DOJ says 'Chinese foreign agent' charged with surveilling Taiwanese president's family
Wanying Zhang offered no plea and was ordered held at a court appearance.
A "Chinese foreign agent" moonlighting as a real estate agent was charged with surveilling Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen's son and family in the U.S., according to the Justice Department.
Charging documents allege Wanying Zhang allegedly traveled to Seattle and allegedly "surveilled a close relative of a Taiwanese government official, sending photos, videos, and license plate information to those officials," according to Bill Essayli, the first assistant U.S. attorney for the Central District of California.
In court records released Monday, the Justice Department alleges that Zhang, who allegedly moonlighted as a real estate agent, coordinated her efforts and communicated with a top People's Republic of China official who she knew from college.
Zhang allegedly visited Beijing in early 2025 and discussed helping out the government, according to text messages provided in the complaint. She then allegedly stayed in China and was put in touch with another senior leader from the Chinese intelligence bureau.
In the June meeting, the senior official began a discussion about surveilling a house in Seattle.
"Based on the context of these communications, I believe the reference to 'our thing last time' is in reference to their June 2025 meeting in which they discussed a 'U.S. house' and 'some assurance' could refer to some sort of benefit conferred on ZHANG by PRC Official 2. When ZHANG said 'go there,' I believe she was referring to going to Seattle and by 'take care of this thing,' I believe she means execute the tasking, i.e., conducting surveillance on the Victim," according to the court document.
On Sept. 1, Zhang allegedly boarded a flight to Seattle to conduct the operation and even included a picture of her boarding pass.
She allegedly then rented a car and traveled to the address in Seattle.
"The security footage shows that, upon the Victim's arrival, ZHANG and INDIVIDUAL 1 quickly sat up within a black SUV, took out what appears to be their phones, and held their phones out in a manner indicating that they were taking pictures and/or videos of the family," the court record says. Zhang allegedly reclined her seat as to seemingly try and not be seen, the record said.
"Saw him. Young male. It's that young one,'" she allegedly texted to the PRC official, according to court documents. "They then had a phone call. Zhang and the person she was traveling with flew back to Los Angeles the next day."
The pictures and video were ultimately deleted and not recoverable, according to the court documents, which allege the individual that was with Zhang deleted the pictures to conceal evidence.
"I believe ZHANG and INDIVIDUAL 1 were conducting surveillance on behalf of the People's Republic of China," the complaint reads. "According to the investigation thus far, ZHANG is a registered real estate agent in Southern California and INDIVIDUAL 1 appears to be employed in the construction field in the Los Angeles area. I am unaware of any business or personal reason for ZHANG and INDIVIDUAL 1 to spend one day in Seattle, for which they only needed a rental car for less than half of that time."
FBI Director Kash Patel weighed in on the arrest on Monday.
"The Chinese government allegedly sent an operative to surveil the family of Taiwan's President ON AMERICAN SOIL -- photos, video, license plates -- then she tried to hop a flight back to Shanghai," he said in a post alongside photos of Zhang being arrested.
Zhang appeared in court on Monday, where she offered no plea and was ordered held by a judge.
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