FBI arrests woman accused of spying on Taiwanese president's family in the US for China

The FBI arrested a woman at Los Angeles International Airport as she was leaving the country and accused her of spying on the Taiwan president's family for China.

Wanying Zhang, also known as Heather, surveilled the Taiwanese president’s son and his family for the Chinese government while she was in the United States, according to the FBI.

Zhang, 34, was arrested on charges of working for China as an unregistered agent, Assistant US State Attorney Bill Essayli announced on social media. Zhang took photos and videos of her targets and sent license plate information to Chinese officials, he added.

She was arrested as she was departing the country for a flight to China. Her nationality was not clear, and an attorney who represents her could not be determined. She is due to appear in federal court in Los Angeles on Monday.

Taiwan’s Presidential Office confirmed President Lai Ching-te’s relatives were the targets, without specifying if it was the president’s son, saying that “this is a classic case of transnational repression.”

“Taiwan condemns in the strongest terms such barbaric acts, which disregard human rights and national sovereignty and aim to suppress, threaten, or even harm individuals advocating for freedom and democracy or their families, as such behaviour should not be tolerated in the civilised world,” spokesperson Karen Kuo said in a statement.

Taiwan and China split after a civil war in 1949, but Beijing claims the island as part of its own territory.

Lai, who was voted into office in 2024, has said that Taiwan and Beijing do not belong to each other and that the “People's Republic of China has no right to represent Taiwan.”

China considers him a separatist and has called him a “destroyer of peace.”

While in office, Lai has dramatically ramped up defence spending for Taiwan, notably pledging to increase defence expenditure from 3% to 5% of GDP, and pushing through a special budget for the construction of a T-Dome air defence system.