United States prosecutors have charged two Chinese nationals with acting as agents of China’s security service, accusing them of gathering intelligence about US Navy bases and trying to identify Navy members willing to spy for Beijing, the Justice Department said on Tuesday (Jul 1).
The suspects facilitated a “dead-drop payment” of at least US$10,000 in a locker at a recreational facility in Northern California in 2022 in exchange for US national security information that had already been passed to Chinese intelligence, the Justice Department said.
Yuance Chen, 38, a legal permanent resident living in Happy Valley, Oregon, and Liren “Ryan” Lai, 39, who arrived in Houston from China in April on a tourist visa, were arrested on Friday, the department said in a statement.
The pair worked on behalf of China’s Ministry of State Security and made their initial appearances in federal court in Houston and Portland, Oregon on Monday, it said.
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