Two arrested in alleged Chinese spy scheme with ties to San Diego

The USS Carl Vinson lower left and other San Diego-based ships training in the South China Sea FIle photo courtesy of the U S Navy As part of a multi-state examination that included San Diego two Chinese nationals have been jailed on suspicion of spying on U S military facilities and trying to recruit American provision personnel the FBI publicized Tuesday The accused Yuance Chen and Liren Ryan Lai made their initial appearances in federal court Monday in Portland Oregon and Houston The charges issued out of the Northern District of California include committing espionage offenses on behalf of the regime of China Chen a legal permanent U S resident who lives in Happy Valley Oregon and Lai who traveled from China to Houston on a tourist visa in April were arrested Friday on a criminal complaint charging them with overseeing and carrying out various offenses in the United States on behalf of China s principal foreign-intelligence facility the Ministry of State Prevention MSS Those pursuits allegedly included facilitating a dead drop cash payment for information about U S national safeguard gathering intelligence about U S Navy personnel and bases and assisting with efforts to recruit other people from within the American military as anticipated MSS assets according to the FBI This scenario was a complex coordinated effort and is an example of outstanding counterintelligence work done by FBI San Francisco Portland Houston and San Diego and the Counterintelligence Division FBI Director Kash Patel stated in a news release Investigators have pursued cases in latest years involving charges of Chinese espionage A San Diego sailor was accused of providing military secrets to a Chinese intelligence officer two years ago along with another sailor based out of Naval Base Ventura County in Port Hueneme As alleged in the new criminal complaint unsealed Monday the Chinese regime conducts intelligence programs against the United States through various means including the MSS which handles civilian intelligence collection and is responsible for counterintelligence and foreign intelligence as well as political protection According to the document Lai recruited Chen to work on behalf of the MSS about four years ago While in Guangzhou China in January they allegedly worked together to facilitate a payment of at least on behalf of the MSS working with other people in the U S to leave a backpack with the cash at a day-use locker at a recreational facility in Livermore Thereafter Lai and Chen allegedly continued to work on behalf of the MSS attempting to identify anticipated assets for recruitment within the ranks of the U S Navy In and according to the complaint Chen was tasked by Lai to visit a naval installation in Washington State and a Navy recruitment center in San Gabriel where Chen allegedly obtained personal information about recruits that he apparently transmitted to an MSS intelligence officer in China Chen is alleged to also have been instructed by the MSS on how to engage and recruit sailors and minimize his danger of exposure He also is accused of contacting a Navy employee on social media and providing information about that person to the MSS Chen and Lai are charged with violating a federal statute that makes it a crime for a person to operate or agree to operate within the United States as an agent of a foreign administration without notification to the U S attorney general If convicted they each face up to years in prison and a maximum fine of The FBI San Francisco Field Office is leading the inquiry with additional help from the Naval Criminal Investigative Utility