Wanying "Heather" Zhang, a 34-year-old realtor from Irvine, California, was arrested by the FBI on October 4 at Los Angeles International Airport. The arrest took place just before Zhang was scheduled to depart on a planned flight to Shanghai, China.
Zhang has been charged with acting as an unregistered agent of a foreign government. U.S. officials allege that she spied on the son of Taiwanese President Lai and his family, sending photos and videos of them to Chinese officials.
According to officials, Zhang used tradecraft to avoid detection and failed to notify Washington that she was acting on behalf of a foreign government.