The FBI arrested an Irvine woman Sunday for allegedly taking photos, recording videos and gathering license plate information related to family members of the Taiwanese president during their U.S. visit last year.
Federal prosecutors have charged Wanying Zhang, who also uses the name first-name Heather, with acting as an unregistered agent of the People’s Republic of China. PRC officials allegedly directed her to travel to Seattle in 2025 and monitor the Taiwanese president’s son and his family for the Chinese government by sending photos, videos and license plate information.
Zhang, 34, was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport as she was attempting to travel to China, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said in a social media post. She was expected to make her initial appearance Monday in LA federal court.
Zhang allegedly coordinated the trip with an associate, using spying techniques to evade detection, Essayli said.
“Protecting our national security means confronting foreign governments that engage in covert operations in our nation,” Essayli said in a statement. “Ms. Zhang acted at the direction of Chinese government officials to spy on the family of a senior Taiwanese official here in the United States. She violated our laws and will be held accountable in our courts. We will aggressively investigate and prosecute illegal foreign operations on American soil.”
The Chinese Consulate in downtown Los Angeles did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Zhang allegedly did not report her activity for a foreign government to the U.S. attorney general, which is a federal crime with a maximum prison sentence of 10 years.
FBI Director Kash Patel also announced the arrest on social media.
“Foreign adversaries take note: America is no longer a safe place to run your espionage operations,” Patel posted. “Allegedly surveil a foreign leader’s family on U.S. soil for the PRC — and try to catch a flight back to Shanghai? Not happening.”
A spokesperson for Taiwan’s presidential office on Monday described Zhang’s suspected actions as a “classic case of transnational repression,” according to published reports.
“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,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
U.S. Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg said the case “is deeply troubling” and pledged law enforcement vigilance “against threats like this on our soil.”
According to prosecutors, from June to September 2025, Zhang acted as an agent at the direction and control of Chinese government officials, coordinating with other individuals to promote PRC interests “by, among other things, conducting surveillance on family members of a high-ranking Taiwanese government official at their residence in the United States.”
In June 2025, Zhang traveled from Southern California to China, where she met with Chinese government officials and was tasked with conducting the surveillance operation, prosecutors said.
On Aug. 29, 2025, Zhang and an individual who prosecutors did not publicly identify flew from John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana to Las Vegas, according to the complaint filed in Los Angeles federal court. Three days later they flew from Las Vegas to Seattle, where the alleged surveillance victim — Ting-Yu Lai, son of President Ching-te “William” Lai — resides. Zhang allegedly messaged a PRC government official that she was “boarding now” and included a photograph of her airline boarding pass.
Upon arrival, Zhang and the other person allegedly rented a car and drove to the victim’s home and carried out their surveillance operation.
Zhang messaged the PRC official, “Saw him, young male, it’s the young one,” prosecutors reported. When the official asked her to join an audio call, she replied, “I am videorecording.”
Zhang also sent the same official the license plate numbers for the two vehicles parked in front of the home, prosecutors said.
“The complaint in this case lays bare a brazen plot directed by the Chinese government to conduct a covert surveillance mission on U.S. soil targeting close relatives of a Taiwanese government official,” Assistant Director Roman Rozhavsky of the FBI’s Counterintelligence and Espionage Division said in a statement. “Wanying Zhang’s arrest for allegedly acting as an unregistered agent of the Chinese government makes clear how far China’s authoritarian regime will go to advance its goals. However, this case also demonstrates the FBI’s unwavering commitment to defending the sovereignty of our democratic allies and combating all attempts by the Chinese government — and any foreign adversary — to conduct transnational repression within our borders.”
Rep. John Moolenaar, a Michigan Republican who chairs the House Select Committee on China, also reacted to Zhang’s arrest.
“Once again, the Chinese Communist Party has been caught surveilling and harassing innocent people in the United States in another gross violation of our country’s sovereignty,” Moolenaar said in a statement. “This operation appears intended to help the CCP target further action against family members of Taiwan’s President who reside on U.S. soil, a chilling reminder that the CCP’s destabilizing ambitions for the Taiwan Strait are a global threat.”
Moolenaar added that Zhang “will receive a fair trial, which would never happen to anyone charged with the same crimes in China. I condemn the CCP’s violation of American sovereignty and its dangerous belligerence against Taiwan. I hope that President Lai and his family know the Select Committee and the American people stand with them.”
In another recent PRC intelligence op in Southern California, former Arcadia Mayor Eileen Wang is awaiting sentencing after her conviction earlier this year for acting as an unregistered PRC agent.
Updated Oct. 6, 2026, 9:46 a.m.
