US: LA area mayor to plead guilty to acting as Chinese agent

"Eileen Wang, the mayor of Arcadia, was charged in April to a single felony count of acting in the United States as an illegal agent of a foreign government, the US Attorney's Office in the Central District of California said on Monday. The charge carries a maximum term of 10 years in prison in the US. A19-page plea deal was unsealed with the charging document on Monday. Wang resigned as mayor within hours of her case being made public, Arcadia City Council's website showed."

"According to her plea agreement, Wang and a colleague, Yaoning “Mike” Sun, promoted propaganda favorable to China “at the direction and control” of Chinese government officials from late 2020 to 2022. The duo operated the news website US News Center which served the local Chinese-American community and promoted pro-Chinese propaganda through it, according to the Justice Department. “Wang and Sun received and executed directives from [Chinese] government officials to post [pro-Chinese] content on the website,” the department said."

"According to the court filing, the pro-China content published on the site included articles disputing reports of the persecution, forced labor, and abuse of ethnic Uyghurs in China's Xinjiang region. Sun pleaded guilty in October 2025 to the same charge as Wang and is serving a four-year prison sentence. Wang had once publicly described Sun as her fiance. The 68-year-old was also listed in campaign filings as the treasurer for Wang's 2022 election campaign."

Eileen Wang, mayor of Arcadia in Southern California, agreed to plead guilty to acting as an illegal agent of a foreign government. She was charged with a single felony count and faces up to 10 years in prison. A plea deal was unsealed alongside the charging document. Wang resigned shortly after the case became public. Her plea agreement states that she and Yaoning “Mike” Sun promoted pro-China propaganda for the Chinese government from late 2020 to 2022. They operated the US News Center website serving the local Chinese-American community. The Justice Department said they received and executed directives from Chinese officials to post pro-China content, including articles disputing reports about Uyghur persecution, forced labor, and abuse in Xinjiang. Sun pleaded guilty in October 2025 and is serving a four-year prison sentence.

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