A California real estate agent accused of spying for the Chinese government appeared to lead a globe-trotting life before federal authorities arrested her.
Wanying Zhang, 34, who also goes by “Heather,” shared images from trips to Paris and social gatherings with friends throughout the West Coast on social media.
Her online presence also indicates that she attended the University of Southern California, where annual attendance costs can exceed $75,000.
Zhang’s husband, Edric Ding, works as a realtor at the same Orange County firm. His social media accounts feature visits to Korean barbecue restaurants and appearances at anime and sword-art conventions. The couple also appears to have a young child.
Reached by phone Sunday, Ding told CBS News, “I don’t know anything yet,” before declining to comment further.
Federal authorities, however, allege that Zhang’s international travel involved more than leisure.
According to a federal complaint, she made several trips to China and traveled to Seattle, where she allegedly surveilled Ting-Yu Lai, the son of Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te.
Zhang was taken into custody Sunday at Los Angeles International Airport as she attempted to board a flight to Shanghai.
The Irvine resident is accused of working with agents linked to the People’s Republic of China to monitor Lai, an engineer in his 30s who lives in the United States.
Investigators allege Zhang went to Seattle in September 2025 to conduct surveillance on Lai. Text messages described in the federal complaint are a central part of the government’s case.
An FBI affidavit says investigators recovered WeChat messages from Zhang’s iCloud account. The exchanges allegedly show her communicating with two individuals believed to be Chinese government officials and discussing assignments that ultimately led to the Seattle operation.
In one exchange from September 2025, Zhang allegedly told one of the officials that she had located the Taiwanese president’s son.
“It’s that young one,” she allegedly wrote.
The official then reportedly asked whether Zhang could speak by phone to discuss the situation. Zhang replied that she was filming him.
According to the affidavit, Zhang was at Lai’s Seattle residence when the exchange took place.
“According to the affidavit, Zhang traveled to Seattle in 2025 and, at the direction of PRC officials, surveilled a close relative of a Taiwanese government official, sending photos, videos, and license plate information to those officials,” Essayli said.
“She coordinated the trip with an associate and used tradecraft to avoid detection. She never notified the attorney general she was acting for a foreign government, a federal offense.”
Authorities also allege that Zhang photographed Lai’s home and transmitted the images to the Chinese officials with whom she was in contact.
The alleged relationship with Chinese officials appears to have begun well before the Seattle surveillance operation.
The complaint says Zhang’s communications date back at least to September 2022. The WeChat conversations allegedly included discussions with a suspected Chinese official about children, investments and differences between the United States and China, among other topics.
In one exchange, Zhang asked the person, “Which bureau in the ministry are you in again?” — a question prosecutors say indicated she knew the person was connected to the Chinese government.
By March 2025, the conversations included plans to meet in China. Zhang told the alleged official that she planned to travel to Beijing, prompting the official to suggest they meet while she was there.
“I will go to Beijing. Let’s organize a small gathering. Ha,” Zhang responded.
The exchanges continued into June 2025, when Zhang and the alleged official discussed meeting in the US.
Then, in August — shortly before the alleged Seattle surveillance operation — Zhang told the official she expected to travel north after finishing work in Southern California.
“I will be busy with work in LA this week,” Zhang said. “I will probably go to Seattle next week.”
Weeks later, federal authorities allege, Zhang was outside the home of the Taiwanese president’s son, taking photos and videos and passing information back to Chinese officials.
Essayli said Zhang is expected to make her initial appearance in federal court in Los Angeles on Monday.
Zhang’s arrest comes amid several other high-profile California cases involving allegations of covert Chinese government activity or influence.
In March, disgraced former Arcadia mayor Eileen Wang entered a plea in federal court after admitting that she acted as an illegal agent of the People’s Republic of China.
Wang pleaded guilty after reaching a deal with the Justice Department, admitting that she worked with the PRC to promote propaganda through a fake news website operating on US soil between 2020 and 2022.
She was elected to the Arcadia City Council in November 2022.
Another case resurfaced in August, when newly released FBI files shed more light on former Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell’s relationship with Christine Fang, also known as “Fang Fang,” who was suspected by US authorities of working on behalf of China.
According to the investigative files, Swalwell told the FBI that he had “physical relations” with Fang on at least two occasions.
In one instance, Fang allegedly arrived at Swalwell’s apartment late at night and demanded to be let in. Swalwell told investigators that the two “hooked up” after he had taken Ambien, which he said left him with limited memory of the encounter.
A former Swalwell campaign aide separately told FBI agents during a May 2015 interview that Fang was “very flirtatious” and once told Swalwell “that she was not wearing any underwear” after arriving at his home unannounced.
Swalwell was interviewed at the FBI’s Oakland office in 2015 as Fang became the subject of a counterintelligence investigation examining her relationships with political figures in the Bay Area and elsewhere in the country.
