Arcadia, California — Eileen Wang, the 58-year-old mayor of this Los Angeles County suburb, resigned from her position on the City Council and as mayor on May 11, 2026, after federal prosecutors announced she had been charged with acting as an illegal agent of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Wang agreed to plead guilty to one felony count of acting in the United States as an agent of a foreign government without notifying the Attorney General, a charge that carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison.
According to a plea agreement filed with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California, Wang’s activities occurred between late 2020 and 2022—well before she was elected to the five-member Arcadia City Council in November 2022 or assumed the rotating mayor’s post. Working with her then-fiancé, Yaoning “Mike” Sun, she operated the website U.S. News Center, which targeted the local Chinese American community. At the direction of PRC government officials via the encrypted WeChat app, the pair posted and promoted pro-PRC propaganda, including articles denying human rights abuses in China’s Xinjiang region.
In one documented instance from June 2021, a Chinese official sent Wang a pre-written article from the Los Angeles Times by the PRC consul general that claimed there was “no genocide in Xinjiang” and no forced labor in cotton production. Wang posted it on her site within minutes and reported back to the official, who replied, “So fast, thank you everyone.” She also coordinated with John Chen, a convicted PRC intelligence operative who had met personally with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Sun, 65, of Chino Hills, previously pleaded guilty to the same charge and is serving a four-year prison sentence. Wang’s attorneys described the conduct as “personal mistakes” stemming from her relationship with Sun, which ended in spring 2024. They emphasized that her “love and devotion for the Arcadia community have not changed.”
Arcadia city officials confirmed that no public resources, finances, or staff were involved and that the alleged conduct ceased after Wang took office in December 2022. The city will select a new mayor and mayor pro tem from the remaining council members next week.
Federal officials framed the case as part of broader efforts to counter Chinese influence operations. “Individuals in our country who covertly do the bidding of foreign governments undermine our democracy,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli. FBI officials called it a warning against foreign interference in U.S. institutions.
Arcadia, home to approximately 53,000 residents and a large Chinese American population, has not been implicated in any wrongdoing beyond Wang’s personal actions. Wang is expected to formally enter her guilty plea in the coming weeks.
SOURCES:
Eileen Wang resigns, will plead guilty to acting as Chinese agent | CNN
