FBI counterintelligence agents arrested a Southern California real estate agent at Los Angeles International Airport as she attempted to board a flight to Shanghai, accusing her of acting as an unregistered agent of the Chinese government and surveilling the son of Taiwan's president.

Wanying "Heather" Zhang, 34, a licensed realtor from Irvine, was taken into custody Sunday, days before the case became public Tuesday, according to CBS News' report on the arrest. Prosecutors say her target was Ting-Yu Lai, the adult son of Taiwanese President Ching-Te Lai, an engineer living quietly near Seattle with his wife and young child.

A Cross-Country Surveillance Run

According to the criminal complaint, Zhang was introduced to a Chinese official in June 2025 through a former classmate from a university in Beijing, and was personally assigned the surveillance mission during a meeting in Changsha, China. On September 1, 2025, she and an associate identified only as "Individual 1" flew from Las Vegas to Seattle, rented a black Nissan Rogue, and drove to the younger Lai's suburban home, where a neighbor's security camera allegedly captured them filming the family as they arrived that evening.

THE LOCATION AND PICTURES OF THE CLOSE RELATIVES OF A HIGH-RANKING TAIWANESE GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL COULD BE USEFUL TO THE PRC.

Zhang allegedly texted a Chinese government handler over WeChat during the operation: "Saw him. Young male. It's that young one," and later, "I am videorecording," along with two vehicle license plate numbers, according to Time's account of the complaint. FBI Special Agent Kevin Holt wrote that if Beijing "wish to obtain leverage over the President of Taiwan during any potential conflict," images of his relatives' homes and vehicles "could be useful to the PRC."

Zhang, a naturalized U.S. citizen who attended university in Beijing, worked at JC Pacific Capital and had roughly 130 real estate transactions on her Zillow profile, according to NBC Los Angeles' reporting. Her husband, Edric Ding, also a realtor at the same firm, declined to comment. Investigators say she maintained contact with at least two individuals she acknowledged worked for the Chinese government.

Zhang faces a single federal charge of acting as an unregistered agent of a foreign government, which carries up to 10 years in prison. She has appeared in federal court; her attorney has not publicly responded to the allegations. The case lands amid heightened U.S. concern over Chinese intelligence activity targeting Taiwanese officials and their families on American soil.