Now there's this: Two Chinese nationals, originally having entered the United States on a tourist visa (since expired), have been arrested by the FBI. The charges include gathering intelligence on United States Navy service members and recruiting assets for the Chinese Communist Party.
It's a good bust, but it raises some questions.
Two Chinese nationals face serious charges after they allegedly acted as agents of the People's Republic of China’s government to collect intelligence about U.S. Navy service members and bases, while also recruiting other military members to carry out tasks for the country’s main foreign intelligence service, the Ministry of State Security (MSS).
The Department of Justice (DOJ) said Chinese national Yuance Chen, who resides in Happy Valley, Oregon, and Liren Lai, who traveled to Houston on a tourist visa in April 2025, were arrested on Friday. Both individuals face charges of overseeing and carrying out various clandestine intelligence tasks in the U.S. on behalf of the Ministry of State Security.
Along with assisting with the recruitment of potential MSS assets and gathering intel about service members and bases, the two men are accused of facilitating a "dead drop" payment of cash on behalf of the MSS.
The FBI arrested both men on Friday – Chen was arrested in Happy Valley while Lai was arrested in Houston – with help from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS).
This is not the act of a friendly nation. This is the act of, at best, a rival - at worst, an enemy. China has, in recent years, been flexing its muscles in the western Pacific, and the United States would be its primary opponent should the Middle Kingdom choose to take that flexing to the next level.
FBI Director Kash Patel said:
"Today’s arrests reflect the FBI’s unwavering commitment to protecting our national security and safeguarding the integrity of our military," FBI Director Kash Patel told Fox News Digital. "The individuals charged were acting on behalf of a hostile foreign intelligence service — part of the Chinese Communist Party’s broader effort to infiltrate and undermine our institutions. Thanks to outstanding coordination with our partners, including NCIS, we disrupted those efforts and sent a clear message: the United States will not tolerate espionage on American soil. Our counterintelligence operations remain focused, vigilant, and relentless."
Indeed, the Chinese intelligence services even infiltrated the office of a sitting Congressman from California.
See Also: Criminals Going High-Tech: Big Surge in Chinese-Made Signal Jammers
FBI Declassifies Report That the CCP May Have Interfered With the 2020 Election
Here's the thing: The Chinese Communist Party and its leader, Chairman Xi, know that China's window for possible dominance in the Pacific will be closing in the next generation or two. China is facing some serious problems, not the least of which is the demographic crisis. Their economy is a house of cards. The senseless "one child" policy has gifted them with a couple of generations of young men with no prospects for marriage and family, which is a recipe for unrest.
The two men caught in this particular case face serious charges:
Chen and Lai have been charged with operating in the U.S. as an agent of a foreign government without notifying the U.S. attorney general. If convicted, both men face a fine of up to $250,000 and up to 10 years behind bars.
It's a safe bet they aren't the only Chinese intelligence operatives doing this kind of work. They are just the ones that got caught.
We do live in interesting times.
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