WASHINGTON, Oct 4 (Reuters) – US authorities \u2060arrested \u2060a California woman on Sunday \u2060and accused her of spying on a son of Taiwan’s \u200bpresident at the behest of Chinese officials, the FBI said.<\/p>\n
The FBI\u00a0arrested\u00a0Wanying Zhang, also known as \u200cHeather, at Los Angeles International Airport \u200con Sunday before her planned departure to China, the agency said in \u2060a statement. \u2060Authorities charged Zhang, 34, of Irvine, California, with acting as an \u200bunregistered foreign agent.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Zhang\u00a0surveilled a son of Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te, the FBI said. The agency did not directly name Zhang’s alleged target, but later\u00a0shared a New York Post report identifying him \u200bas Lai\u00a0Ting-yu, a US resident.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Taiwan’s presidential office described Zhang’s actions as a “typical case \u2060of \u2060transnational repression” and thanked \u2060the US \u200bgovernment for protecting Taiwanese citizens.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“Our country expresses the strongest condemnation of such barbaric conduct \u200bthat disregards human rights \u2060and the sovereignty of nations,” spokesperson Karen Kuo said in a statement.<\/p>\n
China’s foreign ministry did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n
Lai and his Democratic Progressive Party champion\u00a0Taiwan’s separate identity from China, a position that frequently angers Beijing, which views the island \u2060as Chinese territory.\u00a0Lai says only Taiwan’s people can decide their future.<\/p>\n
The Justice Department \u2060said Zhang traveled to Seattle in 2025 at the direction of Chinese officials and sent them\u00a0photos, video and license plate information of the Taiwanese president’s son and his family.<\/p>\n
Zhang\u00a0used\u00a0tradecraft to avoid detection and never notified Washington that she was acting for a foreign government, Bill\u00a0Essayli, the first assistant US attorney for the Central District of California, said in a statement.<\/p>\n
It was not immediately clear whether Zhang has a defense attorney. She will appear \u2060on Monday in a Los Angeles federal court,\u00a0Essayli said.<\/p>\n
Washington does not have formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, but the United States is the island’s most important international backer and weapons supplier.<\/p>\n
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Additional \u200breporting by Ben Blanchard in Taipei and Joe Cash in Beijing; \u200bEditing by Sergio Non and Edwina Gibbs)<\/p>\n
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