Tim Cheung (@TimCheung)

Two nationals of the People’s Republic of #China (#PRC) made their initial appearances in federal court in #Portland, #Oregon, and #Houston, #Texas, yesterday to face charges issued out of the Northern District of #California for acting as #agents of the Government of the PRC without prior notification to the Attorney General. The #defendants, Yuance Chen, 38, a PRC national and legal #permanentresident who resides in #HappyValley, Oregon, and Liren 'Ryan' Lai, 39, a PRC national who traveled from the PRC to Houston, Texas, on a #tourist #visa in April 2025, were arrested Friday on a criminal complaint charging them with overseeing and carrying out various clandestine intelligence taskings in the #UnitedStates on behalf of the PRC Government’s principal foreign intelligence service, the Ministry of State Security ( #MSS). These activities included facilitating a 'dead drop' payment of cash for information relating to the national security of the United States previously provided to the MSS, gathering intelligence about U.S. Navy service members and bases, and assisting with efforts to recruit other individuals from within the U.S. military as potential MSS assets. Chen and Lai were arrested on #June27, 2025, by the FBI in Happy Valley, Oregon, and Houston Texas, as part of a coordinated counterintelligence and law enforcement operation across multiple states. 'This case underscores the Chinese government’s sustained and aggressive effort to infiltrate our military and undermine our national security from within', said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. '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'...If convicted, the defendants face a fine of up to $250,000 and a term of imprisonment of up to 10 years." https://www.facebook.com/ChinaCreepingAuthoritarianism/posts/pfbid02cXqX9TDfswqUXVjtAJHMXGYp6mKXKqS3h3zJqeAotwabdwqDqd5C3L16Qrnt4WDal