U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) arrested a California woman on October 4, and accused her of spying on a son of Taiwan’s president family.
The FBI arrested Wanying Zhang, also known as Heather, at Los Angeles International Airport on Sunday before her planned departure to China, the agency said in a statement.
As reported by Reuters, the authorities charged 34-years Zhang of Irvine, California with acting as an unregistered foreign agent.
According to FBI and the U.S. Justice Department, she surveilled a son of Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te, the FBI said.
Core allegations on Zhang:
The agency did not directly name Zhang’s alleged target, but later shared a New York Post report identifying him as Lai Ting-yu, a US resident.
Taiwan’s presidential office described Zhang’s actions as a “typical case of transnational repression” and thanked the US government for protecting Taiwanese citizens.
The spokesperson Karen Kuo said in a statement, “Our country expresses the strongest condemnation of such barbaric conduct that disregards human rights and the sovereignty of nations.”
Investigators allege that she tracked, photographed, and gathered license plate data and video footage targeting Lai Ting-yu, a U.S. resident and son of Taiwanese leadership.
Prosecutors stated that the accused utilized specialized surveillance tradecraft to evade local law enforcement and conceal her handlers’ identities without notifying Washington of her foreign agency.
The Justice Department said Zhang traveled to Seattle in 2025. She used tradecraft to avoid detection and never notified Washington that she was acting for a foreign government, Bill Essayli, the first assistant US attorney for the Central District of California, said in a statement.
The high-profile arrest underscores ongoing counter-intelligence operations targeting covert foreign influence networks on U.S. soil.
The case intersects heavily with cross-strait tensions, as the countries continues to monitor political figures associated with Taiwan’s ruling administration.
Zhang is scheduled to make her initial appearance in a Los Angeles federal court.
Notably, representatives for embassy in Washington and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office did not immediately issue formal statements regarding the ongoing prosecution.
