Attorney Bill Essayli said Chinese espionage is "extremely pervasive" in the U.S. following the arrest of an alleged Chinese agent in Los Angeles this month. Essayli told Fox News Digital in an interview that his office has pressed charges against several alleged Chinese spies in recent months, saying Beijing is brazen in their attempts to build their access inside the U.S. "I think it's extremely pervasive," Essayli said of Chinese spying.
"China is one of our biggest adversaries, and they're committed to advancing their interests. And they're playing the long game, and so they are willing to put a lot of resources into developing sources, recruiting people within the U.S. to advance their interests. CHINA EXPERT WARNS BEIJING WANTS AMERICANS — NOT THE CCP — TO SPREAD ITS MESSAGE "They're willing to steal our technology; they're willing to engage in espionage here.
So, there's no limit to what China is willing to do. It is a huge, huge concern. We have to be vigilant, and we have to disrupt these operations on our soil," Essayli said.
"We have to protect our sovereignty." "If you look at just the cases we brought this year, just in my office, I mean, you had cases where the woman from Irvine was engaged in espionage against the Taiwanese president's family member. I had a guy last week, we arrested, he sold more than $300 million in SI chips, formerly known as AI chips, to China," he continued. "You had a mayor of a local city that we charged for serving as an unregistered agent of China as well, pushing out their propaganda and taking orders from China." FORMER CALIFORNIA MAYOR ADMITS TO SECRETLY WORKING FOR CHINA, SPREADING BEIJING PROPAGANDA IN US "So, it's extremely pervasive.
It's a huge problem, but the FBI is on it," he said. "They have entire squads dedicated to combating this, and we're committed here at the U.S. Attorney's Office to supporting those investigations and bringing criminal charges to disrupt these operations." Wanying Zhang, 34, of Irvine, was arrested earlier this month for allegedly working with an associate to photograph and record the family outside their Seattle-area home, according to a criminal complaint obtained by Fox News Digital.
CHINA-LINKED HACKERS INFILTRATED US GOVERNMENT NETWORKS BEFORE FBI TAKEDOWN Authorities nabbed Zhang, who goes by "Heather" in the U.S., at the Los Angeles airport as she attempted to board a plane to China. Essayli said FBI Los Angeles agents arrested Zhang on a federal charge of acting as an unregistered agent of the People’s Republic of China. CALIFORNIA MAYOR ACCUSED OF SECRETLY WORKING FOR CHINA, SPREADING PROPAGANDA WHILE IN OFFICE: FEDS She allegedly traveled to Seattle in 2025 at the direction of Chinese officials and sent them photos, videos and license plate information.
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