The FBI arrested 34-year-old Wanying “Heather” Zhang of China on Sunday, one year after she allegedly spied on the Taiwanese president’s son, according to federal officials.
Zhang was at Los Angeles International Airport about to depart to Shanghai when she was arrested, the FBI said. She has been charged with acting as an unregistered foreign agent and will appear in federal court in Los Angeles on Monday.
Her arrest on Sunday came a year after she traveled from Los Angeles, where she works as a real estate agent, to Lai Ting-yu’s home in Seattle, Wash. On the street outside his house, security surveillance footage shows Zhang and another individual waiting in a rented black SUV, the FBI’s complaint says. When Lai and his family arrived home and walked inside, Zhang and an unnamed individual “quickly sat . . . took out what appears to be their phones, and held their phones out in a manner indicating that they were taking pictures and/or videos of the family.”
If China “wished to obtain leverage over the President of Taiwan during any potential conflict,” the complaint says, “the location and pictures of the close relatives of a high-ranking Taiwanese government official, including pictures of their homes and cars, could be useful to the PRC (People’s Republic of China).”
The complaint also includes WeChat messages sent in September 2025, when Zhang was outside Lai’s home. She messaged a Chinese government official, “Saw him. Young male. It’s that one.” The official responded, “Are you free for an audio call?” to which Zhang said, “I am video recording.” She then sent photos of two license plates and appeared to call the official.
Zhang appears to have been in communications with Chinese government officials since September 2022, The New York Post reported. In March 2025, Zhang allegedly asked the Chinese government official to meet up during her visit to Beijing. Their communications continued through August, when she messaged him “I will be busy with work in L.A. this week. I will probably go to Seattle next week.”
“She coordinated the trip with an associate and used tradecraft to avoid detection,” First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said of Zhang on Sunday evening. “She never notified the Attorney General she was acting for a foreign government, a federal offense.”
Zhang’s arrest comes amid heightened tensions between China and Taiwan. Some U.S. officials have expressed fears China will attempt an invasion of the island at some point next year.