FBI arrests woman suspected of spying on Taiwan president's son's family for China
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The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, or FBI, arrested a 34-year-old woman at Los Angeles International Airport before she could board a flight to Shanghai, accusing her of acting as an unregistered agent of the Chinese government and surveilling the son of Taiwan President Lai Ching-te and his family. The suspect, Wanying Zhang, is a resident of Irvine, California, and is accused of photographing the residence and vehicles of the family of President Lai's son in 2025 and sending the information back to handlers in China. Bill Essayli, a U.S. assistant attorney for Los Angeles, said the FBI took Zhang into custody on Sunday local time, and she is scheduled to appear in federal court in Los Angeles on Tuesday for an initial hearing on the charges. Karen Kuo, a spokesperson for Taiwan's Presidential Office, said the case is an example of cross-border repression and condemned actions aimed at pressuring, intimidating or harming those who support freedom and democracy, as well as their families. The arrest came just days after U.S. and Chinese leaders held a summit aimed at stabilizing relations between the two countries, amid Taiwan's concerns over Chinese espionage operations. Between 2025 and early 2026, Taiwan charged 58 individuals in cases suspected of involving espionage for China, and last year four members of the Democratic Progressive Party were sentenced to prison for passing confidential government information to Chinese intelligence, one of whom had served as an aide to Lai when he was vice president.