Hunt for Chinese Man in U.S. Fuels Political Intrigue
Brother of top aide to former Beijing leader—who diplomats and analysts suspect has access to sensitive information—hasn’t been seen since October
by JOSH CHIN in Plano, Texas, JEREMY PAGE in Beijing, ALEJANDRO LAZO in Loomis, Calif., and ADAM ENTOUS in Washington
Tommy Yuan was preparing for class at the math-tutoring center he owns in Irving, Texas, one afternoon in June when two men walked in alongside the usual group of students’ parents and then quickly left.
Ling Wancheng PHOTO: SCMP
The men returned, identifying themselves as representatives of China’s government and speaking with mainland accents. The older man was plump and wore his hair in a comb-over. The younger one was stocky, had close-cropped hair and looked like he “knew how to fight,” said Mr. Yuan.
“If you want to protect your ex-wife, you’ll give us information,” the visitors said, according to Mr. Yuan, who was born in China and settled in the U.S. in the 1990s. They said they were looking for a man called Ling Wancheng.
Mr. Ling’s brother was a top aide to China’s previous president, Hu Jintao, but was placed under investigation by the Communist Party in December and formally accused in July of bribe-taking, adultery and illegally obtaining state secrets.
For much of 2014, Mr. Ling was living under an alias in a mansion in a gated community in Loomis, Calif., near Sacramento, with Mr. Yuan’s ex-wife, neighbors said. The couple hasn’t been seen there since around October.
Mr. Ling is now the focus of political intrigue that could overshadow a visit to the U.S. in September by China’s leader, Xi Jinping.
For much of last year, Ling Wancheng lived with a woman named Zhang Lijun in this home in a gated community in Loomis, Calif. PHOTO: ALEJANDRO LAZO/THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
Diplomats and analysts said Mr. Ling might have had access through this brother to sensitive information about Chinese leaders. If he sought political asylum, Mr. Ling would be the most significant Chinese defector in decades.
It isn’t clear why Mr. Ling, 55 years old, moved to the U.S. in 2013 or 2014. He lost touch with many friends in China around last fall, a family acquaintance said, but later reassured friends he was safe in the U.S.
Before that, he held a senior post at China’s state-run news agency, Xinhua, and then moved into private business and developed a taste for expensive hobbies, especially golf, the acquaintance said. Mr. Ling sometimes dressed flamboyantly and seemed less guarded than many members of other politically connected families.
In Loomis, Mr. Ling and Mr. Yuan’s ex-wife used the names Jason and Jane Wang, spoke little English and communicated with neighbors mostly by text message.
“He was so funny, he would send emojis but had trouble with the language sometimes,” said neighbor Sarah Matteson. “He was really a very funny, happy-go-lucky guy who loved life, loved golf.”
Ms. Matteson and her husband Ray stayed in touch with Mr. Ling by phone until about May, after which he stopped responding, said Mr. Matteson. Three or four months ago, agents who identified themselves as being from the Department of Homeland Security came asking for him, she said.
Agents from the same agency were looking for Mr. Yuan’s ex-wife at her former home in Plano, Texas, in June, said a neighbor there.
DHS officials declined to comment on whether they have tried to locate Mr. Ling or if he has sought political asylum in the U.S., citing a policy of not commenting on individual cases.
The Central Intelligence Agency also declined to comment. China’s foreign and public-security ministries and its Washington embassy didn’t respond to requests for comment.
Senior U.S. officials were notified last summer that Mr. Ling was talking to U.S. authorities. But those officials weren’t told who within the U.S. government was involved in the case and what the conversations involved.
It also isn’t clear if China has been tracking Mr. Ling in the U.S. without clearance from U.S. authorities. There were tensions recently over Chinese security officers coming to the U.S. to find fugitives without following U.S. procedures, said people familiar with the matter.
U.S. officials said the presence of covert Chinese agents and law-enforcement officials on U.S. soil, and their “aggressive tactics” against Chinese nationals here, has been a longstanding U.S. concern that Washington has raised with Beijing over the years. But the officials declined to comment specifically on the role of any Chinese agents in the Ling case.
Mr. Yuan said he met with the two surprise visitors twice at his school and once at a Chinese restaurant in Dallas. He showed a reporter for The Wall Street Journal a July 9 text message arranging dinner at the restaurant. The number, which includes a Washington, D.C., area code, is now out of service.
The two men never showed Mr. Yuan any identification, he said. When he asked for their names, both men said only that their surnames were Wen. They said they couldn’t stay for long, without explaining the reason.
Ling Jihua, brother of Ling Wancheng and the former head of the Chinese Communist Party’s powerful General Office under President Hu Jintao, at the plenary session of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference in Beijing in 2013.PHOTO: REUTERS
A Department of Homeland Security official said the U.S. has a “nonbinding” agreement with Chinese police to cooperate on fugitive investigations. The official said China had two police investigators in the U.S. on detail, but they were directed to assist U.S. officials, not act independently.
China has ramped up efforts to retrieve suspects from abroad through a “Fox Hunt” program launched last year as part of a corruption crackdown. The U.S. agreed to cooperate in April.
China gave the U.S. a list of 40 people Chinese officials want deported, but it didn’t include Mr. Ling or any of his known aliases, said U.S. officials.
Chinese officials haven’t recently asked about Mr. Ling by name through normal diplomatic channels, including direct talks with senior White House or State Department officials, said people briefed on the matter.
Spokesmen for the State Department and Justice Department declined to comment on individual cases and said the U.S. is engaging with China on fugitives in the U.S. but insists on credible evidence of criminal activity.
The intrigue swirling around Mr. Ling could complicate relations between Beijing and Washington that already were strained byalleged Chinese cyberattacks on the U.S. and China’s island-building in the South China Sea.
Mr. Xi’s far-reaching anticorruption campaign has ensnared numerous senior political figures, including Mr. Ling’s brother, Ling Jihua, who led the Chinese Communist Party’s powerful General Office under Mr. Hu. The office controls the president’s schedule, document flow and personal security.
In 2012, Ling Jihua was transferred to a less-important post after his son died in a high-speed Ferrari crash in Beijing. Another brother was placed under investigation in June 2014. They are in detention in China, and their legal representatives couldn’t be reached for comment.
Ling Wancheng hasn’t been officially accused of wrongdoing in China, but recent state media reports have described his business dealings.
Mr. Yuan said the two men who visited him in June accused Mr. Ling of making money illegally and bringing a large sum into the U.S.
“One of them was very serious and said: ‘If you help us, maybe we can help you,’ ” said Mr. Yuan. “That’s when I realized these aren’t the kind of guys you can joke with.”
The men asked Mr. Yuan about his ex-wife’s friends and accused her of a fake marriage with Mr. Ling, said Mr. Yuan.
Her Chinese name is Zhang Lijun, but she also goes by the name Jane Zhang. She is 52 and divorced Mr. Yuan in 2011. He said she mentioned dating someone new last fall, describing him as a “successful businessman.”
By then, she had already been living for several months with Mr. Ling in the California mansion, neighbors said. She didn’t respond to emailed requests for comment, and a mobile-phone number provided by Mr. Yuan was disconnected.
Public records show the house was bought by Wang Cheng and Li Ping for $2.5 million in 2013. Wang Cheng is an alias used by Mr. Ling, the family acquaintance said. Li Ping is a famous Chinese television presenter who married Mr. Ling, said the acquaintance and state media reports. It isn’t clear if they divorced.
Ms. Matteson, the neighbor, said she asked Department of Homeland Security agents who approached her if they wanted to discuss a citizenship issue with Mr. Ling. They replied that they just wanted to talk to him.
She identified Mr. Ling and Ms. Zhang from photographs as the couple who lived in the mansion. Ms. Matteson didn’t recognize pictures of Li Ping.
At the Darkhorse Golf Club, a public course in Auburn, Calif., golf director Geno Ivaldisaid he recognized a photograph of the man he knew as Jason, the first name used by Mr. Ling.
The man was a good golfer and often played with the club’s owner, Li Shuhai, said Mr. Ivaldi. In China, Mr. Li was a business associate of Mr. Ling, according to state-run media.
Mr. Li’s business address in Irvine, Calif., is listed as a contact in property records for the mansion where Mr. Ling lived. He couldn’t be reached for comment.
Mr. Yuan says he got a visit in Texas from Mr. Li shortly before the two mysterious Chinese men arrived. Mr. Yuan met Mr. Li several years ago through his ex-wife, and all three of them are from northeastern China.
Mr. Li said he was looking for Wang Cheng and Zhang Lijun but didn’t need to know where they were, according to Mr. Yuan. He said Mr. Li wanted to pass along some urgent information so Mr. Ling “can make the right decision.”
Mr. Yuan said he couldn’t help. He says he might have spotted her at a local Wal-Mart in April or May but didn’t approach her.
For several months, Ms. Zhang had been renting out the house in Plano that they used to share and she lived in there after their divorce, said Mr. Yuan. No one answered the door when a Journal reporter visited.
Kim Gomez, who lives next door, says two Department of Homeland Security agents came to the house looking for Ms. Zhang in June.
Mr. Yuan said he hasn’t been contacted by Department of Homeland Security agents and hasn’t heard back from the two men who identified themselves as representatives of China’s government. He said he doesn’t know where his ex-wife is.
—Lisa Schwartz, Brian Spegele, Damian Paletta and Miriam Jordan contributed to this article.
Correction
Ling Wancheng lived with a woman named Zhang Lijun in a gated community in Loomis, Calif. A photo caption in an earlier version of this article incorrectly said he lived there with his wife. (Aug. 17, 2015)
