PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – Two Chinese nationals were arrested on espionage charges after collecting intelligence about the U.S. Navy for the People’s Republic of China, according to federal court documents obtained by KOIN 6 News.
The FBI arrested the men — Yuance Chen, 38, and Liren Lai, 39 — on June 27, the Department of Justice said. Court records show Chen was living in Happy Valley, Oregon, and Lai had used a tourist visa to travel to Houston in April 2025.
The probable cause document alleges that the PRC’s Ministry of State Security (MSS) directed Chen and Lai to “oversee and/or carry out various clandestine operations in the United States.” These allegations include gathering intelligence about U.S. Navy service members and bases, attempting to recruit from within the U.S. military, and using a secret location to make a cash payment on behalf of the MSS.
Chen and Lai never notified the DOJ that they were acting as agents of a foreign government, as required by law, according to investigators.
Documents state Lai, under the name of “Ryan,” had been messaging Chen through a PRC-based messaging platform in an effort to recruit him for the MSS since mid-2021. Messages between the pair describe a paid trip to China for Chen, investigators say.
While Lai and Chen were in China around January 2022, detectives say the pair directed two other MSS associates in California to pick up a backpack with at least $10,000 in cash from a day-use locker — a practice the FBI referred to as a “dead drop.”
“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,” FBI Director Kash Patel said in a statement.
The document also claims Lai and Chen tried to identify “potential assets for MSS recruitment within the ranks of the U.S. Navy” and were directed to contact service members on social media and relay that information to the MSS.
Chen took photos of a bulletin board containing the names, programs, and hometowns of recent Navy recruits with their hometown listed as “China” and sent that information to a MSS intelligence officer in China, according to the document.
The complaint also states that Lai traveled to Houston in April 2025 claiming to be on a business trip that would last two weeks, but was seen driving to Southern California and back to Texas more than four weeks later.
Chen and Lai face a fine of up to $250,000 and a sentencing of up to 10 years in prison.
