Wanying “Heather” Zhang allegedly received an assignment in Changsha, China, in June 2025: surveil a target in the United States.
Three months later, the 34-year-old Irvine, California, realtor and an unidentified accomplice travelled from Las Vegas to Seattle, where they rented a black Nissan Rogue, according to a criminal complaint filed by FBI Special Agent Kevin Holt.
The target was Ting-Yu Lai, the son of Taiwan’s president. Lai, a Philips employee in his 30s who attended college in America, lived in Seattle with his wife and child.
The complaint alleges that Zhang photographed Lai’s residence and vehicle. Neighbour security cameras also captured Zhang and another person appearing to film Lai’s family as they arrived home.
Messages recovered from Zhang’s iCloud account show her telling a presumed Chinese government handler on WeChat: “Saw him. It’s that young one” and “I am videorecording.” The messages are central to the government’s allegation that Zhang had identified and recorded Lai during the Seattle operation.
Holt filed the criminal complaint on 3 October 2026, citing the recovered messages and the surveillance observations. The complaint alleges Zhang coordinated the trip with an associate and used tradecraft to avoid detection.
Zhang was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport on 4 October 2026, before she boarded a flight to Shanghai, China, according to law enforcement sources who spoke to CBS News. She is charged with acting as an unregistered agent of the People’s Republic of China.
The legal issue is whether Zhang acted for a foreign government without providing the required notice to the Attorney General. The complaint alleges that she never did so, an omission treated as a federal offence.
Her husband, Edric Ding, is a realtor at the same firm. Contacted by CBS News on Sunday, he said: “I don’t know anything yet.”
Zhang was scheduled to make her initial appearance in federal court in Los Angeles.
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