The FBI arrested a woman at Los Angeles international airport (LAX) as she was leaving the country and accused her of spying on the Taiwan president’s family for China.

Wanying Zhang, also know as Heather, surveilled the Taiwanese president’s son and his family for the Chinese government while in the United States, according to the FBI.

Zhang, 34, was arrested on charges for working for China without registering as a foreign agent as legally required, first assistant US state attorney Bill Essayli of California’s central federal district announced on social media. Zhang took photos and videos of her targets and sent license plate information to Chinese officials, he said.

Citing real-estate licensing and listing records, the Los Angeles news outlet KTLA reported that Zhang was a licensed real-estate salesperson based in the southern California city of Irvine.

She was arrested as she was departing for a flight to China. Her nationality was not clear, and it was also not immediately clear if she had an attorney representing her.

She was due to appear on Monday in federal court in Los Angeles.

Taiwan’s presidential office confirmed Taiwanese president Lai Ching-te’s relatives were the targets. The office did not specify if it was the president’s son, saying that “this is a classic case of transnational repression”.

“Taiwan condemns in the strongest terms such barbaric acts – which disregard human rights and national sovereignty and aim to suppress, threaten, or even harm individuals advocating for freedom and democracy or their families – as such behavior should not be tolerated in the civilized world,” spokesperson Karen Kuo said in a statement.

The Chinese embassy in the US did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday. And the foreign ministry in Beijing was closed for holidays.

Taiwan and China split after a civil war in 1949. But China claims the island as part of its own territory.

Lai, who was voted into office in 2024, has said that Taiwan and China do not belong to each other. He also has said the “People’s Republic of China has no right to represent Taiwan”.

China considers Lai a separatist and has called him a “destroyer of peace”.

While in office, Lai has stepped up spending on defense for Taiwan – notably pledging to increase defense spending from 3% to 5% of the GDP, and pushing through a special budget for the construction of a T-Dome air defense system.

Guardian staff contributed reporting