An Irvine woman who allegedly spied on family members of Taiwan’s president pleaded not guilty Friday in downtown Los Angeles to federal charges of conspiracy and working as an unregistered foreign agent for the People’s Republic of China.
The FBI arrested Wanying “Heather” Zhang, 34, earlier this month at Los Angeles International Airport as she was attempting to travel to China, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Trial was set to start Nov. 30 in Santa Ana federal court.
Prosecutors contend Zhang went to Seattle in 2025 and at the behest of the PRC officials, monitored the Taiwanese president’s son and his family for the Chinese government. She allegedly gathered and provided photos, videos and license plate data.
Zhang is accused of coordinating the Seattle trip with an associate, employing espionage techniques to avoid detection, prosecutors alleged. She never notified the attorney general she was acting for a foreign government, which constitutes a federal offense.
Zhang could face up to 10 years in federal custody.
“Foreign adversaries take note: America is no longer a safe place to run your espionage operations,” FBI Director Kash Patel said in a social media post.
A spokesperson for Taiwan’s presidential office described Zhang’s suspected actions as a “classic case of transnational repression” and condemned “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,.”
A PRC spokesperson told reporters Oct. 6 that he was unfamiliar with Zhang’s arrest, and the government “opposes vilifying China by peddling the so-called ‘Chinese spy’ narrative.”
