California Realtor Busted at LAX on Chinese Espionage Charges as Creepy Texts to Beijing Handlers Revealed: Feds

A California realtor has been arrested at LAX after being accused of spying for China.

Wanying Zhang, also known as “Heather,” was busted at the airport Sunday as she tried to board a flight to Shanghai.

The 34-year-old, who lives in Irvine, Orange County, is accused of working with handlers from the People’s Republic of China to surveil the son of Taiwan’s president Ching-Te Lai.

‘We have a problem with Beijing using Chinese-Americans for their own purposes in California,” AG Bill Essayli said. “They are using them for their own foreign affairs because they are playing the long game to get a competitive advantage over us. She wasn’t spying against us, she was allegedly conducting a campaign on behalf of Beijing.”

A criminal complaint released by the FBI Sunday shows texts between her and other alleged agents about tracking Ting-Yu Lai in Seattle, Washington, where he works for electronics giant Philips.

Surveillance camera photographs also allegedly caught Zhang sitting in a car with an accomplice taking pictures of his house and close relatives. (Read more from “California Realtor Busted at LAX on Chinese Espionage Charges as Creepy Texts to Beijing Handlers Revealed: Feds” HERE)