FBI raids Chinese entrepreneur's home after alleged spy's Seattle surveillance

Around noon on Sunday, about ten FBI agents broke into the empty home of Fatai Miao in Irvine, California, employing a battering ram and leaving visible damage to the door and video doorbell. The raid came after prosecutors charged Zhang, an alleged Chinese intelligence operative, with surveilling the son of Taiwan's president during a September 2025 trip to Seattle. Federal court documents label Miao as "Individual 1," the unnamed companion who rented an SUV and was present while Zhang filmed the target.

Miao, a construction entrepreneur who recently took a one-way flight to China to care for his wife, has not been formally accused but is listed as a person of interest in the investigation. Neighbors corroborated the agents' arrival in multiple SUVs and a large truck, and a neighbor recalled recent social gatherings involving both men. Miao's son, Jiaqi Miao, maintains that his father, who does not speak English, is a follower rather than a sophisticated spy, and that the Seattle trip was likely a benign visit to a friend. The Justice Department has not filed charges against Miao, while Zhang remains detained without bail due to flight-risk concerns.