Arcadia Mayor to Plead Guilty in Illegal Foreign Agent Case

Eileen Wang, the 58-year-old mayor of Arcadia, California, resigned and agreed to plead guilty on May 11 to one count of acting in the United States as an illegal agent of a foreign government, federal prosecutors said. Authorities said the case involves efforts to promote content favorable to the People’s Republic of China through a website aimed at the Chinese American community.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California said Wang’s plea follows an investigation into whether she worked with others to disseminate material provided by Chinese government operatives. Officials said Wang’s conduct under investigation took place between late 2020 and 2022.

Wang has served as mayor of the Los Angeles County suburb since February. Arcadia is a city of about 54,000 residents and is roughly 59% Asian-American, according to figures cited in the case materials.

In a plea agreement, Wang admitted to collaborating with Yaoning “Mike” Sun, 65, of Chino Hills, prosecutors said. Authorities said the two operated a website called U.S. News Site and posted articles favorable to the Chinese government at the direction of government operatives.

Website posts and contact with Chinese officials

Prosecutors said that in June 2021 a Chinese government official contacted Wang and others through a messaging platform group chat and shared pre-written articles. Officials said one of the articles rejected claims of genocide in the Xinjiang region and had been published elsewhere as a letter to the editor.

Authorities said Wang posted the same article to her website. In August 2021, prosecutors said, Wang edited the article at the official’s request and sent the official a link along with a screenshot showing it had been viewed more than 15,000 times.

Officials said Wang communicated with other individuals involved in similar activity. Prosecutors said John Chen was sentenced to 20 months in prison for acting as an unregistered agent and bribing an Internal Revenue Service agent.

Related case and next steps in Arcadia

Sun is serving a 4-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to the same charge in October 2025, prosecutors said. Authorities said Wang and Sun worked together from late 2020 to 2022, before Wang was sworn into office in December 2022.

Arcadia will select a new mayor at its next City Council meeting, officials said. An internal review found no city finances, staff, or decision-making processes were implicated, according to the information cited in the case.

Wang is scheduled to enter her guilty plea on May 11, and the case will proceed in federal court.