HOUSTON — On June 27, the arrest of two Chinese nationals in Houston and Oregon has raised significant concerns regarding espionage activities on behalf of the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
Liren “Ryan” Lai, 39, a traveler on a tourist visa from China, and Yuance Chen, 38, a legal resident living in Happy Valley, Oregon, were apprehended by federal authorities.
The criminal complaint outlined serious allegations against the pair, accusing them of overseeing and executing various clandestine intelligence operations within the United States in collaboration with the Ministry of State Security (MSS), the PRC’s principal foreign intelligence agency.
Key accusations include providing national security information related to U.S. Naval bases, servicemembers, and actively recruiting individuals from within the U.S. military to potentially serve as assets for the MSS.
FBI Director Kash Patel emphasized the complexity of the case, highlighting it as a result of outstanding counterintelligence efforts by various FBI divisions in Houston, Portland, San Francisco, San Diego, and the Counterintelligence Division.
“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,” Patel stated.
The MSS allegedly spends several years infiltrating and cultivating sources in the U.S. to gather critical information on political, economic, and security policies relevant to China, alongside military, scientific, and technical knowledge.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi remarked on the sustained and aggressive efforts by the Chinese government to penetrate U.S. military operations.
“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,” Bondi asserted.
The court documents reveal further details of the duo’s covert activities dating back to 2021.
Lai allegedly recruited Chen to undertake operations for the MSS around 2021. During a meeting in Guangzhou, China, in January 2022, the two coordinated a dead-drop operation which involved at least $10,000. The funds were concealed within a backpack and placed inside a locker at a recreational facility in Livermore, California.
Following this transaction, Chen received directives to engage a Navy employee via social media. By 2025, he had secured a tour of the USS Abraham Lincoln with the employee and relayed details regarding this individual back to the MSS.
Court documents suggest that during 2022 and 2023, Chen visited a U.S. Naval installation in Washington State and a Navy recruitment center situated in San Gabriel, California. At the recruitment center, he allegedly collected photographs depicting a bulletin board with information regarding recent recruits, many of whom had listed their hometowns as “China.”
Furthermore, it’s claimed that Chen was instructed by the MSS on strategies to approach potential recruits, including discussing possible payments from the MSS and guiding them toward preferred naval job positions, all while minimizing exposure risks.
In 2023, Lai made another trip to the U.S. from China, providing Chen with a cellphone for communication purposes with the MSS.
In follow-up visits in April 2024 and March 2025, Chen reportedly traveled to Guangzhou to meet MSS intelligence officers to discuss compensation and operational assignments.
Lai returned to Houston in April 2025, presenting his visit as related to his online retail business and claiming a two-week stay. However, his movements after that raised additional suspicion, as he and an unidentified associate traveled across state lines, returning to Texas on May 15.
This case underscores the ongoing challenges faced by U.S. authorities in countering espionage and securing national interests against foreign operatives.
image source from：khou
