Former Arcadia mayor Eileen Wang is accused of promoting Chinese propaganda in the United States, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office
Credit: Frazer Harrison/Getty
NEED TO KNOW
- A California mayor stepped down after being charged with acting as an illegal agent for a foreign country
- Eileen Wang resigned her post as the mayor of Arcadia, Calif., according to a press release issued on Monday, May 11.
- Wang is accused of promoting Chinese propaganda in the U.S. through a website that purported to be a news source, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office
A California politician stepped down from her role as mayor after being charged with acting as an illegal agent for China.
Eileen Wang, 58, was charged in federal court with the felony count, the U.S. Attorney's Office announced on Monday, May 11. Later that day, a spokesperson said Wang had "resigned from her position as Mayor and Council Member for the City of Arcadia" in a press release.
Wang was sworn in as mayor of Arcadia, a city in Los Angeles County, on February 16.
In its announcement, the U.S. Attorney's Office said that Wang is "expected to plead guilty in the coming weeks."
The U.S. Attorney's Office also announced on Monday that Wang was charged in federal court with acting as an illegal agent of the People's Republic of China (PRC).
According to prosecutors, Wang admitted in a plea agreement that she and Yaoning “Mike” Sun, 65, of Chino Hills, worked together promoting pro-PRC propaganda in the U.S. from late 2020 through 2022.
The pair were able to do so by running a website called U.S. News Center that purported to be a news source for the local Chinese American community, per the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Wang and Sun took directions from PRC government officials to post pro-PRC content on the website, the U.S. Attorney's Office alleges. Federal prosecutors further allege that they engaged in communications with PRC officials via encrypted messages on WeChat about pre-written news articles.
After Wang was instructed to publish a specific article to her site, she shared data with a PRC official confirming that the article had been seen more than 15,000 times, prosecutors allege.
When the official expressed that they were pleased, Wang allegedly replied, “Thank you leader.”
“Individuals elected to public office in the United States should act only for the people of the United States that they represent,” Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg said in the release. “It is deeply concerning that someone who previously received and executed directives from PRC government officials is now in a position of public trust at all, but particularly so because that relationship with that foreign government had never been disclosed.”
Wang joined the Arcadia City Council in 2022, and according to her press release, did so “because she genuinely loves this city and is devoted to the people and the community within it.”
“However, events in Ms. Wang's personal life – including her trust and love for apparently the wrong person who ultimately led her astray – require her to step away from public service,” the statement continued, later adding, “She apologizes and is sorry for the mistakes she has made in her personal life.”
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The felony count, which Wang is expected to plead guilty to, comes with a statutory maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison.
Sun is serving a four-year federal prison sentence after pleading guilty in October 2025 to acting as an illegal agent of a foreign government, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
The case is still under investigation by the FBI.
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