Arcadia mayor strikes plea deal, resigns over Chinese agent charges
Eileen Wang, the Arcadia city leader accused of acting as an illegal foreign agent of China, resigned Monday after reaching an agreement to resolve the federal case.
Wang, who served as mayor of the San Gabriel Valley suburb, signed a plea agreement with prosecutors over accusations that he acted under the control of the People’s Republic of China to promote propaganda in the United States between 2020 and 2022, according to court filings.
Wang, who was previously elected to the City Council in November 2022, resigned as mayor on Monday after the plea agreement was sealed. Arcadia officials said the behavior described by federal officials occurred before Wang’s election.
His lawyers declined to comment on the accusations. Wang appeared in federal court in downtown Los Angeles during a brief hearing Monday; where the judge instructed his lawyers to set a date to formally file a criminal complaint.
The maximum penalty for the charge is 10 years in prison.
Wang, wearing a blue suit jacket and skirt and accompanied by four lawyers, listened to the hearing through a Mandarin translator. He sniffled throughout the hearing, wiping his eyes and nose with his hand and a tissue.
The magistrate ordered the surrender of all his passports and travel documents, with bail set at $25,000. Asst. US Atty. Amanda B. Elbogen asked the judge to order Wang to avoid all communications with the Chinese government, including consular officials in the United States.
“Individuals in our country who secretly carry out the orders of foreign governments are undermining our democracy,” First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said in a statement Monday. “This defense agreement is the latest achievement in our determination to defend our homeland against China’s efforts to corrupt our institutions.”
Wang’s name deleted He was removed from the City of Arcadia’s list of council members after the charges were announced.
“We understand that 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 said in a statement. “The allegations at the center of this case that a foreign government sought to exert influence over a domestic elected official are deeply troubling. We take them seriously.”
According to the plea agreement sealed Monday, from late 2020 until at least 2022, Wang worked with his ex-fiancée, Yaoning “Mike” Sun, to run a website called U.S. News Center that promoted itself as a news source for Chinese Americans. The agreement states that both Wang and Sun “followed instructions” from Chinese government officials, publishing the requested articles and providing feedback with screenshots showing how many people watched the stories.
According to the agreement, Wang received a message from a government official on June 10, 2021, regarding “China’s Position on the Xinjiang Issue” with a link to a letter from the consul general of the People’s Republic of China in Los Angeles to the editor of the Los Angeles Times. The consul general was responding to a Times editorial supporting a boycott of products made from cotton produced in China’s Xinjiang region.
News reports at the time highlighted the Chinese government’s campaign of incarceration, persecution and “re-education” of Uyghurs in Xinjiang province.
According to the plea agreement, the Chinese government official’s message said, “There is no genocide in Xinjiang; there is no such thing as ‘forced labor’ in any production activity, including cotton production. Spreading such rumors is to defame China and destroy the security and stability of Xinjiang.”
Within minutes of receiving the link, Wang posted the article on his own website and responded to the Chinese government official with a link to the article on his website, according to the court filing.
Court records show the government official responded, “You’re very prompt, thank you everyone.”
Prosecutors also said Wang edited the articles at authorities’ request and shared information showing the posts’ reach.
“Thank you leader,” she wrote on Aug. 20, 2021, after receiving a compliment for a post that was viewed more than 15,000 times, according to the plea agreement.
According to court documents, Wang never disclosed that the Chinese government had directed him to publish the content.
Prosecutors charged Sun, a Chino Hills resident, in December 2024 with conspiracy and acting as an unlawful agent of a foreign government. Wang said his relationship with Sun ended in spring 2024.
Sun also served as campaign manager for the City Council campaign to govern Arcadia, the destination of many Chinese and Taiwanese immigrants. Prosecutors accused Sun and his contacts in the Chinese government of grooming Wang in the hope that he would rise in politics and help them strengthen China’s influence in California.
“We broke off the engagement relationship,” Wang told the City Council after he was charged. “We maintain friendship”
there was sun prisoner to four years in federal prison in February after pleading guilty in October 2025 to acting as an unlawful agent of a foreign government.
According to the federal sentencing memorandum, Sun was working as an illegal agent for the People’s Republic of China, providing reports to senior government officials about his work on behalf of the government. This activity included combating Falun Gong, a spiritual practice banned in China, and those who support Taiwanese independence. Sun was also accused of spying on the then-Taiwan president during his visit to the United States in April 2023.
That’s why we are faced with calls Resigned after ex-fiancée’s indictmentWang vowed at the time that he would not leave the council and emphasized that he was “not responsible for the actions of others.”
Wang said in a 2024 interview that he moved to Southern California from China 30 years ago. She said her mother was a doctor of Chinese medicine and acupuncture, and her father was a doctor in Sichuan province before working at USC.
Four other Arcadia city council members did not respond to a request for comment. Wang appeared as usual last week’s city council meetingleading discussions about street paving, the upcoming budget and a potential e-bike ordinance. City manager Lazzaretto said in a statement that the municipality conducted an internal review of the accusations and found no wrongdoing.
“We can confirm that no City finances, personnel or decision-making were involved,” Lazzaretto said in a statement. “As a result of these developments, we did not encounter any action that required re-evaluation or became invalid.”
Clara Harter contributed to this report.
