California realtor accused of being a Chinese spy, and her disturbing texts to Beijing handlers reveal who her target was
A California realtor who was accused of being a Chinese spy was arrested at LAX as she allegedly attempted to board a flight to Shanghai. The 34-year-old woman was accused of working with handlers in the People’s Republic of China to spy on the son of the Taiwanese president.
Wanying Zhang, who also goes by “Heather,” was arrested on Sunday for allegedly “conducting a campaign on behalf of Beijing,” according to California Attorney General Bill Essayli. Zhang, who works with her husband, Bill Ding, for a real estate firm in Irvine, Orange County, was apparently not who she claimed to be.
“We have a problem with Beijing using Chinese-Americans for their own purposes in California,” Essayli said. He added that “They are using them for their own foreign affairs because they are playing the long game to get a competitive advantage over us,” although he clarified that “She wasn’t spying against us.”
In a criminal complaint released by the FBI, Zhang was accused of communicating with other agents to track the son of Taiwan’s president, Ting-Yu Lai, in Seattle, Washington, where he works for the electronics company Philips, according to The New York Post.
Messages sent by Wanying Zhang revealed who she was tracking
An FBI affidavit stated that Zhang had allegedly been communicating with two people believed to be Chinese government officials via WeChat. The messages revealed that she had been outside Ting-Yu Lai’s residence, with one message from Zhang reading, “Saw him. Young male. It’s that young one.”
Later in the exchange of messages, one of the handlers asked Zhang if she was “free for an audio call,” to which she responded, “I am videorecording.” Surveillance photos also allegedly caught Zhang in a car with an accomplice, taking photos of the residence.
In a post to X, Essayli claims that the FBI affidavit revealed that Zhang had traveled to Seattle at the instruction of PRC officials and was told to surveil a “close relative of a Taiwanese government official.” She also allegedly sent “photos, videos, and license plate information to those officials.” The Attorney General also claimed that Zhang used tradecraft to avoid detection when traveling to Seattle and that “She never notified the Attorney General she was acting for a foreign government.”
This isn’t the first time an alleged Chinese spy has been caught operating in California. Earlier this year, Arcadia mayor Eileen Wang was exposed for working as a propaganda tool for Beijing.
Zhang had allegedly been communicating with officials in the Chinese government since September 2022. In March of 2025, she told the official that she was planning on traveling to Beijing, and the two made plans for “a small gathering.” In June Zhang also planned to meet a Chinese official in the U.S.
Her final text exchange was in August 2025, when she informed the official she was heading to Seattle to surveil Ting-Yu Lai at his residence.
(Featured image: Dept of Justice)
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