California Woman Charged in Alleged China Surveillance Case

U.S. authorities arrested Wanying Zhang at Los Angeles International Airport on October 4 and charged her with acting as an unregistered agent of China, alleging she surveilled a relative of Taiwan’s president for Chinese officials. Zhang, 34, was detained before a planned departure to China, officials said. The allegations are set out in a federal complaint and have not been tested in court. The complaint alleges that Zhang and an associate traveled to Seattle in September 2025 to watch the family of a Taiwanese government official’s relative. They allegedly sent Chinese officials photographs, video and vehicle registration information. The FBI identified the target as a close relative of a Taiwanese official; law-enforcement sources identified him as Ting-Yu Lai, the son of Taiwan President Lai Ching-te. According to the complaint, investigators obtained WeChat messages through a search warrant for Zhang’s iCloud account. The messages allegedly describe the surveillance and communications with people believed to be Chinese officials.