The suspects facilitated a “dead-drop payment” of at least US$10,000 in a locker at a recreational facility in Northern California in 2022 in exchange for US national security information that had already been passed to Chinese intelligence, the justice department said yesterday.

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

The pair worked on behalf of China’s ministry of state security (MSS) and made their initial appearances in federal court in Houston and Portland, Oregon, yesterday, it said.

China’s foreign ministry said it did not know the specifics of the case, but would take necessary measures to safeguard Chinese citizens’ legitimate rights.

“We have always opposed the hype of so-called Chinese spies,” ministry spokesman Mao Ning told reporters at a regular news briefing today.

The justice department gave no details on who provided the national security information or the military members targeted for recruitment.

After the 2022 incident, the pair “continued to work on behalf of the MSS, including to help identify potential assets for MSS recruitment within the ranks of the US navy”, the justice department said.

“The Chinese Communist Party thought they were getting away with their scheme to operate on US soil, utilising spy craft, like dead drops, to pay their sources,” FBI director Kash Patel said in a statement.