34-year-old Chinese real estate agent... Caught at LA airport just before heading to Shanghai

The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announced on the 5th (local time) that it had arrested Wan Ying Jiang (34) on charges of spying for China, including spying on the son of Taiwan's president living in the U.S. under orders from Chinese authorities.

According to the FBI, Zhang is suspected of filming the home and vehicle where Taiwan President Lai Ching-de's son and his family live in Seattle last year and reporting the related information to his Chinese counterpart.

The FBI said that Zhang, who used the name "Heather" and was working as a real estate agent in California, was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport just before boarding a flight to Shanghai, China. Zhang is believed to be of Chinese descent, and his exact nationality has not been disclosed.

Bill Essaili, Chief Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California, charged Zhang with acting as an "unregistered agent" for the Chinese government.

“She coordinated this trip with a collaborator and used espionage techniques to avoid detection,” Assistant Prosecutor Essaili told X.

According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), President Lai's son, Lei Tingyu, received a doctorate in biotechnology from the University of Washington. He reportedly works at Philips in Bothell, Washington, near Seattle.

A spokesperson for Taiwan's Presidential Office called the incident "a typical case of transnational oppression" and said the country condemns acts committed "with the purpose of oppressing, threatening or even harming those who defend freedom and democracy and their families."

China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it had no knowledge of the incident, but said China had "always opposed using exaggerations about so-called Chinese spies to smear and slander China," the WSJ reported.

This is not the first time that there have been suspicions that Chinese people or Chinese nationals under orders from Chinese authorities conducted espionage activities in the United States related to high-ranking Taiwanese officials.

Yaoning Sun (65), who lives in California, was sentenced to four years in prison earlier this year for acting as an unregistered agent of the Chinese government, monitoring the movements of then-Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen during her visit to California in 2023, taking photos of supporters and opposing protesters, and reporting them to Chinese authorities.