In recent years, multiple cases of Chinese female spies or agents linked to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) have emerged in countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Philippines. These individuals have assumed various roles, including real estate agents, lawyers, state government staffers, and even mayors. Reports suggest that they have used business channels, political donations, and positions of public office to assist Beijing in furthering its political and intelligence objectives.
One of the most prominent cases recently involved Wanying “Heather” Zhang, a real estate agent based in Irvine, California. In October 2026, as she was preparing to board a flight to Shanghai at Los Angeles International Airport, she was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The U.S. Department of Justice has charged her with acting as an unregistered agent of a foreign government. Under the instructions of Chinese officials, she allegedly monitored the activities of Lai Ting-yu, the son of Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te, within the United States.
According to the federal criminal indictment and claims made by investigators, Zhang began her surveillance mission at the directive of Chinese officials in June 2025. In September of that year, she, along with an accomplice, traveled to Seattle, where they tracked Lai Ting-yu’s residence, taking photographs and videos while recording license plate information, which they subsequently sent to Chinese officials.
Furthermore, prosecutors accuse Zhang of gathering information related to a location linked to a “publicly anti-Communist Taiwanese elected official” in Irvine. Following these developments, Zhang was officially indicted. In November of this year, she appeared in a federal court in Los Angeles, where she pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy and failing to register as an agent for the CCP; the case is still under consideration.
Another concerning case involved Linda Sun, who previously served as a senior adviser to New York Governor Kathy Hochul and former Governor Andrew Cuomo. In 2024, Sun and her husband, Chris Hu, were arrested by the FBI. Prosecutors charged Sun with serving as an unregistered agent for the CCP and involved her in various counts, including failing to register as a foreign agent, visa fraud, and money laundering. Hu faced charges of money laundering, bank fraud, and tax evasion.
The indictment revealed that during her time in the state government, Sun obstructed Taiwanese officials from meeting with New York state officials. When former President Tsai Ing-wen passed through New York in 2019, Sun failed to communicate that Taiwan officials had invited state government personnel to a dinner. Instead, she misleadingly informed Taiwanese officials that the state government had other commitments, reporting back to Chinese officials that she had “blocked” the relevant arrangements. During a dinner held for Tsai’s visit, Sun even participated in protests organized by Chinese expatriate communities.
Sun has also been accused of facilitating connections between Chinese officials and state government personnel during the COVID-19 pandemic. She purportedly recommended that the governor publicly acknowledge Communist China’s aid to New York City regarding medical supplies, while failing to mention that Taiwan had also donated 200,000 masks to New York.
According to prosecutors, the couple received benefits from the CCP, purchasing properties in New York’s Long Island and Hawaii, along with luxury vehicles. However, in December 2025, a federal jury in New York was unable to reach a verdict on the charges, resulting in a mistrial being declared by the presiding judge, with the prosecution indicating plans to seek a retrial.
In a rare public warning, Britain’s MI5 intelligence agency flagged that Chinese-born lawyer Christine Lee was connected to the United Front Work Department of the CCP. Operating under the name “Christine Lee,” she had been navigating the political landscape in the UK, utilizing funds from China and Hong Kong to back UK political parties and figures. MI5 suggested she employed a strategy to cultivate relationships with promising UK politicians and was keen on lengthy engagement with them.
Lee has denied the allegations and countersued MI5; however, a 2024 ruling by the Investigatory Powers Tribunal upheld MI5’s decision to publicly name her, indicating such a step was necessary. As of now, she has not yet faced criminal charges.
Another significant incident involved a woman named Alice Guo, who was elected mayor of Bamban, Tarlac province in the Philippines in May 2022. By 2024, she was being investigated for her alleged involvement in offshore gambling, human trafficking, and fraud schemes, prompting Filipino senators to question her nationality and possible ties to Chinese espionage.
Subsequent fingerprint analyses conducted by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in the Philippines revealed that Guo had arrived in the Philippines with a Chinese passport as a teenager during 2003, confirming her Chinese citizenship. This led to her dismissal from the mayorship.
Following her dismissal, Guo refused to attend hearings regarding her alleged connections with CCP criminal networks, resulting in a Senate-issued arrest warrant. At one point, her whereabouts were unknown. However, in 2024, she was apprehended in Indonesia and returned to Manila, where in 2025, she was sentenced to life in prison for human trafficking crimes.