August 27, 2025
SYDNEY – In early August, a tantalising post on the online Chinese forum Zhihu asked the question that has sparked a swirl of rumours from Sydney to Beijing: “What are your thoughts about Chinese Australian Lanlan Yang?”
The post – which was later deleted but was captured in an apparent screenshot – provided intriguing, though unconfirmed, details about Lanlan Yang, a mysterious 23-year-old in Australia, and her possible links to China’s elite.
Yang attracted widespread media attention after crashing a A$1 million (S$834,000) blue Rolls-Royce while allegedly drunk in the affluent Sydney suburb of Rose Bay at around 3.20am on July 26.
The head-on collision left another driver injured and resulted in Yang facing criminal charges. Her next court hearing is on Sept 26, though she is not required to appear.
According to the screenshot of the post on Zhihu, China’s largest knowledge-sharing and Q&A platform, Yang is from a family that oversees the quotas of Australia’s vast iron ore exports to China.
The deletion of the post prompted further speculation about whether the person who posted it may have been approached by the Chinese authorities.
In Australia, the case has generated intense interest about the mysterious Yang among members of the Chinese-Australian community. It has prompted questions about the source of her apparent fortunes and about the vast wealth gap between China’s elite – and their globe-trotting, big-spending family members – and the broader population.
In the Sydney suburb of Chatswood, a woman who has lived in Australia for 30 years and was enjoying bubble tea with her husband said: “Oh, are you talking about the car crash lady? We just saw the news that she might be related to someone important in China.”
Like other members of the Chinese community approached about this story, she did not want to provide her name for privacy reasons.
A resident who moved from China 35 years ago told The Straits Times that he heard about the case from local Chinese-language media in Australia.
“I don’t know why it gets so much attention,” he said. “I just think there are a lot of rich Chinese people here (in Sydney).”
As with much of the discussion on social media, the Sydney Chinese community was divided about Yang’s identity and whether she has links to powerful figures in China.
“Maybe what she’s done is controversial,” said a Chinese-Australian who moved to Sydney 10 years ago. “You don’t see these incidents often.”
In China, online rumours have claimed – falsely – that Yang’s bail was A$70 million and speculated that she has savings of A$27 billion.
The New South Wales Local Court confirmed to ST that Yang’s bail did not involve a monetary payment but required her to surrender her passport, avoid driving, report to Rose Bay police each Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and to be at her home between 9pm and 6am.
Associate Professor Graeme Smith, a China expert from the Australian National University, told ST that Yang “has to be connected to someone big because you don’t have that sort of money otherwise”.
The most credible suggestion, he said, was that her family was involved in metal trading. But he said the case had generated interest in Australia and China because it fuelled concerns about the vast gap in wealth between average Chinese and the country’s elite.
“This case resonates because for anyone who is young in China, the life of this person is almost beyond their comprehension,” he said.
“The tough reality for most young people in China is that if they can get a job, they will be paying off their mortgage for the rest of their life.”
A court hearing in the central business district on Aug 15 attracted an unusually large crowd of about 70 people, made up of international students and first-generation Chinese migrants in their 30s or 40s, including YouTubers and social media influencers.
Yang appeared by video at the hearing but has been photographed during her visits to the police station in Rose Bay. She has tried to cover her face but a brief glimpse led to speculation about whether she resembles any Chinese leaders.
She was also photographed at a visit to a bank wearing, according to the Daily Mail, a Chanel jacket and cap worth more than A$21,000 and earrings and a brooch that are “essentially priceless”.
The report said Yang lives in an apartment in the wealthy coastal suburb of Watsons Bay and reportedly has a second, unregistered Rolls-Royce – a convertible – garaged there.
Chinese-Australian journalist Cheng Lei wrote on the Sky News Australia website on Aug 17 that Yang’s given name was a clue that suggested she may belong to one of China’s powerful families.
“Her given name has been said to fit into the ‘double characters’ pattern of Chinese princelings, which denotes they will not go into politics and are off-limits for political infighting,” she said.
Yang’s Rolls-Royce crashed into a Mercedes-Benz driven by Mr George Plassaras, the chauffeur of Mr Kyle Sandilands, one of Australia’s most famous radio broadcasters and a controversial provocateur.
Mr Plassaras, who has also driven for other celebrities, was left badly injured.
Yang allegedly failed an alcohol breath test but refused to take a subsequent test. Her next hearing will be a five-minute police mention on Sept 26, but she does not need to attend. The case is likely to be further adjourned.
On Chinese sites such as RedNote, Weibo and Douyin, Yang has been referred to as a “celestial dragon”, a term borrowed from Japanese manga that refers to members of a corrupt elite, which has been used in China to refer to children of prominent families with links to the Communist Party of China.
“Chinese people’s money has all been temporarily preserved by the family of corrupted officials, such as Lanlan Yang’s,” said a Chinese-language post on X on Aug 24. “If their wealth is distributed to all Chinese people, then Chinese people won’t lead a difficult life in the future.”
Prof Smith said that the case had been allowed by the Chinese authorities to be reported in the Chinese media, suggesting that the government may be planning to take punitive action against Yang’s family.
“Normally the (Communist) Party would not be thrilled about letting this run as it does not reflect well on them,” he said. “I’m sure her family is trying desperately to keep her identity out of the press, but someone is in for a big fall.”