Politico | What was Zhang Yujing, the Chinese woman arrested at Mar-a-Lago, really up to? A former spy helps us figure it out
- Want to know whether she’s a bumbling Chinese spook or an innocent tourist who loves her hi-tech devices?
This story is published in a content partnership with POLITICO. It was originally reported by Alex Finley on politico.com on April 20, 2019.
What was a Chinese woman doing at Mar-a-Lago with her pockets full of passports and cellphones? The March 30 arrest of Chinese national Zhang Yujing at US President Donald Trump’s vacation home certainly reads like a juicy spy drama.
At the time she was arrested, after changing her story about why she was there, she had on her, in addition to two Chinese passports and four cellphones, a laptop and USB drive later found to contain some kind of malware. More devices and US$8,000 in cash were later found in her room at a nearby hotel.
Is Chinese intelligence attempting to infiltrate Mar-a-Lago? The answer to that is almost certainly yes. And so is every other foreign intelligence service. That’s just business as usual.
But is Zhang part of the Chinese effort?
US law enforcement is still trying to figure that out. Earlier this month, Zhang was charged with lying to a federal officer and entering restricted property, but prosecutors have said more charges might follow.
