The mayor of Arcadia, California, Eileen Wang, has been charged with serving as an illegal foreign agent for China. She agreed to plead guilty.
From late 2020 through 2022, Wang and Yaoning “Mike” Sun worked on behalf of the Chinese government and coordinated with U.S.-based individuals to promote Chinese interests. The two operated a website advertised as a news source for the local Chinese American community. They posted pro-China content.
Sun was previously sentenced for “acting as an illegal agent of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), including while serving as the campaign advisor for a political candidate who was elected to the city council of a Southern California city,” the Justice Department explained in February.
Wang admitted in her plea agreement that she did not inform the Attorney General that she was acting in the United States as an agent of China.
“Individuals in our country who covertly do the bidding of foreign governments undermine our democracy,” said First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli. “This plea agreement is the latest success in our determination to defend the homeland against China’s efforts to corrupt our institutions.”
“By her own admission, Eileen Wang secretly served the interests of the Chinese government,” Assistant Director Roman Rozhavsky of the FBI’s Counterintelligence and Espionage Division said in a statement. “Let this serve as a clear warning: Individuals who act on behalf of foreign governments to influence our democracy will be identified, investigated, and brought to justice. Protecting the rule of law and the transparency of our democratic process remains at the core of the FBI’s mission, and we will continue working alongside our partners to safeguard the integrity of our elections and keep hostile actors from undermining the voices of the American people.”
