Communist infiltrators or American Dream seekers? Why Chinese nationals risk their lives at sea to enter Guam

The U.S. Coast Guard rescued 13 Chinese citizens off the coast of Guam on June 23, 2024. Photo courtesy of U.S. Coast Guard Forces Micronesia

By Bryan Manabat

Saipan—Since last year, the District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands has handed out jail sentences to Chinese nationals convicted of attempted human smuggling or illegal entry.

Most recently, a 68-year-old Chinese man was sentenced to 30 days in prison, placed under one-year supervised release, ordered to perform 50 hours of community service and pay a $100 special assessment fee.

Hong Jiang Yang was involved in an incident on July 11, 2023, when 11 boat passengers in distress were rescued on the high seas after leaving Saipan en route to Guam. Yang was convicted of conspiracy to transport illegal aliens and conspiracy and aiding and abetting transportation of illegal aliens.

Against the backdrop of geopolitical tensions between the United States and China, some suspect that the Chinese nationals were spies for their communist government.

There are no publicly available records of any Chinese espionage cases in the CNMI District Court, but the increasing number of incidents involving illegal entry into Guam has been raising suspicions, given China’s demand for intel on the U.S. military and its desire to sabotage America’s homeland security.

 In December, seven more Chinese citizens were arrested for attempting to sneak into Guam on the same day the U.S. Missile Defense Agency conducted an interception test at Andersen Air Force Base. The CNMI is the easiest jump-off point to Guam, which hosts three military bases and critical military resources. Located approximately 260 km from the CNMI, Guam can be reached by boat within two nights.

Janet King

Court cases have uncovered the modus operandi. Chinese nationals who overstay after entering the CNMI as tourists through the visa waiver program pay thousands of dollars to get transported to Guam on an inflatable boat.

Some are workers whose contracts have expired. The goal is to get a higher-paying job or apply for asylum. Somehow, they are caught in the sticky web of geopolitics. Defense attorneys believe the Chinese nationals were simply seeking the American Dream and not nefarious actors.

“Based on what I have seen firsthand, the vast majority are not spies or operatives. They are ordinary people, often desperate, vulnerable and trying to survive,” said Janet King, a Saipan-based defense attorney.

King, a Tinian native, has been practicing law in the CNMI for 17 years and has represented some of the Chinese defendants in district court.

The Guam Customs and Quarantine Agency recorded 85 Chinese nationals illegally arriving by boat to Guam in 2022, 27 in 2023 and 40 in 2024.

“These are not criminal masterminds,” King said. “I do not believe these individuals are spies. I believe they are people who made desperate decisions in incredibly difficult circumstances. They're hoping for stability and, basically, they're just hoping for some work. They are here because they are human beings trying—like so many others before them—to build a future out of very limited options.”

King seeks to strike a balance between border protection and empathy. “I also believe we can address illegal immigration with both firmness and compassion. It is possible to enforce the law while still seeing the humanity in the people behind the cases,” she said.

Joey McDoulett

Joey McDoulett, also a Saipan attorney who has represented Chinese nationals in federal court, echoed King’s theory.

“They're just people looking to improve their lives,” he said. “There are better mechanisms for a spy to pursue than to come to Saipan and then jump to Guam. I just highly doubt that any of them are there to seek secrets of the state. I think it's unlikely, and they're not in a position to obtain any anyway. I think that's silly.”

Based on court information, some Chinese nationals have applied for asylum in Guam. Asylum application is currently not available in the CNMI, but the process will be fully implemented in January 2030.

Asylum is a form of legal protection offered to people fleeing persecution in their home countries due to their race, religion, political beliefs, nationality, or membership in a particular social group. Those who qualify for asylum can stay and work legally in the U.S. and apply for permanent residency later.

“It is a really important safeguard for people facing danger or violence back home,” King said. “So, until that process opens up in the CNMI, people who are hoping to ask for asylum, especially Chinese nationals, often try to reach Guam instead. Guam already has the full infrastructure, including a USCIS asylum office and an immigration court. That makes it the nearest place in our region where someone can legally start the asylum process under U.S. law.”

It was not known how many—if any—Chinese asylum seekers on Guam have been successful in their petition for American protection.

In March 2024, Bloomberg’s Big Take podcast reported a new wave of Chinese people leaving China due to a decelerating economy and concerns over new policies to redistribute wealth. 

In August 2024, Time magazine reported an increase in the number of Chinese migrants who have entered the U.S. by crossing the border.

“Many migrants say they are motivated to undertake it because of the economic challenges facing middle-class Chinese citizens,” Time said. “Others highlighted increasing political oppression, stemming both from increased monitoring of dissidents connected to Hong Kong or opposition movements as well as increased controls over public discourse since President Xi Jinping began his unprecedented third term in power.”

Last year, a group of U.S. lawmakers also wrote to DHS, warning that the existing visa waiver made the island vulnerable to criminal activities, including illegal immigration, human and drug trafficking, among others.

Earlier this year, Rep. Tom Tiffany, a lawmaker from Wisconsin, said that Chinese tourists have exploited the CNMI-only visa waiver and asked the Department of Homeland Security to shut down the “loophole.” He said several Chinese nationals travel to the CNMI every year "to give birth on U.S. soil and secure citizenship for their children.”

But CNMI Del. Kimberlyn King-Hinds maintains that the visa waiver program is an economic tool from the federal government recognizing tourism as the only CNMI industry.

The CNMI waiver program was created following the enactment of the Consolidated Natural Resources Act of 2008. It identifies countries from which CNMI received “significant economic benefit” from visitors, including those from China. The tourism agency in the CNMI, the Marianas Visitors Authority, reported that from 2013 to 2019, 33 percent of the CNMI’s total annual visitor arrivals were from China.

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