FBI concerned that alleged Chinese agent is a serious flight risk, sources say

The FBI fears the alleged Chinese agent arrested at LAX on Sunday may try to flee the country if released after her court hearing on Wednesday, law enforcement sources told CBS News.

One law enforcement source said Zhang also had a Chinese passport that was not recovered during an FBI search of her home.

The Orange County mother, 34, is now facing federal prosecution for allegedly surveilling the Taiwanese president's son in Washington last year at the direction of Chinese government officials.

She appeared briefly in court on Monday, represented by a public defender. The judge told Zhang to get a private defense attorney by the time of her detention hearing, scheduled for Wednesday afternoon.

Her husband, Edric Ding, a realtor at the same Irvine, California, firm, attended the hearing alongside his sister, who's an attorney.

FBI counterintelligence special agent Kevin Holt wrote in his affidavit in the complaint that the ministry "recruits heavily" from the university.

Zhang's Facebook page shows she is friends with eight current or former staff and students at the university.

She traveled to San Francisco with the organization, the All American Chinese Association, to celebrate Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit there in 2023. Pro-China activists then attacked pro-democracy protesters outside Xi's hotel. There is no evidence Zhang was involved in the violence.

FARA requires agents of foreign governments to inform the Justice Department of their status and any lobbying, attempted influence or other activities in the U.S.

Reached by phone on Sunday, Ding told CBS News, "I don't know anything yet." He declined to comment further on Monday in federal court.

Coco Gauff decries "insane" amount of online racism after China match dispute

Maduro expected to face new charges of torture of Americans in Venezuelan prisons