Two Chinese nationals jailed in the US for spying for Beijing

Sentence, each

30 months in prison

Liren "Ryan" Lai, 40, and Yuance Chen, 39, were each sentenced to 30 months in prison and three years of supervised release. Both pleaded guilty to acting as agents of a foreign government.

The men tried to recruit US military service members to spy for China, and arranged "dead drop" cash payments in exchange for national security information. They facilitated a $10,000 payment from China in May 2022 and a $20,000 one later.

They also obtained photographs of a naval facility, military recruits and active-duty sailors, and Chen collected personal information about a US Navy employee. They were arrested in June 2025.