructions from Lai and MSS officials. He photographed Naval Base Kitsap in Bremerton, Washington, as well as military recruits and active-duty sailors at a Navy recruiting station in Southern California. He also collected the personal identifying information of a U.S. Navy employee and compiled detailed profiles of military personnel who could potentially be targeted for intelligence recruitment.
Prosecutors said the two also helped arrange covert cash payments in exchange for U.S. national security information and assisted the MSS in identifying potential intelligence sources within the U.S. military.
The two men were arrested on June 27, 2025, in an FBI-coordinated counterintelligence operation. A federal grand jury indicted them on July 1, 2025. Lai pleaded guilty on December 12, 2025, and Chen pleaded guilty on February 20, 2026.
Source: Epoch Times, October 31, 2026
https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/26/10/30/n14880268.htm/amp