Arcadia mayor strikes plea deal, resigns over Chinese agent charges
Eileen Wang, an Arcadia metropolis chief going through charges of performing as an unlawful international agent of China, resigned Monday after reaching an settlement to resolve the federal case.
Wang, who served as mayor of the San Gabriel Valley suburb, entered right into a plea settlement with prosecutors over charges that she acted underneath the management of the People’s Republic of China to advertise propaganda within the US between 2020 and 2022, in response to courtroom filings.
Wang, who was beforehand elected to the City Council in November 2022, stepped down as mayor on Monday hours after the plea settlement was unsealed. Arcadia officers stated the conduct described by federal authorities occurred earlier than Wang was elected.
Her attorneys declined to touch upon the charges. Wang appeared in federal courtroom in downtown Los Angeles throughout a short listening to Monday, the place a choose instructed her attorneys to set a date when she would formally enter a responsible plea.
The most sentence for the cost is 10 years in jail.
Dressed in a blue swimsuit jacket and skirt and accompanied by 4 attorneys, Wang listened to the continuing by means of a Mandarin interpreter. She sniffed all through the listening to, wiping at her eyes and her nostril together with her hand and a tissue.
The Justice of the Peace choose ordered a $25,000 bond and for her to give up all her passports and journey paperwork. Asst. US Atty. Amanda B. Elbogen requested that the choose order Wang to chorus from any communication with the Chinese authorities, together with consular officers within the US
“Individuals in our country who covertly do the bidding of foreign governments undermine our democracy,” stated First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli in an announcement Monday. “This plea agreement is the latest success in our determination to defend the homeland against China’s efforts to corrupt our institutions.”
Wang’s title was wiped from the City of Arcadia’s checklist of council members after the charges have been introduced.
“We understand this news raises serious concerns, and we want to be direct with our community about what we know and where we stand,” City Manager Dominic Lazzaretto stated in an announcement. “The allegations at the center of this case, that a foreign government sought to exert influence over a local elected official, are deeply troubling. We take them seriously.”
From late 2020 by means of no less than 2022, Wang worked with Yaoning “Mike” Sunher former fiance, to run a web site known as US News Center that branded itself as a information supply for Chinese Americans, in response to the plea settlement unsealed Monday. Both Wang and Sun “executed directives” from Chinese authorities officers, posting requested articles and reporting again with screenshots exhibiting how many individuals seen the tales, the settlement says.
On June 10, 2021, the settlement says, Wang obtained a message from a authorities official about “China’s Stance on the Xinjiang Issue,” which included a hyperlink to a letter to the editor at the Los Angeles Times from the consul normal of the People’s Republic of China in Los Angeles. The consul normal had been responding to a Times editorial supporting a boycott of products made with cotton produced in the Xinjiang region of China.
At the time, information reviews have been highlighting the Chinese authorities campaign of incarceration, persecution and “reeducation” of Uyghurs within the Xinjiang province.
“There is no genocide in Xinjiang; there is no such thing as ‘forced labor’ in any production activity, including cotton production. Spreading such rumor is to defame China, destroy Xinjiang’s safety and stability,” learn the message from the Chinese authorities official, in response to the plea settlement.
Minutes after receiving the hyperlink, Wang posted the article on her web site and responded to the Chinese authorities official with a hyperlink to the article on her web site, in response to the courtroom submitting.
“So fast, thank you everyone,” the federal government official responded, the courtroom data present.
Prosecutors additionally say Wang edited articles on the request of officers and shared info exhibiting the attain of the posts.
“Thank you leader,” she wrote on Aug. 20, 2021, after being complimented for a publish that was seen greater than 15,000 occasions, in response to the plea settlement.
Wang by no means disclosed that the Chinese authorities had directed her to publish the content material, in response to courtroom paperwork.
Prosecutors charged Sun, a resident of Chino Hills, in December 2024 with conspiracy and performing as an unlawful agent of a international authorities. Wang stated her relationship with Sun ended within the spring of 2024.
Sun had additionally served as marketing campaign supervisor for her City Council marketing campaign to guide Arcadia, a touchdown spot for a lot of Chinese and Taiwanese immigrants. Prosecutors accused Sun and his Chinese authorities contacts of cultivating Wang in hopes that she would rise in politics and assist them strengthen China’s affect in California.
“We broke up the fiance relationship,” Wang advised the City Council after he was charged. “We keep the friendship.”
Sun was sentenced in February to 4 years in federal jail after pleading responsible in October 2025 to at least one depend of performing as an unlawful agent of a international authorities.
Sun labored as an unlawful agent for the People’s Republic of China, submitting reviews to high-level authorities officers about work he was doing on the federal government’s behalf, in response to a federal sentencing memorandum. This exercise included combating Falun Gong, a religious observe banned in China, and supporters of Taiwanese independence. Sun was additionally accused of monitoring the then-president of Taiwan throughout his April 2023 journey to the US
Facing requires her resignation on the heels of her former fiance’s indictmentWang vowed on the time to not step away from the council, emphasizing that she was “not responsible for the action of others.”
Wang stated in a 2024 interview that she moved to Southern California from China 30 years in the past. Her mom was a Chinese medication and acupuncture physician and her father was a doctor in Sichuan province earlier than working at USC, she stated.
The 4 different Arcadia metropolis council members didn’t reply to a request for remark. Wang appeared as standard at last week’s city council meetingshepherding alongside discussions on road paving, the upcoming finances and a possible e-bike ordinance. Lazzaretto, the town supervisor, stated in his assertion that the town has carried out an inner overview associated to the charges and located no wrongdoing.
“We can confirm that no City finances, staff, or decision-making processes were involved,” Lazzaretto stated in an announcement. “We have found no actions that require reconsideration or that are invalidated as a result of these developments.”
Clara Harter contributed to this report.