California realtor, 34, busted at LAX for spying for China as creepy texts to Beijing handlers revealed: feds

An alleged Chinese foreign agent was arrested at LAX as she tried to depart for China.

Wanying Zhang, aka “Heather,” 34, realtor from Irvine, was arrested by the FBI’s Los Angeles unit. She was accused of surveilling the Taiwanese president’s son, according to the federal complaint.

Zhang was detained on a federal complaint charging her with acting as an unregistered agent of the People’s Republic of China.

The text exchanges described in the federal complaint are a key part of the government’s case against Wanying Zhang.

According to the 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 tasks that eventually led to the surveillance of the son of Taiwan’s president.

Zhang’s alleged communications with officials date back to Sept. 2022. They include text messages exchanges with an alleged Chinese government official on WeChat regarding children, investments and differences between the U.S. and China among other things.

Zhang also ask

In one text message, an allege Chinese government official says to Zhang: “Hello junior, also can you send me picture(s) of the house? Thanks ha.”

“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,” said Bill Essayli, First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California.

“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.”

Essayli added that she’s expected to appear in federal court in Los Angeles tomorrow for her initial appearance.