The life and travels of an alleged Chinese agent in the U.S.

A CBS News investigation reveals new details about the life and background of a California mom accused of conducting surveillance for China.

Three years before California realtor Wanying "Heather" Zhang was arrested as an alleged Chinese agent, she showed up in San Francisco celebrating the visit of President Xi Jinping.Zhang was photographed in 2023 wearing a red cap and marching on the street alongside the leader of a Chinese American organization with deep ties to the Beijing government's foreign influence arm.Soon after the photo was taken, pro-Chinese Communist Party activists there began assaulting protesters of Xi's authoritarian regime — though there is no evidence Zhang was involved in any attacks.The Orange County mother, 34, is now facing federal prosecution for allegedly surveilling the Taiwanese president's son in Washington last year at the direction of Chinese government officials.The FBI said it has obtained her text messages with Chinese intelligence officials, plotting and executing a plan to secretly film Taiwan's first son, Lai Ting-yu, and his family in the Seattle suburb where they live.

Investigators even allege they have footage from a neighbor's security camera catching Zhang in the midst of her surveillance mission.A CBS News investigation reveals the alleged agent's backstory bears striking similarities with infamous suspected Chinese spy Fang "Christine" Fang, who had an intimate relationship with disgraced congressman Eric Swalwell before fleeing to China in 2015 amid an FBI espionage probe.Like Fang, Zhang attended the University of International Relations in Beijing,