The first assistant prosecutor in central California, Bill Essayli, has warned that the Chinese communist government’s spy activities within the United States are “extremely common”.
In early October, the federal government arrested a real estate agent, Wan Ying Zhang, in Irvine, who is suspected of engaging in Chinese espionage activities, monitoring the son of Taiwan’s President, Lai Ching-te. Essayli is the prosecutor handling the case. On Monday, October 12, in an interview with Fox News Digital Channel, Essayli stated that Beijing is blatantly attempting to establish spy connections within the United States. In just his office alone, in recent months, several lawsuits have been filed against multiple suspects involved in Chinese espionage activities.
“I believe that espionage activities of the Chinese Communist Party are extremely common,” Essayli said. “China is one of our biggest adversaries, dedicated to advancing its interests by any means necessary. They cast out their nets, willing to invest substantial resources in the United States to develop intelligence sources, recruit personnel, and achieve their goals.”
“They are eager to steal our technology; they are eager to engage in espionage here. So, China’s actions have no boundaries,” the prosecutor said, “This is extremely worrying.”
“We must remain vigilant, we must stop these (spy) activities on our soil,” Essayli added. “We must defend our sovereignty.”
The Los Angeles prosecutor stated that Chinese espionage is “extremely widespread”, citing several Chinese espionage cases he is currently handling this year.
“If you look at the cases we have dealt with this year, just the cases handled by my office. For example, a woman in Irvine engaged in spying on the family of Taiwan regional leaders; last week, we arrested someone selling over $300 million in super intelligent (SI, formerly known as artificial intelligence AI) chips to China.” he said. “We also charged a local mayor who acted as an unregistered agent for China, spreading Chinese propaganda and taking orders from China.” the prosecutor added.
Essayli stated that Chinese espionage activities in the US are “a very serious problem,” and the FBI is actively dealing with it.
“They have dedicated teams specifically targeting these crimes, and our US prosecutor’s office is committed to supporting these investigations and prosecuting them criminally to combat these criminal activities,” Essayli said.
Wan Ying Zhang, a 34-year-old resident of Irvine, was arrested earlier this month for allegedly conspiring with an accomplice to film and record videos of the son of Taiwan’s President outside a residence in the suburbs of Seattle.
It is alleged that in 2025, she traveled to Seattle on the instructions of a Chinese official and sent them photos, videos, and license plate information she captured.
“She (referring to Zhang) coordinated this trip with an accomplice and used spy skills to evade detection,” Essayli wrote in a statement. “She never reported to the Attorney General that she was working for a foreign government, which is a federal crime.”
In May, Eileen Wang, a 58-year-old former Chinese mayor of Arcadia in Southern California, admitted to illegally acting as a Chinese agent. She faces up to 10 years in prison.
She blamed her former fiance, Mike Sun, 65, saying she was deceived. Sun was sentenced to 4 years in prison in February this year for acting as a Chinese agent.
The two collaborated with the Chinese government from 2020 to 2023, using a fake news website targeting Chinese Americans in the US for pro-Chinese propaganda.
According to Sun’s plea agreement, he “planned” Eileen Wang’s election victory in 2022 at the direction of Chinese officials, then submitted detailed reports to the Chinese intelligence department, detailing how they successfully “cultivated” a pro-Chinese government “political star.”
Sources told Dajiyuan that Eileen Wang even posted her graduation certificate from the Chinese Communist Party’s Party School (short course) on social media, boasting about attending the party school training classes for two weeks.
This case has shocked the local Chinese community. Many residents believe that this incident has damaged the city’s and Chinese people’s image.
The court was originally scheduled to announce Eileen Wang’s sentence in early October, but it has now been postponed to January 2027.