Former Arcadia mayor pleads guilty as illegal Chinese agent

A former mayor of Arcadia, California, pleaded guilty in federal court on Friday to acting as an illegal agent of the Chinese government. Eileen Wang, who stepped down from her position earlier this month, admitted to sharing articles favorable to Beijing at the direction of Chinese officials without notifying the U.S. government as required by law.

Wang, 56, was elected to the Arcadia City Council in November 2022 and later served as mayor on the council's rotating basis. Federal prosecutors stated her illegal conduct occurred from late 2020 through 2022. City officials and Wang's attorneys have said the activity ended before she assumed her elected office. She faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and three years of supervised release at her sentencing, scheduled for October 6.

According to her plea agreement, Wang and her then-fiancé, Yaoning "Mike" Sun, operated a website called U.S. News Center to promote propaganda for officials of the People's Republic of China. Sun is currently serving a four-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to the same charge last October. He was also listed as the treasurer for Wang's 2022 election campaign.