WASHINGTON – U.S. authorities arrested a California woman on Sunday and accused her of spying on a son of Taiwan’s president at the behest of Chinese officials, the FBI said. 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. Authorities charged Zhang, 34, of Irvine, California, with acting as an unregistered foreign agent.
Zhang surveilled a son of Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te, the FBI said. 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 U.S. resident. Taiwan’s presidential office described Zhang’s actions as a “typical case of transnational repression” and thanked the U.S. government for protecting Taiwanese citizens.
China’s foreign ministry did not respond to a request for comment. Lai and his Democratic Progressive Party champion Taiwan’s separate identity from China, a position that frequently angers Beijing, which views the island as Chinese territory. Lai says only Taiwan’s people can decide their future.
The Justice Department said Zhang traveled to Seattle in 2025 at the direction of Chinese officials and subsequently sent them photos, video and license plate information of the Taiwanese leader’s son and his family. Zhang used tradecraft to avoid detection and never notified Washington that she was acting for a foreign government, said Bill Essayli, the first assistant U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, in a statement. It was not immediately clear whether Zhang has a defense attorney.
She will appear in a Los Angeles federal court on Monday, Essayli said. Washington does not have formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, but the United States is the island’s most important international backer and weapons supplier.
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