Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) introduced legislation Thursday that would presume any foreign national from China, Russia, Iran, or North Korea caught photographing or tracking sensitive U.S. military assets did so with intent to spy on the United States — and would impose a mandatory minimum of five years in federal prison for a conviction.
“Foreign nationals photographing sensitive military assets are only doing so for one reason, to spy on the United States,” Cotton said in a press release issued Thursday. “My bill would hold these criminals accountable.”
The bill, formally titled the Visual Protection of Strategic Assets Act, amends Chapter 37 of Title 18 of the United States Code — the federal espionage statute — and comes in direct response to a string of recent arrests of Chinese nationals caught photographing strategic Air Force installations.
What the Bill Does
The legislation establishes a rebuttable presumption in federal law: any citizen or national of China, Russia, Iran, or North Korea — the four nations the bill designates as “countries of concern” — who photographs, videos, or tracks a designated high-value military asset or Tier-1 installation is presumed to have done so with intent to injure the United States or advantage a foreign nation. The presumption can only be rebutted by demonstrating, by clear and convincing evidence, that the person had prior written approval from the Secretary of Defense.
The bill creates two new categories of protected assets. “High-value assets” are specific platforms named in the statute, including the Boeing E-4B “Nightwatch” aircraft (the nuclear command “doomsday plane”), the Boeing RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft, the Northrop B-2 Spirit stealth bomber, the Rockwell B-1 Lancer, and any nuclear command platform. “Tier-1 installations” are military bases that house or support one or more of those high-value assets, or that are critical to nuclear deterrence, global strike, or strategic intelligence collection. The Secretary of Defense would be required to maintain and annually publish a public list of both categories, and to install signage at those installations warning that photography and surveillance are strictly prohibited.
On penalties, the bill dramatically raises the stakes above the current one-year maximum. Under the amended statute:
Any violation would carry up to one year in prison — unchanged for standard cases. A violation involving a high-value asset or Tier-1 installation would carry up to seven years. A violation by a citizen or national of a country of concern — China, Russia, Iran, or North Korea — would carry a mandatory minimum of five years and a maximum of ten years in federal prison, plus fines up to $100,000 and forfeiture of any electronic device used in the commission of the offense.
Beyond criminal penalties, any covered foreign national convicted under the new rules would face immediate visa revocation and mandatory removal proceedings under the Immigration and Nationality Act.
The bill also modernizes the underlying photography prohibition in 18 U.S.C. § 795 to explicitly cover digital photographs, live-streamed video, and AI-enhanced visual depictions — updating language that predates those technologies.
The Cases That Prompted It
Cotton’s press release cites three recent arrests as the direct impetus for the legislation. The most prominent involves Tianrui Liang, 21, a Chinese national and University of Glasgow student, who was charged by the Department of Justice with illegally documenting aircraft at Offutt Air Force Base in Bellevue, Nebraska — home of Strategic Command — in late March 2026. Investigators say Liang photographed an RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft and an E-4B doomsday plane before being arrested at JFK International Airport on April 7 while attempting to leave the country. He had also visited Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota in the preceding days. Liang told investigators the images were for his personal collection; prosecutors successfully appealed his initial release, and he remained in federal custody at the time of publication.
A separate case involved Qilin Wu, who on April 22 pleaded guilty in the Western District of Missouri to unlawfully photographing Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri — home of the U.S. B-2 Spirit fleet. Wu had been charged in January 2026 after Air Force security personnel found him photographing B-2s and base facilities in December 2025. Cotton’s press release also references a third case handled by ICE, involving the removal of a Chinese national previously convicted of photographing military installations.
Under existing law, all three defendants faced a maximum of one year in federal prison. Under the Visual Protection of Strategic Assets Act, nationals of countries of concern convicted of photographing designated high-value assets would face a mandatory minimum of five years.
Part of a Broader Legislative Push
The bill is the latest in a sustained legislative campaign by Cotton — who chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee — to close legal gaps that allow foreign adversaries, primarily China, to exploit the openness of American society to gather military intelligence. In recent months he has also introduced bills banning Chinese nationals from operating trucks carrying Department of War cargo, barring adversary-owned retail stores from military bases, prohibiting Chinese-linked LiDAR technology in federal transportation systems, and requiring tracking of all foreign student and faculty visa holders at American universities.
The Visual Protection of Strategic Assets Act has been referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee.