California realtor arrested for spying for China; tracked Taiwan President's son

A woman was arrested in Los Angeles on Sunday (local time) for allegedly spying on a son of Taiwan's president at the behest of Chinese officials, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

The accused has been identified as 34-year-old Wanying Zhang, alias Heather. She was arrested by the FBI at the Los Angeles International Airport ahead of her planned departure to China, the agency said in a statement.

Authorities charged the woman, who reportedly works as a realtor based out of Irvine, California, with acting as an unregistered foreign agent.

Zhang is accused of having surveilled a son of Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te.

While the agency refrained from directly naming Zhang's alleged target in the statement, it later shared a New York Post report identifying him as Lai Ting-yu, who resides in the United States.

The US Department of Justice said the woman travelled to Seattle in 2025 on instructions from Chinese officials and subsequently shared with them photos, video and licence plate information of the Taiwanese leader's son and his family.

A federal prosecutor claimed that Zhang used tradecraft to avoid detection.

In a statement shared on X, Bill Essayli, the first assistant US attorney for the Central District of California, said that the accused never notified Washington that she was acting for a foreign government.

There were no immediate reactions from China's embassy in Washington or the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US.

Zhang is set to appear on Monday in a Los Angeles federal court, Essayli said. It was not immediately clear if she has a defence attorney or not.- Ends(With inputs from Reuters)