Law enforcement sources told CBS News that the FBI fears an alleged Chinese agent arrested at Los Angeles International Airport on Sunday may attempt to flee the country if released following her court hearing on Wednesday. Investigators claim that 34-year-old California realtor Wanying Zhang owned a business in China, frequently receives deposits in a Chinese bank account, and has close family members, including her parents, a brother, and a sister, currently living there. According to a law enforcement source, Zhang also possessed a Chinese passport that was not recovered during an initial FBI search of her home. The sources shared this information anonymously because they lacked authorization to speak on the record, while Zhang’s husband and sister declined to comment. The Orange County mother is facing federal prosecution for allegedly monitoring the Taiwanese president’s son in Washington last year under the direction of Chinese government officials. Zhang is currently held in the custody of U.S. Marshals in Los Angeles after being arrested while trying to board a flight to Shanghai. She made a brief court appearance on Monday, represented by a public defender, where a judge instructed her to secure a private defense attorney ahead of her scheduled detention hearing on Wednesday afternoon. Her husband, Edric Ding, who works as a realtor at the same Irvine firm, attended the proceeding alongside his sister, an attorney. The criminal complaint against Zhang indicates she attended the University of International Relations in Beijing from 2010 to 2014, an institution run by China’s Ministry of State Security intelligence agency and secret police. An affidavit by FBI counterintelligence special agent Kevin Holt states that the ministry recruits heavily from the university, and law enforcement sources noted Zhang was among the top students in her class. Zhang’s Facebook profile shows connections to several current or former staff and students at the institution. Additionally, disclosures revealed Zhang’s connections to a Chinese American advocacy group with strong ties to the Beijing government. She traveled to San Francisco with the All American Chinese Association to celebrate Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit in 2023, during which pro-China activists clashed with pro-democracy demonstrators outside his hotel, though no evidence links Zhang to the violence. Photographs place her near an organization banner beside leader Edward Cai, who previously served as vice president for a group forced to register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. FARA mandates that foreign agents inform the Justice Department of their status and any local lobbying or influence efforts. Cai and the AACA did not respond to requests for comment, and Ding declined to provide further statements after previously telling reporters he did not know anything yet.
Source: cbsnews.com
