A California woman who prosecutors say spied on a son of Taiwan’s president was charged this month with conspiracy and being an unregistered foreign agent for China.
The indictment was filed Oct. 9 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, and the allegations it sets forth mirror an earlier criminal complaint against the woman, Wanying Zhang, 34, of Irvine.
Prosecutors say Zhang, also known as Heather, spied on a son of Taiwan’s president outside her Seattle-area home at the request of Chinese authorities. The spying allegedly took place between approximately June and September 2025, prosecutors say.
Taiwan is a self-governing democracy that is responsible for 90 percent of the world’s “advanced chip manufacturing,” according to the U.S. International Trade Administration. China claims Taiwan, with which the United States has no official relationship, although it is required by law to ensure that Taiwan can defend itself.
Prosecutors say Zhang was under the direction of an unnamed Chinese government official and former classmate at his alma mater, the China University of International Relations, who is “closely affiliated with China’s intelligence apparatus,” an FBI investigator said in previous court documents.
One example of the alleged activity was the former classmate’s request to send him photos “of the house” where his son lives, according to the indictment.
Prosecutors alleged that Zhang took a flight from California to Las Vegas and then to the Seattle area to surveil the unidentified son and his home from outside.
The indictment alleges she captured photos, videos and license plate information and sent them to the person alleged to be her Chinese handler. An unidentified person, who had fled to China in September, was with her, prosecutors said.
Zhang also traveled to China in August 2025 to meet with a Chinese government official, returned a few days later and told the official she would most likely travel to where the victim was the following week, according to the indictment.
His attorney, Craig Harbaugh, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Sunday.
Previously, Harbaugh, a veteran criminal defense attorney, had described Zhang as an upstanding resident of Irvine, about 42 miles southeast of Los Angeles, where she lives with her husband and two young daughters.
“The government’s theory — she has been a sleeper agent for 10 years, works as a real estate agent, is raising her family and will choose to go to China and abandon her job, family and home — is not supported,” Harbaugh said in court on Oct. 7.
The Chinese Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment Sunday evening.
Guo Jiakun, a spokesperson for China’s Foreign Ministry, said this month after Zhang’s arrest at Los Angeles International Airport that he was “unfamiliar” with the situation and that Beijing “opposed slandering China by peddling the so-called Chinese spy narrative.”
U.S. Magistrate Judge Steve Kim ordered Zhang held in pretrial detention after prosecutors argued she posed a flight risk. The U.S. Bureau of Prisons website says she remains in custody.
Zhang is scheduled to appear in federal district court Friday for a post-indictment arraignment. She faces up to 15 years in prison.
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