Liren Ryan Lai and Yuance Chen have each been sentenced to 30 months in prison after admitting to unregistered work for China’s government in the United States. Prosecutors described military-site photography, efforts to recruit service members and covert cash transfers. Each defendant also received three years of supervision after release from prison.
Liren Ryan Lai and Yuance Chen each received 30 months in prison and three years of supervised release in the United States. Both admitted conspiring to act and acting for a foreign government without notifying the attorney general. The US Justice Department announced the sentences on 30 October, identifying China’s Ministry of State Security as directing their work.[1], [2]
According to the department’s account of court documents, Lai recruited Chen and initially relayed instructions from Chinese intelligence officers. Chen later received assignments directly. The ministry is China’s civilian intelligence service. Prosecutors described photographs of Naval Base Kitsap in Washington state and a Navy recruiting station in Southern California, alongside personal and biographical information about potential recruitment targets.[1]
The court-document account also described 10,000 dollars collected from a California storage locker and another 20,000 dollars in Phoenix. Such transfers used collection points rather than face-to-face handovers. Chen travelled to China for meetings and further instructions. The defendants were arrested in June. Prosecutors did not specify how many service members were successfully recruited.[1]
