Eileen Wang, 58, mayor of Arcadia, California, agreed to plead guilty to acting as an illegal agent of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and resigned May 11, the Justice Department announced. She faces a maximum 10-year prison sentence.
Wang and Yaoning “Mike” Sun, 65, of Chino Hills, ran U.S. News Center from late 2020 through 2022 under PRC direction. PRC officials sent pre-written Xinjiang denial articles to Wang and others via WeChat, a Chinese-owned encrypted messaging application. Wang posted the content within minutes. In a later exchange, she edited an article at the official’s request and reported 15,128 views on the piece, responding to the official’s praise with, “Thank you leader.”
Sun pleaded guilty in October 2025 to the same charge and was sentenced in February 2026 to 48 months in federal prison. Court documents also show Sun provided real-time photographs and location data on Taiwan’s then-President Tsai Ing-wen to PRC consular officials during a 2023 California visit, connecting the Arcadia network to active intelligence collection on U.S. soil.
BREAKING: California Mayor Eileen Wang has resigned after being charged with acting as an illegal agent of China.
Federal prosecutors say Wang agreed to plead guilty and could face up to 10 years in prison for allegedly advancing pro-Beijing messaging and spreading propaganda… pic.twitter.com/yksuR2fMAP
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) May 12, 2026
Court documents show Wang also communicated in November 2021 with John Chen, a high-level PRC intelligence operative who personally met with President Xi Jinping. During their exchange, Wang asked Chen to distribute a “news” article from her website, writing to him, “This is what the Ministry of Foreign Affairs wants to send.” Chen was later sentenced in November 2024 to 20 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to acting as an illegal PRC agent and conspiracy to bribe a public official.
“Individuals in our country who covertly do the bidding of foreign governments undermine our democracy,” First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said.
Arcadia City Manager Dominic Lazzaretto said the charges concern conduct that predated Wang’s December 2022 swearing-in and did not involve city finances or staff. Wang’s attorneys said she “apologizes and is sorry for the mistakes she has made in her personal life.”
