US charges two Chinese nationals in efforts to recruit US service members

By Christian Martinez

July 1 (Reuters) - U.S. prosecutors have charged two Chinese nationals with acting as agents of the Chinese government in efforts to recruit American service members, the Justice Department said on Tuesday.

Yuance Chen, 38, a legal permanent resident living in Happy Valley, Oregon, and Liren “Ryan” Lai, 39, who traveled to Houston in April on a tourist visa, were arrested on Friday, the department said in a statement.

The pair made their initial appearances in federal court in Houston and Portland, Oregon on Monday, it said.

The two worked on behalf of China's Ministry of State Security to facilitate a "dead-drop payment" of $10,000 cash in exchange for information related to U.S. national security, which was left in locker at a recreational facility in Northern California in 2022, it said.

They "continued to work on behalf of the MSS, including to help identify potential assets for MSS recruitment within the ranks of the U.S. Navy," the Justice Department said.

"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 a statement.

The Chinese Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.