Chinese Spy Targeting Taiwan President's Son Arrested at LA Airport Just Before Fleeing to Shanghai

[Financial News] A woman in her 30s who allegedly carried out espionage activities at the direction of Chinese authorities, including surveilling the son of Taiwan President Lai Ching-te, who lives in the United States, has been arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
According to the U.S. Department of Justice on the 5th (local time), the FBI arrested Wanying Zhang, 34, also known as Heather, at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) on the 4th, just before she boarded a flight to Shanghai, China. She was charged with acting as an unregistered agent of a foreign government. Zhang, who lives in Irvine, California, and has worked as a real estate agent, is scheduled to appear in federal court in Los Angeles on the 5th.

According to authorities, Zhang allegedly traveled to Seattle, Washington, in 2025 at the direction of Chinese authorities and closely surveilled Lai Ting-yu, President Lai's son, and his family. Investigators found that Zhang photographed and filmed their home and vehicle license plates and passed the material to her Chinese handlers. Lai Ting-yu, the target of the surveillance, is known to have earned a doctorate in biotechnology from the University of Washington (UW) and to work for Philips in Bothell, near Seattle.
Bill Essayli, chief assistant U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, noted, "She coordinated the trip with an associate and used sophisticated espionage techniques to avoid detection."
A spokesperson for the Office of the President, Republic of China (Taiwan), strongly condemned the case, calling it "a typical case of transnational repression aimed at suppressing and threatening people who defend freedom and democracy and their families." The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China, meanwhile, said it had no knowledge of the incident but pushed back, stating, "We have always opposed efforts to hype up the so-called 'Chinese spy' allegations to smear and defame China."
This is not the first time that someone acting on the orders of Chinese authorities has been caught conducting intelligence activities related to senior Taiwanese officials in the United States. Yao Ning-sun, 65, who previously lived in California, was indicted in 2023 on charges of monitoring the itinerary of then-Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen during her visit to the United States, photographing protesters and reporting to China. He was sentenced to four years in prison earlier this year.


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