LOS ANGELES (TNND) — The FBI arrested a California woman at Los Angeles International Airport on Sunday as she allegedly tried to leave the country, accusing her of spying on the family of Taiwan’s president for China.
Wanying Zhang, who also goes by Heather, was taken into custody on a federal complaint alleging she acted as an unregistered agent of the People’s Republic of China, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said on X.
Zhang, 34, of Irvine, California, traveled to Seattle in 2025, where she allegedly surveilled a close relative of a Taiwanese government official at the direction of Chinese officials. Essayli said she sent photos, videos and license-plate information to her handlers.
“She coordinated the trip with an associate and used tradecraft to avoid detection,” he added. “She never notified the Attorney General that she was acting for a foreign government, a federal offense.”
Zhang is due to appear Monday in federal court in Los Angeles.
Taiwan’s Presidential Office confirmed that President Lai Ching-te’s relatives were the targets, without specifying whether the person surveilled was his son, calling the case “a classic case of transnational repression.”
“Taiwan condemns in the strongest terms such barbaric acts — which disregard human rights and national sovereignty and aim to suppress, threaten, or even harm individuals advocating for freedom and democracy or their families — as such behavior should not be tolerated in the civilized world,” spokesperson Karen Kuo said in a statement.
China’s Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment. China’s Foreign Ministry was closed for holidays.
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Editor’s note: The Associated Press contributed to this article.