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The FBI arrested a 34-year-old California woman at Los Angeles International Airport on Sunday for allegedly surveilling President Lai Ching-te’s (賴清德) son and his family on behalf of Chinese officials.
Zhang “Heather” Wanying, an Irvine realtor, was arrested while preparing to board a flight to Shanghai and charged with acting as an unregistered agent of a foreign government, per CBS News. Law enforcement sources told CBS that the alleged surveillance target was Lai’s son, Lai Ting-yu (賴廷與).
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The complaint alleges Zhang maintained contact with at least two people suspected of working for the Chinese government. She was introduced to one of them through a classmate at Beijing’s University of International Relations, which the FBI said has close ties to China’s Ministry of State Security, UDN reported.
Zhang allegedly met the official in a private room in Changsha during a trip to China in June 2025 and accepted a surveillance assignment. She later messaged the official, “I can handle this,” and on Aug. 26 said she would be busy with work in Los Angeles that week and might travel to Seattle the following week.
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Zhang is a licensed California real estate agent with JC Pacific Capital Inc., while her husband, Edric Ding, also works at the company, according to UDN. Lai Ting-yu is an engineer in his 30s who studied in the US and now works for the Dutch electronics company Philips.
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