A California real estate agent was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport after U.S. authorities accused her of surveilling the son of Taiwan President Lai Ching-te on behalf of Chinese government officials.
Wanying “Heather” Zhang, 34, of Irvine, California, was arrested Oct. 4, at LAX as she was preparing to board a flight to Shanghai, according to the FBI and a federal criminal complaint. She was charged with acting as an unregistered agent of a foreign government.
The FBI alleges Zhang traveled to Seattle in September 2025 with an accomplice to conduct surveillance on Lai Ting-yu, the U.S.-based son of Taiwan’s president. Investigators said she photographed and recorded Lai and his family and sent information about their vehicles and movements to Chinese contacts.
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According to the complaint, Zhang and a man identified as “Individual 1” flew from Las Vegas to Seattle on Sept. 1, 2025. They rented a black Nissan Rogue and drove to a residence associated with Lai’s family. Images from a neighbor’s security camera allegedly show the pair filming Lai, his wife and their child as they arrived at the home that evening, CBS News reported. The FBI complaint also says Zhang sent messages to a Chinese government contact saying she had seen the target and was recording him, followed by two license plate numbers.
FBI Special Agent Kevin Holt wrote in the Oct. 3 complaint that photographs and information about the homes, vehicles and locations of relatives of a senior Taiwanese official could potentially provide Beijing with leverage over Taiwan’s president during a future conflict.
The FBI said Zhang had been in contact with at least two people she appeared to acknowledge were working for the Chinese government. Investigators allege she was introduced to one of them through a former classmate from Beijing’s University of International Relations, which the complaint says has ties to China’s Ministry of State Security.
CBS News reported that Zhang is a licensed California realtor who has worked in the Los Angeles area. Her husband, Edric Ding, who works at the same real estate firm, told CBS News he did not know anything about the case and declined to comment further. It was not immediately clear whether Zhang had an attorney.
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said Zhang used methods intended to avoid detection and failed to notify the U.S. government that she was acting on behalf of a foreign government. She was scheduled to appear in federal court in Los Angeles on Monday.
Taiwan’s Presidential Office condemned the alleged surveillance and described it as a case of “transnational repression.” Spokesperson Karen Kuo said Taiwan strongly condemned conduct that disregards human rights and national sovereignty and thanked the U.S. government for protecting Taiwanese citizens. China’s Foreign Ministry said it was not familiar with the case and criticized what it described as the use of allegations involving so-called Chinese spies to smear China.
The case comes amid continuing tensions between Beijing and Taipei. China claims Taiwan as part of its territory, while Lai and his Democratic Progressive Party have emphasized Taiwan’s separate political identity. The United States does not maintain formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan but remains its most important international supporter and weapons supplier, according to Reuters.
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The arrest also follows other U.S. cases involving alleged Chinese intelligence and influence operations. CBS News noted previous prosecutions involving Chinese government efforts to monitor dissidents and pro-democracy activists in the United States, including the case of Shujun Wang, who was convicted in 2024 of acting as a foreign agent.
In California, former Arcadia Mayor Eileen Wang was charged in May with acting as a Chinese agent and accused of accepting money to promote Chinese government propaganda in the United States, according to CBS News. Zhang’s case is now before the federal courts, and the allegations against her have not been proven at trial.