The life and travels of an alleged Chinese agent

Three years earlier California realtor Wanying "Heather" Zhang was arrested arsenic an alleged Chinese agent, she showed up successful San Francisco celebrating the sojourn of President Xi Jinping.

Zhang was photographed successful 2023 wearing a reddish headdress and marching connected the thoroughfare alongside the person of a Chinese-American enactment with heavy ties to the Beijing government's overseas power arm.

Soon aft the photograph was taken, pro-Chinese Communist Party activists determination began assaulting protesters of Xi's authoritarian authorities — though determination is nary grounds Zhang was progressive successful immoderate attacks.

The Orange County mother, 34, is present facing federal prosecution for allegedly surveilling the Taiwanese president's lad successful Washington past twelvemonth astatine the absorption of Chinese authorities officials.

The FBI said it has obtained her substance messages with Chinese quality officials, plotting and executing a program to secretly movie Taiwan's archetypal son, Lai Ting-yu, and his household successful the Seattle suburb wherever they live. 

Investigators adjacent allege they person footage from a neighbor's information camera catching Zhang successful the midst of her surveillance mission.

A CBS News probe reveals the alleged agent's backstory bears striking similarities with infamous suspected Chinese spy Fang "Christine" Fang, who had an intimate narration with disgraced congressman Eric Swalwell earlier fleeing to China successful 2015 amid an FBI espionage probe.

Like Fang, Zhang attended the University of International Relations successful Beijing, which is tally by China's Ministry of State Security, the country's quality bureau and concealed police.

In a transgression ailment filed successful a Los Angeles court, FBI counterintelligence peculiar cause Kevin Holt wrote that the ministry "recruits heavily" from the university.

After moving to the U.S., Zhang studied astatine the University of Southern California and got her existent property licence successful 2016.

She built her concern arsenic a realtor with Irvine-based JC Pacific Corp implicit the adjacent decade, listing implicit 130 properties, according to Zillow, with prices ranging from the hundreds of thousands to upwards of $8 million.

Zhang and her husband, a chap realtor astatine JC Pacific, bought their six-bedroom, 6,030-square-foot location for $5.65 cardinal successful 2024, records show. They sold the spot successful June for $6 million.

Her Instagram leafage shows curated photos of Zhang successful decorator clothing, eating astatine costly restaurants, taking trips astir the U.S. and Canada, and buying astatine luxury stores with a person successful Paris past year.

Similar to Fang, she became progressive successful advocacy groups and events for Chinese Americans.

In 2022 she attended an "entrepreneurship competition" for Chinese students with Chinese authorities consulate officials, and was honored astatine an lawsuit for "Chinese young elites successful the United States" the aforesaid twelvemonth wherever she was fixed a "young entrepreneur" award.

Her engagement successful the All American Chinese Association brought her successful interaction with officials who had heavy ties to the Chinese government.

AACA's leader, Cai Chenghua, was vice seat of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, a U.S. radical truthful adjacent to the Beijing authorities it had to registry nether the Foreign Agents Registration Act arsenic an power limb of the Chinese Communist Party.

In 2022 Cai helped signifier a solemnisation of China's National Day astatine which the Los Angeles consul wide Zhang Ping urged Chinese Americans to reason "Taiwan independence" and enactment China's "complete reunification."

AACA bussed successful pro-China supporters to San Francisco for President Xi's sojourn successful November 2023. Zhang was photographed alongside Cai, wearing matching reddish caps down an AACA banner.

AACA committee subordinate Tian Jun is besides a committee subordinate successful the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office, which became portion of the Chinese government's United Front successful 2018, according to research by Michael Lucci, a information advisor who helps support U.S. institutions from Chinese power done his firm, State Armor.

Cai has been photographed astatine respective events with erstwhile Arcadia, California, Mayor Eileen Wang, who pleaded blameworthy to acting arsenic a Chinese authorities cause successful May.

"U.S.-based groups linked to the Communist Party's United Front done their cardinal unit support coming up successful national foreign-agent cases," Jacqueline Deal, an advisor to State Armor, told CBS News."This is not a coincidence. The ngo of these organizations is to assistance the Party and wounded the United States." 

At a minimum, Deal said officers from these groups should person to registry with the U.S. Justice Department nether the Foreign Agents Registration Act. That's the national instrumentality Zhang is alleged to person violated by acting arsenic a Chinese cause without registering arsenic required.

Cai has not been accused of immoderate wrongdoing oregon charged with immoderate crime. He did not respond to a petition for comment.

According to prosecutors, by 2025 Zhang had afloat embraced a relation arsenic a Chinese authorities agent.

She traveled to China successful January that twelvemonth and met a authorities authoritative and chap postgraduate of the University of International Relations, the FBI affidavit said.

Two months later, the brace texted connected Chinese messaging app WeChat astir the code of a Taiwanese authoritative who spoke retired against the Chinese government, according to records obtained by a hunt warrant of Zhang's iCloud account, the FBI cause wrote.

She allegedly visited China again successful June and met with a 2nd Chinese authoritative successful the backstage country of a restaurant, wherever investigators judge she received her ngo to surveil the Taiwanese president's son.

She aboriginal texted her alleged authorities handler: "I tin instrumentality attraction of this thing,"

After signaling video of Lai and his family, she returned to LA without incident, according to the complaint. She was arrested portion attempting to committee a formation to Shanghai astatine Los Angeles International Airport connected Sunday.

She appeared successful tribunal connected Monday dressed successful the aforesaid decorator workout cogwheel she was wearing during the arrest.

Her household declined to comment.

"The ailment successful this lawsuit lays bare a brazen crippled directed by the Chinese authorities to behaviour a covert surveillance ngo connected U.S. ungraded targeting adjacent relatives of a Taiwanese authorities official," said Roman Rozhavsky, adjunct manager of the FBI's Counterintelligence and Espionage Division, successful a connection released Monday. 

"Wanying Zhang's apprehension for allegedly acting arsenic an unregistered cause of the Chinese authorities makes wide however acold China's authoritarian authorities volition spell to beforehand its goals," helium said. 

A spokesperson for the Taiwanese president told CBS News helium condemns "such brutal acts of suppression, intimidation, and adjacent harm to the state and ideology of radical oregon their families, which are unacceptable successful the civilized world."

"We convey the US judicial bureau for their assistance and extortion to our people," the spokesperson said. "Taiwan volition proceed to cooperate with each antiauthoritarian allies to jointly combat amerciable acts of cross-border repression."

The Chinese Foreign Ministry did not respond to CBS News' petition for comment. A spokesperson  told NBC News,  "China has ever opposed hyped-up accusations of 'China spying' that slander and smear the country."

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• FBI
• China