For Immediate Release January 16, 2004

Washington, DC

LOCAL FUGITIVE ARRESTED IN THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA

Today, Michael A. Mason, Assistant Director in Charge (ADIC) of the FBI Washington Field Office and J. Thomas Manger, Chief of the Fairfax County Police Department announced the capture of the suspect in a local murder in the People's Republic of China.

A four-year fugitive investigation conducted by the FBI and the Fairfax County Police Department has culminated in the capture of a murder suspect by law enforcement authorities in the People's Republic of China. The Chinese Ministry of Public Security has announced that ZESHENG WANG, who is wanted in Fairfax County for the July, 1999, murder of FANG YANG, in her Centreville, Virginia, residence, was arrested on September 27, 2003, by law enforcement authorities in the Gansu Province of China.

WANG, who disappeared from the northern Virginia area shortly after FANG YANG's death, was indicted for murder by a Fairfax County Circuit Court Grand Jury on January 18, 2000. When the Fairfax County Police Department developed evidence that WANG had left the state of Virginia to evade law enforcement authorities, the FBI obtained a federal arrest warrant charging him with Unlawful Flight to Avoid Prosecution.

Evidence was developed during the course of the investigation which indicated that WANG had returned to China and was hiding in the vicinity of his place of birth, the city of Lanzhou, Gansu Province. Through its Legal Attache in Bejing, the FBI requested the assistance of Chinese law enforcement authorities, who, after an intense investigation, arrested WANG on September 27, 2003.

As there is no extradition treaty between the United States and the People's Republic of China, WANG, a Chinese citizen, cannot be returned to the United States to face charges in Fairfax County relating to the murder of FANG YANG. However, according to Chinese law, authorities in Gansu Province, in consultation with the Fairfax County Police Department, are conducting an investigation into the murder of FANG YANG to determine if there is sufficient evidence against WANG to present the matter to a prosecutor in China.

ADIC Mason and Chief Manger both wish to extend their sincere gratitude to the People's Republic of China and to the following law enforcement agencies who have assisted in this joint law enforcement operation; and who, in the spirit of international cooperation are attempting to bring a subject to justice, in spite of the challenges of international law, boundaries and language:

1) The Criminal Investigative Division, Ministry of Public Security, People's Republic of China (PRC).

2) Gansu Province Public Security Office, Criminal Investigative Group, PRC.

3) Gansu Province, Lanzhou City Public Security Bureau, PRC.

4) Gansu Province, Lanzhou City, Public Security Bureau, Criminal Investigative Division, PRC.

5) Assistant Chief Procurator (Prosecutor), People's Procuratorate, Gansu Province, PRC.

6) Criminal Intelligence Division, Ministry of Public Security, PRC.

Pleas contact the FBI Washington Field Media Office at (202) 278-3519 or Fairfax County Police Department Public Affairs Office at (703) 246-2253 with any questions.

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