"Investigators say Wang, 58, was working with her then-fiancé to run a website for Chinese Americans that was spreading propaganda from the Chinese government, or the People's Republic of China (PRC). Wang agreed to a plea deal, which was already done last month, but was just unsealed on Monday. It's possible Wang could serve up to ten years behind bars for acting as an illegal foreign agent. She made her first court appearance on Monday and is expected to formally plead guilty in the coming weeks."
"According to federal investigators, the mayor was posting PRC-approved news content on a site called "U.S. News Center." The documents unsealed on Monday say she would then write back to a PRC official about how many views the content was getting. Prosecutors write that, "Each time defendant posted to her website at the PRC Official's Direction. Defendant was located inside the United States. Defendant never disclosed on the website that some of its content had been posted at the direction of members of the PRC government.""
""Individuals in our country who covertly do the bidding of foreign governments undermine our democracy," said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli for the Central District of California. "This plea agreement is the latest success in our determination to defend the homeland against China's efforts to corrupt our institutions.""
Arcadia mayor Eileen Wang agreed to plead guilty to a federal charge of acting as an illegal foreign agent. Federal investigators said she worked with her then-fiancé to run a website for Chinese Americans that spread propaganda approved by the People’s Republic of China. Investigators said Wang posted PRC-approved news content on a site called “U.S. News Center” and then communicated with a PRC official about how many views the content received. Prosecutors said she posted at the PRC official’s direction while located inside the United States and did not disclose that the content was posted at the direction of PRC government members. Wang could face up to ten years in prison. Her first court appearance occurred on Monday, with a formal guilty plea expected in coming weeks.
#illegal-foreign-agent #prc-propaganda #us-department-of-justice #arcadia-california #foreign-influence
Read at ABC7 San Francisco
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