US Attorney Warns Chinese Espionage Is 'Extremely Pervasive' After LA Arrest

Chinese espionage against the United States is «extremely pervasive» and demands urgent disruption on American soil, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said in an interview, pointing to a string of recent prosecutions brought by his office in Los Angeles.

Essayli described China as one of the country's biggest adversaries and said Beijing is «playing the long game,» committing significant resources to recruiting sources and developing access inside the United States. «They're willing to steal our technology; they're willing to engage in espionage here,» he said. «So, there's no limit to what China is willing to do. It is a huge, huge concern. We have to be vigilant, and we have to disrupt these operations on our soil. We have to protect our sovereignty.»

The comments followed the arrest this month of Wanying Zhang, 34, of Irvine, California, who allegedly worked with an associate to photograph and record a family outside their Seattle-area home. Zhang, who goes by «Heather» in the U.S., was taken into custody at Los Angeles International Airport as she attempted to board a flight to China, according to a criminal complaint. She faces a federal charge of acting as an unregistered agent of the People's Republic of China.

Prosecutors allege Zhang traveled to Seattle in 2025 at the direction of Chinese officials and sent them photographs, videos and license plate information. Essayli said she coordinated the trip with an associate and used tradecraft to avoid detection, and that she never notified the attorney general that she was acting for a foreign government — itself a federal offense. He confirmed that Zhang is a naturalized U.S. citizen and that the alleged surveillance targeted a relative of Taiwan's president. «She was conducting surveillance on behalf of the Chinese government. She was acting as a foreign agent,» Essayli said. «And she was spying on a relative of the president of Taiwan here in the U.S.»

The complaint does not name the target, but law enforcement sources identified him as Ting-Yu Lai, the U.S.-based son of Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te. In messages quoted in the complaint, Zhang allegedly wrote to a Chinese government contact while outside the home: «Saw him. Young male. It's that young one.» She added, «I am video recording,» before sending two license plate numbers.

Essayli said the Zhang case is part of a broader pattern. He cited a woman from Irvine charged with espionage against a family member of Taiwan's president, a man arrested last week for selling more than $300 million in advanced AI chips to China, and a local mayor charged with serving as an unregistered agent of China by spreading propaganda and taking orders from Beijing. «If you look at just the cases we brought this year, just in my office,» he said, «it's extremely pervasive.»

Despite the scale of the threat, Essayli said federal authorities are responding. He credited the FBI with maintaining entire squads dedicated to countering Chinese espionage and said his office is committed to supporting those investigations and bringing criminal charges to disrupt the operations. «It's a huge problem, but the FBI is on it,» he said.

The arrest adds to a series of recent cases in which U.S. authorities have accused Chinese-linked actors of operating inside the country, including hackers who infiltrated government networks and a Google engineer accused of stealing AI secrets. Essayli's warning underscores the growing pressure on federal prosecutors to treat counterintelligence as a day-to-day law enforcement priority, not only a national security matter handled behind closed doors.

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Derek Weston

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Derek Weston covers public affairs, politics, business, culture and daily news for Core Memo. The role focuses on verification, context, and clear explanations for readers.

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