A California woman has been arrested by the FBI after federal authorities accused her of secretly working for the Chinese government and surveilling the son of Taiwan’s president while he was living in the United States.
Wanying “Heather” Zhang, 34, of Irvine, California, was arrested Sunday at Los Angeles International Airport before a planned flight to China. She has been charged with acting as an unregistered agent of a foreign government.
According to federal investigators, Zhang traveled to the Seattle area in September 2025 and conducted surveillance on a close relative of a senior Taiwanese government official at the direction of Chinese officials. Authorities allege she collected photographs, videos and vehicle license plate information and sent the material to contacts in China.
The FBI did not initially identify the person under surveillance by name, but the agency later shared reporting identifying him as Lai Ting-yu, a son of Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te who lives in the United States. Federal investigators say Zhang coordinated the surveillance with another person and used methods intended to avoid detection.
Taiwan’s presidential office condemned the alleged activity as a case of “transnational repression” and thanked U.S. authorities for protecting Taiwanese citizens. The FBI uses that term for efforts by foreign governments to reach into the United States to intimidate, monitor, harass or otherwise target people living here.
Zhang has been charged, but the allegations against her have not been proven in court.
