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.
She 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.
Former Arcadia Mayor Eileen Wang is awaiting sentencing after her conviction earlier this year for acting as an unregistered PRC agent.
