měi guó美国nǚ zǐ女子bèi kòng被控mì mì秘密jiān shì监视tái wān台湾zǒng tǒng总统jiā rén家人
The U.S. Department of Justice has charged a 34-year-old woman living in California.
Prosecutors said that, without registering as required by law, she followed arrangements made by Chinese government officials to secretly monitor the son of Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te in the United States.
The indictment says that she first went to China to meet with officials, and later traveled with another person to the Seattle area, where they recorded video near the target’s residence and reported the people and vehicle license plate numbers they saw to Chinese officials.
She has been arrested by police and could face up to ten years in prison if convicted.
However, under the law, she must still be presumed innocent until a court reaches a verdict.
The case has drawn greater attention to the issue of foreign governments monitoring people in the United States.
Several U.S. lawmakers called for strict action under the law and said that the United States should protect the safety of its residents.
China has not yet given a detailed response to the case.