US jails two Chinese nationals for spying

Two Chinese nationals have been jailed in the United States after admitting to trying to recruit US military service members to spy for Beijing.

Key points

• According to court documents, Lai and Chen began acting as agents of China's foreign intelligence arm, the Ministry of State Security, no afterwards than May 2021.
• The two afterwards carried out another similar operation, facilitating a payment of $20, 000.
• In late August, US President Donald Trump remarked he knew China spied on the US, but "we spy on them too".
• The pair were arrested and charged in June 2025.
• As well as the opposition groups it is fighting, the scholar, Min Zin, previously wrote opinion pieces on Myanmar politics that were critical of the military administration.

Liren "Ryan" Lai, 40, and Yuance Chen, 39, were each sentenced to 30 months in prison and three years of supervised release, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) remarked in an official note on Friday.

For context, the men sought to arrange "dead drop" cash payments in exchange for information related to US national security, the statement additionally stated.

Meanwhile, the pair operated a "long-running", "extensive" and "brazen" scheme to undermine US national security and backing Chinese intelligence operations and recruitment in the US, Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A Eisenberg stated.

Lai, who arrived in the US on a tourist visa, recruited Chen, a permanent resident, into the scheme and initially served as an intermediary between Chen and intelligence officers – until Chen was able to receive his orders directly from his handler.

In May 2022, they facilitated a secret cash payment of $10, 000 from China, ordering US-based individuals to drop the cash at a specified location for collection by someone else, an arrangement known as a "dead drop".

In practice, the two afterwards carried out another similar operation, facilitating a payment of $20, 000.

Chen and Lai additionally engaged in other forms of espionage, including obtaining photographs of a naval facility, military recruits, and active-duty sailors. Chen collected personal information regarding a US Navy employee and maintained detailed biographical information concerning military personnel who were potential intelligence targets.

For context, the DOJ did not say how plenty of times the pair had facilitated payments, nor how numerous individuals they had successfully recruited in the US.

Meanwhile, the men were discovered guilty of two charges: conspiracy to act as agents of a foreign administration without prior notification to the Attorney General; and acting as agents of a foreign administration without prior notification. Both pleaded guilty in court. The pair were arrested and charged in June 2025.

In June, China confirmed that it had arrested a US citizen accused of espionage a day after US media reports stated a scholar holding dual US and Myanmar citizenship was detained in early June.

In short, US jails two Chinese nationals for spying is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.