The United States accused two Chinese nationals Yuance Chen (38) and Liren “Ryan” Lai, 39, accused of trying to hire spies in Beijing, including events such as naval base photography and cash dead drop.
They were arrested for alleged behavior on behalf of China without registering as foreign agents with the Ministry of Justice in accordance with the law.
The Court, which was brought by the US District Court in San Francisco and revealed publicly on Monday, presents the last efforts of the Ministry of Justice to follow what the authorities describe as the ongoing attempts of the Chinese government to hide information about US military power, tactics dramatically exposed two years ago two years ago when China started a spy balloon.
While he claimed the case, the general prosecutor Pam Bondi said: “This case underlines the permanent and aggressive efforts of the Chinese government to penetrate our military and undermine our national security.
About Chinese citizens involved in a case
Chen came to the US on a visa in 2015 and was then recognized as a legal permanent resident, while Liren is based in China, but came to the US regularly consisting of last spring as part of an attempt to supervise secret spy operations for Chinese State Security or MSS.
According to the affidavit of the FBI presented in connection with the investigation of agents, they suspect that Lai had been taking care of Chen to become a intelligence benefit for China, which began in mid -2021.
Their operations, as described by the FBI, included coordination on a dead drop of at least $ 10,000 in cash to another individual allegedly acting under the leadership of the Ministry of State Security (MSS). They also carried out and coordinated the US Navy Recruitment Center in California and the Naval Installation in Washington, an activity that included Chen allegedly depicting images that were later sent to Chinese intelligence officials.
Investigators say that Lai and Chen have been conspired to include the US Navy staff as informants for China. In one place, Chen reportedly gathered personal data, including names, hometowns and association of programs, recent naval recruits. Many of them mentioned in order for China to record as a place of origin, and officials suspect that this data has been communicated by Chinese news, according to the affidavit of the FBI.
It was not known whether they had lawyers. A spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Washington also did not comment on.
(Tagstotranslate) Chinese nationals
