The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) arrested a woman accused of spying in the U.S. on behalf of China, authorities announced yesterday, Sunday.
Guanying Zhang, 34, is accused of being a secret agent and spying on the inner circle of a Taiwanese official in the U.S. for the benefit of Beijing, Bill Esseli, a federal prosecutor in California, via X.
“Zhang traveled to Seattle in 2025 and, on the orders of officials (i.e., from China), she monitored an individual very close to a Taiwanese government official, sending photos, videos, and information about the license plates of the vehicle belonging to the person he was monitoring to “those officials” in Beijing, he added.
FBI Director Kas Patel expressed satisfaction with the arrest via X: “To go so far as to surveil the family of a foreign leader on U.S. soil on behalf of the PRC and then try to board a flight to Shanghai? That’s not how it works.”
“Foreign adversaries, take note: America is no longer a safe place to conduct espionage operations,” he declared.
Wangying Zhang, a resident of Irvine, California, is expected to appear in federal court later today.
Source: CNA