A woman has been arrested in California for allegedly tracking Taiwan President Lai Ching-te's son for Beijing — bad news for China's covert operations on American soil, and a sign Washington is cracking down harder.

• Wanying Zhang, 34, of Irvine, California, is accused of acting as an unregistered agent of the Chinese government.
• She allegedly traveled to Seattle, where Lai Ting-yu and his family live, and sent photos, videos, and license plate details to Chinese officials.
• FBI Director Kash Patel said she tried to fly back to Shanghai after the alleged spying and was blocked.
• Prosecutors say she planned the Seattle trip with an accomplice and used tradecraft to avoid being detected.
• Patel warned foreign governments that the US is no longer a safe place to run spy operations.

Outlook: Expect the case to raise tensions between Washington and Beijing and draw more scrutiny of Chinese surveillance of Taiwanese officials' families abroad.