Who is Wanying 'Heather' Zhang? California woman arrested for spying on Taiwanese president’s son for China

A 34-year-old Californian woman was arrested by the FBI on Sunday for allegedly surveilling the Taiwan president's son and has been charged with acting as an unregistered agent for China.

Federal officials said that Wanying Heather Zhang, a realtor from Irvine, was arrested at an airport Sunday as she tried to board a flight to Shanghai.

The FBI said in a social media post that Zhang was surveilling Taiwan President Ching-Te Lai’ son.

A complaint registered on Saturday alleged that Zhang acted on the direction ofs of Chinese officials to gather information on a relative of the Taiwan president.

China's ruling CCP views Taiwan as part of the Chinese territory despite not having control over it.

They have vowed to unify the island with the Chinese mainland by force.

The complaint also showed texts between her and other agents about tracking Ting-Yu Lai, 30, in Seattle, Washington, where he works for electronics giant Philips.

WeChat messages show that Zhang was communicating with two people believed to be Chinese government officials.

Surveillance camera photographs also caught Zhang sitting in a car with an accomplice taking pictures of his house and close relatives.

Zhang works for a real estate firm along with her husband, Edric Ding, who allegedly travelled to Seattle in September 2023 to spy on Ting Yu Lai.

‘We have a problem with Beijing using Chinese-Americans for their own purposes in California,” AG Bill Essayli said. “They are using them for their own foreign affairs because they are playing the long game to get a competitive advantage over us. She wasn’t spying against us; she was allegedly conducting a campaign on behalf of Beijing.”

Us officials fear Beijing will try to invade the island at some point next year.

In a September 2025 exchange, Zhang told Chinese officials that she saw the Taiwan president's son.

The officials then asked Zhang if she was available for an audio call to discuss the matter. Zhang was at the son’s residence at the time.

“According to the affidavit, Zhang travelled to Seattle in 2025 and, at the direction of PRC officials, surveilled a close relative of a Taiwanese government official, sending photos, videos, and license plate information to those officials,” Essayli said. “She coordinated the trip with an associate and used tradecraft to avoid detection. She never notified the Attorney General she was acting for a foreign government, a federal offence.”

The alleged communication with the Chinese officials dates back to September 2022. At the time, they texted about topics such as investments and children.

In March 2025, she told the official that she planned to travel to Beijing and that they should meet up.

The messages continued through June 2025, including discussion of Zhang meeting with a Chinese official in the US. The last message between them was in August 2025.

Zhang arrest is the latest in a series of high profile spy cases in the US.

In March, former Arcadia mayor Eileen Wang entered a plea in a federal court after pleading guilty to spying for China between 2020 and 2022. She was elected to the city council in Arcadia, a city in the San Gabriel Valley within LA County, in November 2022.

Zhang will appeal in Federal court in Los Angeles on Monday, Essayli said.