Federal prosecutors said Monday that Eileen Wang, the mayor of Arcadia, California, has agreed to plead guilty after being charged with acting as an unregistered agent for China.
Prosecutors allege that Wang operated a news website with Yaoning Sun, also known as “Mike” Sun, from 2020 to 2022. Sun is currently serving a four-year prison sentence on related charges. According to prosecutors, the website published content directed by Chinese government officials.
The prosecutors claim Wang and Sun worked together to run a Chinese American news website called “U.S. News Center.” According to their allegations, this website published pro-China propaganda and “pre-written news articles” directed by Chinese government officials from encrypted messaging apps like WeChat.
As an example, the prosecutors said Wang coordinated to post a letter to the editor from China’s consul general in Los Angeles published in the LA Times, downplaying China’s treatment of its Uyghur population in Xinjiang.
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FBI Director Kash Patel spoke about this on X, saying “Mayor Wang admitted to acting as a foreign agent from at least 2020 through 2022 – promoting PRC propaganda in the U.S. and acting at PRC’s direction to promote their interests. She has agreed to resign from office and plead guilty.”
Wang could face a sentence of up to 10 years in prison. Her lawyers, Jason Liang and Brian Sun, said in a statement on her behalf that “she apologises and is sorry for the mistakes she has made in her personal life.”
First assistant U.S. attorney Bill Essayli said: “This plea agreement is the latest success in our determination to defend the homeland against China’s efforts to corrupt our institutions.”
“Individuals in our country who covertly do the bidding of foreign governments undermine our democracy,” Essayli added.
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Wang was elected to the Arcadia City Council in November 2022 — a five-member governing body where each member takes on the role of mayor on a rotating basis. Her lawyers said that Wang accepts responsibility for “past personal mistakes.”
“Her love and devotion for the Arcadia community have not changed and did not waver,” the statement added.
Arcadia city’s manager said via the city’s website that “the allegations at the centre of this case, that a foreign government sought to exert influence over a local elected official, are deeply troubling. We take them seriously. The charges are for conduct that ceased after Ms. Wang was sworn into office in December 2022. Following an internal review, we can confirm that no City finances, staff, or decision-making processes were involved.”