California Mayor Arrested as Illegal Agent for China

Former Arcadia, California mayor Eileen Wang pleaded guilty on May 29, 2026, to acting as an illegal agent of the Chinese government, admitting she ran a propaganda website at Beijing’s direction from late 2020 through 2022 while presenting it as independent community news. Wang, 56, resigned as mayor on May 11, 2026, the day federal prosecutors announced the charge. She faces up to ten years in federal prison and three years of supervised release when she is sentenced on October 6, 2026.¹²

What Wang Admitted Doing

Wang and her then-fiancé Yaoning “Mike” Sun operated a site called U.S. News Center, aimed at the Chinese American community in Southern California. The site looked like a general news outlet, with routine updates mixed in with items placed at the request of PRC officials who sent instructions through the encrypted messaging app WeChat.³⁴

The site drew real traffic. In one exchange, Wang sent a PRC official a screenshot of an article that had been viewed 15,128 times. She also edited articles when officials asked and reported back with viewership figures, once replying “Thank you leader” after an official wrote “Great!”³

The content included defenses of China’s treatment of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang. On June 10, 2021, a PRC official sent Wang a link to a letter from the Chinese consul general in Los Angeles that read: “There is no genocide in Xinjiang; there is no such thing as ‘forced labor’ in any production activity.” Wang posted it to U.S. News Center within minutes and confirmed to the official, who replied, “So fast, thank you everyone.”⁵

Wang never notified the U.S. Attorney General that she was acting as an agent of a foreign government, and the site never disclosed to readers that its content was being placed by Beijing.³

The Law She Violated

Wang pleaded guilty to one count under 18 U.S.C. § 951, which makes it a felony to operate within the United States under the direction or control of a foreign government without first notifying the Attorney General.⁶ The required disclosure is what she skipped; the statute does not turn on the content of the speech itself but on acting at a foreign government’s direction without telling the U.S. government first.

The Network: Sun and John Chen

Sun, Wang’s former fiancé and the treasurer of her 2022 City Council campaign, was the first person prosecuted in this network. He pleaded guilty in October 2025 to the same offense and was sentenced on February 9, 2026, to four years in federal prison. Sun told PRC officials that he had “orchestrated and organized my team to win the election” for Wang, and prosecutors described him as the “right-hand man” in the United States to a figure named John Chen.⁷⁸

Chen, whom federal prosecutors described as a high-level member of the PRC intelligence apparatus, was sentenced in November 2024 to 20 months in federal prison in a separate case involving an unregistered agent charge and bribery of an IRS official in a scheme targeting Falun Gong practitioners.⁹³¹⁰ CNN reported that the FBI’s earlier investigation of Sun was what brought Wang under scrutiny.¹¹

How a Local Mayor Ended Up Here

Wang was born in Chengdu, China, and immigrated to the United States in 1995. Before politics she ran an after-school program in Arcadia and co-founded the American Southwest Chamber of Commerce.¹² She had publicly supported friendly U.S.-China relations and the unification of Taiwan with China before her council run, and she switched her registration from Republican to Democrat.¹³

Wang won a seat on the Arcadia City Council in November 2022.¹⁴⁵¹⁰

What Has Happened in Arcadia Since

On May 19, 2026, the Arcadia City Council voted 3-1 to appoint Council Member Paul P. Cheng, who had been Mayor Pro Tem, to serve the remainder of Wang’s term.¹⁵ City Manager Dominic Lazzaretto said an internal review found “no City finances, staff, or decision-making processes were involved” in Wang’s activities.⁵

Councilwoman Sharon Kwan, who had raised concerns earlier in 2026 about Wang’s ties to the Chinese military, said those concerns were “not imaginary or politically motivated” and faulted other council members for not acting sooner.¹⁶ At the May 19 council meeting, some residents called on the remaining council members to resign; others worried the case would feed anti-Asian sentiment. Cheng addressed both: “We cannot allow this moment to become an excuse for people to paint entire communities with one brush or weaponize ethnicity for political gain.” He added that since the case broke, “I’ve been called more names, been told to go back to China although that’s not where I’m from.”¹⁰

Through her attorneys Brian A. Sun and Jason Liang, Wang “apologizes and is sorry for the mistakes she has made in her personal life” and asked for the community’s “understanding and continued support.”⁵ First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli described the prosecution as part of an effort to “defend the homeland against China’s efforts to corrupt our institutions.”³

1
Los Angeles Times. Former Arcadia Mayor Guilty Plea Foreign Agent China
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CNN. Eileen Wang Mayor Chinese Agent Arcadia
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U.S. Department of Justice. Arcadia Mayor Federally Charged Acting Illegal Agent Peoples Republic of China
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ABC7. Former Arcadia Mayor Eileen Wang Pleads Guilty Federal Charge Acting Foreign Agent
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Los Angeles Times. Arcadia Mayor Plea Agreement Foreign Agent China Charges
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Cornell Law Institute. 18 U.S. Code § 951 – Agents of Foreign Governments
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U.S. Department of Justice. Political Operative Sentenced 4 Years Federal Prison Acting Covert Agent Peoples Republic of China
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U.S. Department of Justice. Political Operative Sentenced 48 Months Federal Prison Acting Covert Agent Peoples Republic of China
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U.S. Department of Justice. California Man Sentenced Acting Illegal Agent Peoples Republic of China Government and Bribery
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NBC Los Angeles. Arcadia Mayor Eileen Wang Residents Reaction
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CNN. Eileen Wang Chinese Agent
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Los Angeles Times. Who Is the Politician at the Center of the Latest Chinese Influence Scandal
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The New York Times. Eileen Wang Arcadia California Mayor China
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The New York Times. Arcadia California Mayor Charged as Chinese Agent
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City of Arcadia. Arcadia City Council Appoints New Mayor
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HeySoCal. Arcadia Officials Respond to Mayors Resignation Ties to China Spy Op