The Federal Bureau of Investigation announced the arrest of Wanying Zhang, a woman accused of spying on a Taiwanese president’s son for China. Ms Zhang spied on Taiwanese President William Lai Ching-te’s son, the FBI said. The agency did not name Ms Zhang’s alleged target directly.

The security agency later shared a news article identifying him as Lai Ting-yu.

Ms Zhang was arrested at Los Angeles as she tried to leave for China on Sunday, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli announced on X.

“We just arrested a Chinese foreign agent at LAX attempting to depart for China,” Mr Essayli said. “She will appear in federal court in Los Angeles tomorrow for her initial appearance.”

Ms Zhang, 34, aka Heather, 34, was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation on a federal complaint charging her with acting as an unregistered agent of China.

Posting a video of Ms Zhang walking amid three FBI agents, Mr Essayli said she travelled to Seattle in 2025 and, at the direction of Chinese officials, surveilled a close relative of a Taiwanese government official, sending photos, videos, and license plate information to those officials.

Shortly after Ms Zhang’s arrest, FBI boss Kash Patel said, “Foreign adversaries take note: America is no longer a safe place to run your espionage operations. Allegedly surveil a foreign leader’s family on U.S. soil for the PRC—and try to catch a flight back to Shanghai? Not happening. This FBI is hunting threats to our national security wherever they hide—and bringing them to justice.”