California woman indicted on charges she was spying for China

A California woman who prosecutors allege was spying on a son of Taiwan’s president was indicted earlier this month on charges of conspiracy and being an unregistered foreign agent for China.

The indictment was filed Oct. 9 in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, and the allegations it lays out mirror an earlier criminal complaint against Wanying Zhang, 34, of Irvine, California.

Prosecutors say Zhang, who also goes by Heather, spied on a son of Taiwan’s president outside his home in the Seattle area at the behest of Chinese officials. The alleged spying took place between roughly June and September 2025, prosecutors claim.

Taiwan is a self-ruled democracy that is the source of 90% of the world’s “leading-edge chip manufacturing,” according to the U.S. International Trade Administration. China claims Taiwan, and the United States has recognized this for nearly half a century, though the U.S. is required by law to ensure Taiwan can defend itself.

Prosecutors allege Zhang was under the direction of an unnamed Chinese government official and former classmate at her alma mater, China’s University of International Relations, which is “closely affiliated with China’s intelligence apparatus,” an FBI investigator said in earlier court documents.

An example of her alleged activity includes a request by the former classmate to send him pictures “of the house” where the son lives, according to the indictment.

Prosecutors alleged she flew from California to Las Vegas and then to the Seattle area to surveil the unidentified son and his home from outside.

The indictment alleges she captured photos, video and license plate information and sent them to her alleged Chinese handler. An unidentified person, who had fled to China in September, was with her, prosecutors said.

Zhang also traveled to China in August 2025 to meet with a Chinese government official, before returning days later and telling the official she’d likely be going to where the victim was the following week, according to the indictment.

Her lawyer, Craig Harbaugh, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Sunday.

Previously, the veteran criminal defense attorney described Zhang an upstanding resident of Irvine, about 42 miles southeast of L.A., where she lives with her husband and two young daughters.

“The government’s theory — she’s been a sleeper agent for the last 10 years, working as a real estate agent, raising her family and will choose to go to China and abandon her work, her family and her home — it’s not supported,” Harbaugh said in court Oct. 7.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Steve Kim ordered Zhang held in pretrial detention after prosecutors argued she poses a flight risk. The U.S. Bureau of Prisons website shows that she remains in custody.

Zhang is scheduled to appear in federal district court on Friday for a post-indictment arraignment. She faces up to 15 years in prison.