Los Angeles, California - Federal officials including FBI Director Kash Patel on Sunday said a woman accused of spying for China in the US has been arrested at an airport in Los Angeles.

34-year-old Wanying Zhang was arrested on allegations of acting as an unregistered agent of China and spying on a Taiwanese official in the US for Beijing, First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli said in a post to X.

"Zhang traveled to Seattle in 2025 and, at the direction of [People's Republic of China] officials, surveilled a close relative of a Taiwanese government official, sending photos, videos, and license plate information to those officials," Essayli wrote in the post.

"She coordinated the trip with an associate and used trade craft to avoid detection. She never notified the Attorney General she was acting for a foreign government, a federal offense."

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Patel cheered the arrest in his own post to X on Sunday, warning foreign adversaries that "America is no longer a safe place to run your espionage operations."

"Allegedly surveil a foreign leader's family on US soil for the PRC – and try to catch a flight back to Shanghai? Not happening," Patel added.

"This FBI is hunting threats to our national security wherever they hide – and bringing them to justice."

Zhang is expected to appear in federal court Monday for an initial appearance.