Former California mayor faces 10 years for acting as Chinese agent

A former mayor of a Los Angeles-area city faces a maximum of 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to acting as an illegal agent of the Chinese government, a case federal officials say is part of a broader campaign by Beijing to influence American politics from the ground up.

“By her own admission, Eileen Wang secretly served the interests of the Chinese government,” Roman Rozhavsky, assistant director of the FBI’s counterintelligence and espionage division, said in a statement. Wang, who resigned as mayor of Arcadia, California, on May 11, 2026, admitted to working “at the direction and control” of Chinese officials to publish pro-Beijing propaganda on a website geared toward Chinese Americans.

The scheme involved a website called U.S. News Center, which Wang operated with her then-fiancé and campaign manager, Yaoning “Mike” Sun. Court documents show they took direct orders from John Chen, described by prosecutors as a high-level member of China’s intelligence apparatus. Sun and Chen have both been convicted and sentenced to 40 months and 20 months in prison, respectively, for their roles in the operation.

The case exposes what some experts call China’s “long game” of investing in lower-level politicians with the hope they move up the political food chain. Wang’s successful 2022 election to the Arcadia City Council was celebrated in reports back to Chinese officials, who were allegedly assured she would align with Beijing’s interests, including opposition to Taiwanese independence.

From ‘Political Star’ to Foreign Agent

The operation to cultivate Wang began before her election. According to court filings, Chen instructed Sun to send reports to Chinese officials celebrating Wang’s victory, describing her as a “new political star.” After she won, Chen pushed for more information, instructing Sun to compile a list of politicians Wang had relationships with, writing, “the more the better, the higher position the better.”

Wang’s attorneys have sought to frame her actions as personal mistakes influenced by a man she loved and trusted, insisting her work for the city of Arcadia was separate. “She apologizes and is sorry for the mistakes she has made in her personal life,” they said in a statement, adding that her “love and devotion for the Arcadia community have not changed.”

However, the plea agreement confirms Wang was aware of the arrangement. From 2020 through 2022, she and Sun executed directives from Chinese officials, posting requested articles and sending back screenshots to show their reach. “Thank you leader,” she wrote in one exchange after a post was viewed more than 15,000 times.

A Community Divided

The revelations have sent shockwaves through Arcadia, a city of 56,000 in the San Gabriel Valley where nearly 60 percent of residents are of Asian descent. The case has also fueled a racist backlash online, prompting fears of renewed anti-Asian discrimination.

“It goes beyond the allegations against this one individual and, instead, paints an entire community broadly as suspicious, disloyal foreigners,” Dahni K. Tsuboi, CEO of Asian Americans Advancing Justice Southern California, told NBC News. The case has drawn comparisons to the historical “yellow peril” stereotype and the more recent targeting of Chinese scholars under the Justice Department’s now-dismantled “China Initiative.”

U.S. Rep. Judy Chu, D-Calif., who had previously honored Wang for her community work, said she was “shocked and disappointed” by the case but pushed back against the broader anti-Asian sentiment. Within Arcadia, some residents and officials said red flags about Wang were ignored for too long. “There were red flags everywhere,” said Sharon Kwan, an Arcadia City Council member.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.