Who’s Eileen Wang? The former California Mayor who pleaded guilty to being a Chinese agent

The Department of Justice announced on Monday that Eileen Wang has agreed to plead guilty on one count of acting in the United States as an illegal agent of a foreign government. She is facing a statutory maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison on the felony charge.

The 58-year-old, who was elected to the five-member of the Arcadia City Council in 2022, has relinquished her post on the council. At the same time, she stepped down from her rotating position as the mayor of Arcadia, which she has held since 3 February this year.

Who’s Eileen Wang?

Wang was born in China and immigrated to the United States with her parents. The mother of two moved to Arcadia sometime in the early 2000’s according to Wikipedia. The crime she has been charged with predates her election to the Arcadia City Council.

The DOJ states that according to her plea agreement, Wang “worked at the direction and control of [the People’s Republic of China] government officials,” along with Yaoning “Mike” Sun, 65, of Chino Hills, from late 2020 through 2022. As well, they “coordinated with U.S.-based individuals to promote the PRC’s interests by, among other things, promoting pro-PRC propaganda in the United States.”

The two worked together to operate a website, U.S. News Center, that “purported to be a news source for the local Chinese American community.” They would receive pro-PRC content from PRC government officials and then post it on the website.

Sun is already serving a four-year federal prison sentence after pleading guilty in October 2025 to the same charge of acting as an illegal agent of a foreign government.

“Individuals in our country who covertly do the bidding of foreign governments undermine our democracy. This plea agreement is the latest success in our determination to defend the homeland against China’s efforts to corrupt our institutions,” said First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli.

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