Glamorous jet-set life of USC-educated Chinese spy suspect snared at LAX

A California realtor arrested for allegedly spying for the Chinese government appeared to have lived a jet-setting lifestyle before federal authorities detained her.

Wanying Zhang, 34, also known as “Heather,” documented trips to Paris and outings with friends across the West Coast on her social media pages.

Zhang also appears to have graduated from USC, where the total cost of attendance can run more than $75,000 per year.

Her husband Edric Ding is also a realtor at the same Orange County firm as Zhang. His social media shows outings to Korean barbecue restaurants, as well as anime and sword-art expos. The couple also appears to have a young child.

Ding told CBS News when reached by phone Sunday, “I don’t know anything yet,” and declined to comment further.

But Zhang’s travels allegedly went far beyond vacations.

Federal authorities say she made multiple trips to China and traveled to Seattle, where she allegedly surveilled Ting-Yu Lai, the son of Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te, according to a federal complaint.

Zhang was arrested at LAX on Sunday as she tried to board a flight to Shanghai.

The 34-year-old Irvine resident is accused of working with handlers from the People’s Republic of China to surveil Lai, an engineer in his 30s who is based in the US.

Federal authorities allege Zhang traveled to Seattle in September 2025 to spy on Lai, with text exchanges detailed in the federal complaint forming a key part of the government’s case against her.

According to an FBI affidavit, investigators obtained WeChat communications from Zhang’s iCloud account that they say show her communicating with two people believed to be Chinese government officials and discussing assignments that eventually led to the surveillance operation.

During one September 2025 exchange, Zhang allegedly told one of the officials that she had spotted the Taiwanese president’s son.

“It’s that young one,” she said.

The official then asked whether Zhang was available for an audio call to discuss the matter, but Zhang responded that she was recording video of him.

At the time, Zhang was allegedly at Lai’s residence in Seattle.

“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.”

Zhang also allegedly photographed the residence and sent the images to the Chinese government officials with whom she was communicating.

Her alleged contacts with Chinese officials stretch back years.

According to the complaint, Zhang’s communications date to at least September 2022 and include WeChat conversations with an alleged Chinese government official about children, investments and differences between the US and China, among other subjects.

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.

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