Chinese infiltration commentary

Op-ed views and opinions expressed are solely those of the author.

The law enforcement veteran and InVest USA founder discusses the recent report surrounding the arrest of two spies trying to recruit for naval intelligence.

China certainly has a fascination with finding the weaknesses of the United States, doesn’t it?

We’ve already been looking at a troubling history of reported “spying” incidents by the country, which is no doubt trying to find our soft spots should the day ever arise that we actually go to war with them.

First off, there’s the infamous “spy balloon” incident, which actually resulted in it being shot down off the coast of South Carolina. If that’s not enough, there were reports of illegal Chinese police stations operating right here in the U.S., which have led to several arrests. Not to mention whatever online hacking and surveillance China might be involved in, including possibly tapping into our power grid.

But a new incident has arisen that really leaves me wondering just what they’re up to.

According to this online report, the U.S. Department of Justice recently charged two Chinese citizens with not only spying on our military operations, but also attempting to recruit allies from within. Yuance Chen and Liren “Ryan” Lai were recently accused of potentially working with China’s foreign intelligence arm, the Ministry of State Security, on the recruitment.

The duo was working on a number of what the Justice Department calls “clandestine intelligence taskings,” including putting together payments for any given national security information. This involved information on Navy bases. Yikes.

Attorney General Pamela Bondi noted, “This case underscores the Chinese government’s sustained and aggressive effort to infiltrate our military and undermine our national security from within.”

This reminded me of the movie Captain America: The Winter Soldier, in which several people within the U.S. government were working on something far more sinister – the growing terrorist network Hydra. But where that was mere comic book fantasy, this is a scary reality.

We know that China has been keeping a close eye on us over the past few years, especially when it comes to the territory of Taiwan, which they’ve been trying to wrest control of. Alas, their efforts have been futile, and for good reason. But that hasn’t stopped the Chinese Communist Party from continuing to try.

But…infiltration? Recruiting of U.S. allies as potential Chinese spies? Giving them cash payoffs for information that could very well hurt citizens of the United States? All for the sake of trying to maintain global positioning should the situation of war ever surface.

That’s terrifying.

As if we weren’t already going through enough with the ineptitude of our previous President, Joe Biden, and his allowance of thousands of unchecked illegal immigrants entering into our country and setting up God knows what kind of criminal networks, now we have China potentially planning some sort of stratagem that would put us in harm’s way.

There is some good news, however. With these arrests, I believe that the U.S. is understanding just what kind of threat China is. I think there’s a possibility that the Trump Administration allows its justice bureaus to keep a closer eye on what it’s up to, both with online surveillance and keeping tabs on potential threats.

In fact, U.S. Attorney Craig H. Missakian even made that clear. “We will continue to undertake counterespionage investigations and prosecutions, no matter how complex and sensitive, to disrupt attempts to weaken our national security.”

He added, “These charges reflect the breadth of the efforts by our foreign adversaries to target the United States.”

I’m pushing my support behind these guys. As I mentioned, the world’s in enough turmoil as it is – particularly from protestors who continue to wreak havoc on our own soil – but to have potential infiltration of our complex military systems? That’s something we need to keep a close eye on.

And thankfully, we are. China can try to chip away at our armor all they want, but the fact of the matter is, we’re a lot stronger than they could ever expect.