Zhang Wanying · Full chronicle and history

According to an exclusive CBS News investigation, 34-year-old California Chinese-American real estate agent Wanying Zhang (Wanying Zhang) was arrested by the FBI on suspicion of conducting espionage for China. The investigation found that Zhang had previously been suspected of surveilling Lai Ching-te's son in Seattle, and that she had indirect ties to Cambodia's Prince Group and a transnational money laundering network. The case is still under further investigation.

On October 16, while CBS was looking into the case of Zhang Wanying allegedly surveilling Lai Ching-te's son, it found that her companion Miao Fatai's business partner had commercial ties with Chen Xing, a figure linked to the Prince Group; Fei Wenzhi told CBS that the Bugatti Chiron in Zhang Wanying's photos was one he had borrowed from Chen Xing. OCCRP had previously identified Chen Xing as "Conspirator Number Two" in the US indictment against the Prince Group.

On October 14, 2026, the U.S. House Select Committee on the CCP issued a formal statement noting that recent espionage cases across the U.S. highlight the threat posed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its brazen transnational repression, reaffirming its commitment to exposing the CCP's schemes to suppress dissidents and infiltrate institutions. On the same day, Bill Essayli, First Assistant United States Attorney for the Central District of California, warned in an interview with Fox News that CCP espionage activities are "extremely rampant and playing the long game" across the U.S. He cited major cases including the interstate stalking of Lai Ching-te's family, a former mayor acting as an unregistered foreign agent, and the smuggling of $300 million in chips, emphasizing that federal agencies are working to dismantle domestic spy networks.

A former chief investigative reporter for Britain's Daily Mail disclosed that the person who traveled to Seattle with Zhang Wanying is California construction businessman Miao Fatai, whose son said he returned to China because his mother is ill.

Zhang Wanying, a resident of the United States, has been charged with acting as an agent of the Chinese government without registering; she has not yet been convicted.

On October 8, CBS reported that the anonymous companion believed to have been surveilling Lai Ching-te's son in Seattle alongside Zhang Wanying is reportedly California builder Fatai Miao, and prosecutors say he flew to China on a one-way ticket about two weeks ago.

According to the tweet's allegations, California real estate agent Wanying "Heather" Zhang is suspected of acting as an agent of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), carrying out a CCP transnational repression operation on U.S. soil targeting the son of Taiwan's president. The tweet also points out that the CCP's ambition to destabilize the Taiwan Strait poses a threat to the world.

A detention hearing was held at the federal court in Los Angeles. The defense proposed a bail package involving property and electronic monitoring, while prosecutors alleged that her asset disclosures were false and that she posed a flight risk. In the end, the judge ruled that she will remain in custody.

On October 7, according to CBS, Zhang Wanying, suspected of surveilling Lai Ching-te's son, offered three properties worth more than $1.2 million as collateral and agreed to electronic monitoring, but a judge at the federal court in Los Angeles ruled that she posed a flight risk, citing her possession of a Chinese passport she had not surrendered, her family's financial ties in China, and inconsistent statements about her assets, and ordered that she remain in custody. Prosecutors also disclosed that another person in the same case had already traveled to China on a one-way ticket.

On October 7, CBS reported that Zhang Wanying had participated in an event welcoming Xi Jinping together with overseas Chinese leader Cai Chenghua in 2023; Cai Chenghua's ties to China's overseas Chinese affairs and united front systems are a matter of public record — a 2017 report by Nanjing University listed him as an overseas committee member of the All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese and vice chairman of its Youth Committee.

According to a Reuters report, China's Foreign Ministry responded to the case in which Zhang Wanying was accused in the United States of surveilling Lai Ching-te's son, saying it was unaware of the situation and opposing the hype of the so-called Chinese spy smears and the slandering of China.

Zhang Wanying appeared in a Los Angeles federal court in handcuffs and shackles for her first hearing, represented by a court-appointed public defender, and the judge urged her to hire a private attorney as soon as possible.

Zhang Wanying, a Chinese-born broker arrested at a US airport, made her first court appearance on October 5. The Chinese Communist Party's Foreign Ministry subsequently responded at a press conference, saying it was unaware of the situation and accusing the US of slander and smears.

On October 5 local time in the United States, 34-year-old California real estate agent Zhang Wanying, suspected of spying on Taiwan President Lai Ching-te's son and family members on behalf of the Chinese government, made her first appearance in a Los Angeles federal court. The judge ordered her to remain in custody, with a detention hearing set for October 7. The indictment alleges that she received her surveillance assignment in the United States in Changsha in June 2025.

Zhang Wanying was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport as she was preparing to board a flight to Shanghai. US federal prosecutors accused her of acting as an agent of the Chinese government without registering.

Chinese spy Zhang Wanying, suspected of surveilling Lai Ching-te's son in the United States, was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport while preparing to board a flight to Shanghai.

On October 4, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested California real estate agent Zhang Wanying at Los Angeles International Airport, accusing her of failing to register as an agent of the Chinese government. The indictment says she received an assignment in Changsha in June 2025 from officials linked to the Ministry of State Security, and in September of the same year traveled with an accomplice to Seattle to photograph and surveil the residence of Lai Ting-yu, the son of Taiwan President Lai Ching-te, passing the video and license plate information to the Chinese side.

Zhang Wanying was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport on October 4 while preparing to board a flight to China, charged with acting as an unregistered agent of the Chinese government, suspected of surveilling the residence and family members of Taiwan President Lai Ching-te's son. Prosecutors confirmed that she has become a naturalized U.S. citizen; she has not yet been convicted.

According to CBS, on October 4, the day Zhang Wanying was arrested, about 10 FBI agents with a search warrant broke down the door and entered Fatai Miao's residence in Irvine, California. The family denied that the trip to Seattle had political purposes, saying Miao went to China to care for his sick wife.

The US FBI has arrested 34-year-old Zhang Wanying, a former Chinese citizen who holds US citizenship, accusing her of allegedly monitoring and endangering Lai Ching-te's family members in the United States over a long period.

Zhang Wanying, a 34-year-old naturalized Chinese citizen, was arrested by U.S. law enforcement officers on charges of illegally acting as a foreign agent and espionage as she attempted to board a flight back to Shanghai.

A Chinese national who has lived abroad for a long time said that police, on the pretext of a verification check, demanded their passport, visa, living and work details, WeChat records, as well as a video call and real-time location sharing.

According to a report by the Italian media "Il Foglio" on August 26, a woman from Zhejiang in her forties, who was suspected of harassing and stalking Teacher Li, was deported by Italy last Saturday upon arriving at Milan Malpensa Airport with her 8-year-old daughter.

On August 24, 2026, Chinese citizens living in Singapore and elsewhere reported that police in their domestic household registration jurisdiction had demanded via WeChat that they submit personal photos and proof of overseas employment, warning that they would bear the consequences themselves; others who had returned to China said they were summoned by police and had their phones checked for entry and exit records.

In July 2026, Tencent QQ Browser added the "Teacher Li Is Not Your Teacher" social accounts, Telegram bots, and the rights-defense project website exposing cross-border repression and excessive working hours to its blocklist, prohibiting access.

In May 2026, the civil human rights initiative the Overseas Black Hand Files project officially launched in response to the Chinese authorities' long-arm jurisdiction over overseas dissidents, publicly soliciting and documenting cases of transnational repression carried out by China around the world.

On March 12, 2026, the Fourth Session of the 14th National People's Congress passed the Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress. Article 63 stipulates that overseas organizations and individuals who undermine ethnic unity and progress and incite ethnic division shall be held legally liable in accordance with the law, effective July 1.

A U.S. federal judge approved the search of an iCloud account associated with Zhang's traveling companion, allowing investigators to cross-reference communications and photos with flight, rental car, and neighbor surveillance records.

In early March 2026, the Italian government, on national security grounds, ordered the deportation of 8 Chinese citizens suspected of surveilling and intimidating dissident Teacher Li (Li Ying).

On August 5, 2026, the international non-governmental organization Human Rights Watch released a human rights report, pointing out that Chinese authorities continue to intensify strict crackdowns on domestic dissident groups and have extended long-arm jurisdiction and transnational repression tactics overseas.

Zhang Wanying appeared in court for the third time for a bail review. During the hearing, prosecutors publicly disclosed state security background and the flight-support chain involving Miao Fatai and others. Federal District Judge Murillo refused to overturn the detention order.

Ahead of the bail review, the FBI filed a supplemental statement explicitly stating that Zhang Wanying and her companion Miao Fatai had previously been in a romantic relationship.

Zhang Wanying, suspected of spying on overseas dissidents on behalf of the Chinese government, was formally indicted by federal prosecutors on October 9, with a new charge of conspiracy to act as an agent added, facing a maximum sentence of 15 years.

A federal magistrate judge denied the bail request of Zhang Wanying, who is accused of taking instructions from Chinese officials to surveil Lai Ching-te's family, following a hearing.

The prosecution materials show that Zhang Wanying's last contact with the Chinese official involved in the case occurred in October 2025.

Miao Fatai's six-bedroom mansion in Arcadia, California was sold through Zhang Wanying, with a transaction price of about $4 million.

According to bank records, the FBI found that a credit card under Zhang Wanying's name had a $265.25 charge at the Marriott Hotel at Seattle Airport, related to lodging there together with Miao Fatai.

Zhang Wanying went to Seattle on instructions from Chinese government officials, waiting outside the home of Lai Ching-te's son Lai Ting-yu to film him.

A U.S. federal court indictment states that Zhang Wanying and an accomplice flew from Las Vegas to Seattle, rented a car to go to Lai Ting-yu's residence to record video, and reported to a contact on the Chinese Communist Party side.

U.S. federal prosecutors' charging documents state that Zhang Wanying traveled to Seattle in 2025, photographed the residence, vehicles and license plates of Lai Ching-te's family, and reported to the Chinese side via WeChat.

Zhang Wanying and a male companion flew from John Wayne Airport in California to Las Vegas, and then flew to Seattle on September 1 to carry out a stakeout task.

During her return to China, Zhang Wanying traveled to Hangzhou, stayed at the Courtyard Hotel, met again with her senior from Hangzhou, and discussed arrangements for follow-up tasks.

A U.S. federal court indictment states that Zhang Wanying met with a Chinese Communist Party government official in a private room in Changsha in June 2025 and accepted a surveillance assignment.

Through an introduction by an old classmate, another Hangzhou senior contacted Zhang Wanying, and the two met for dinner in Changsha at the end of June, with the Hangzhou senior bringing along another guest.

Qiao Xinxin, the initiator of the Demolish the Wall Movement, was cross-border arrested in Laos by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) police and brought back to China. He was later secretly sentenced to 5 years in prison and subjected to torture in prison.

Zhang Wanying sent a WeChat message to a classmate who graduated from the University of International Relations and works at the Ministry of State Security, asking which bureau in the ministry the person was in, and resumed and maintained long-term contact.

The Jamestown Foundation released a report on the CCP's global expansion, pointing out that Chinese government agencies recruit influence agents within overseas Chinese communities and attempt to control discourse within those communities.

Since 2018, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) used Tang Yuanjing's longing for home as a lure of returning to China and successfully turned him.

In November 2014, the Chinese Students and Scholars Association at the University of California, Los Angeles held an “If You Are the One” matchmaking event, and Zhang Wanying was listed as the fifth female guest.

Data from Freedom House's database shows that between 2014 and 2024, a total of 1,219 incidents of physical transnational repression occurred worldwide, of which the Chinese Communist Party was responsible for 272, accounting for 22%.