Brother of top aide to former Beijing leader—who diplomats and analysts suspect has access to sensitive information—hasn’t been seen since October
Wall Street Journal
By JOSH CHIN in Plano, Texas, JEREMY PAGE in Beijing, ALEJANDRO LAZO in Loomis, Calif., and ADAM ENTOUS in Washington
August 17, 2015
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.
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.
