The FBI arrested an Irvine woman at Los Angeles International Airport as she allegedly prepared to board a flight to China.
Wanying Zhang, also known as “Heather,” is 34 and was taken into custody by the FBI’s Los Angeles field office.
Zhang faces a federal complaint accusing her of acting in the United States as an unregistered agent for the People’s Republic of China.
Bill Essayli, First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California, said an affidavit alleges that Zhang traveled to Seattle in 2025 under instructions from PRC officials. There, prosecutors say, she monitored a close relative of a Taiwanese government official and provided officials with photographs, video footage and license plate details.
Essayli said Zhang arranged the trip with an associate and used methods intended to avoid detection. He added that she did not inform the attorney general that she was working on behalf of a foreign government, which is a federal crime.
Zhang is expected to make her initial appearance in federal court in Los Angeles tomorrow, according to Essayli.
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