Eileen Wang, the mayor of Arcadia in Southern California, has resigned and agreed to plead guilty to acting as an unregistered agent of the government of China, according to federal prosecutors.
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Authorities stated that Wang worked with Yaoning “Mike” Sun between late 2020 and 2022 to promote Chinese government interests in the United States through a media platform called “U.S. News Center,” which targeted Chinese American audiences. Investigators alleged that the pair operated under direction from Chinese officials, publishing content favorable to Beijing while failing to disclose their activities to the U.S. attorney general as required by law.
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Prosecutors confirmed that Wang faced one felony count of acting as an unregistered foreign agent, an offense carrying a maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison. She appeared in federal court in Los Angeles on Monday, where she was released on a $25,000 bond. Her formal guilty plea is expected in the coming weeks.
Officials also noted that Sun previously pleaded guilty to the same charge and is currently serving a four-year prison sentence. Court records further linked Wang to communications with John Chen, another individual convicted in a separate case involving unregistered work for Chinese government interests.
The plea agreement outlined several occasions in which Wang was alleged to have posted content supportive of Beijing online, including material challenging reports of human rights abuses in Xinjiang. Prosecutors further stated that some of these publications were carried out following instructions from Chinese officials.
Wang’s attorneys emphasized that the conduct involved her personal activities and a private media platform, not the operations of the Arcadia city government. City officials likewise clarified that no municipal resources were involved and that the alleged actions ended before she assumed office in December 2022. Wang was elected to the Arcadia City Council in 2022 and later selected as mayor under the city’s rotating system.
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