FBI arrests ‘Chinese foreign agent’ for spying on Taiwan president’s son

Federal investigators detained a California woman at Los Angeles International Airport after accusing her of spying on the son of Taiwan’s president and transmitting the collected information to Chinese officials. The U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, Bill Essayli, described the arrestee, Wanying Zhang (aka Heather), as a “Chinese foreign agent” who used clandestine methods to avoid detection. Zhang was arrested as she prepared to board a flight to China.

According to the Justice Department, Zhang travelled to Seattle in 2025 at the direction of Chinese officials. During that operation she is alleged to have gathered photographs, video and vehicle license-plate data related to President William Lai Ching-te’s son and members of his family, then sent those materials to contacts in China. The FBI did not name the target in its initial statement but later shared a news article identifying him as Lai Ting-yu.

Prosecutors say Zhang failed to notify the U.S. attorney general that she was acting on behalf of a foreign government, which Essayli said is a federal crime. She is charged with acting as an unregistered foreign agent and is scheduled to appear in federal court in Los Angeles on Monday, per the U.S. attorney’s office.

The arrest comes amid heightened cross-strait tensions: Taiwan’s president and his Democratic Progressive Party assert the island is already independent, while Beijing maintains it is Chinese territory. The action follows other recent U.S.-Taiwan security developments, including delivery of two F-16V Block 70 fighter jets to Taiwan earlier in the week, and remarks by Chinese President Xi Jinping in January reaffirming Beijing’s goal of “reunification.”