California ex-mayor admits acting as agent of China, US authorities say

"Eileen Wang, the former mayor of Arcadia, agreed to plead guilty to one count of acting as an illegal agent of a foreign government from late 2020 until 2022, the US Department of Justice said on Monday. Wang admitted that she did not notify the US government that she was acting on behalf of China while promoting pro-Beijing propaganda, the Justice Department said. Wang, 58, operated a website, called the US News Center, that published content supportive of the People's Republic of China (PRC) while purporting to provide news for Chinese Americans, the department said."

"Wang ran the site with Yaoning Sun, a Californian man who was sentenced to four years in prison after pleading guilty to acting as an illegal agent of a foreign government in October 2025, according to US prosecutors. Wang's activities included republishing a PRC official-written essay that denied allegations that the Chinese government was committing genocide against ethnic-minority Uighurs in its far-western region of Xinjiang, according to prosecutors. Wang resigned as mayor on Monday, according to a statement published on the City of Arcadia's website."

"She faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. Her lawyers, Brian A Sun and Jason Liang, said Wang wished to apologise for mistakes she has made in her personal life. It is important to note, however, that the conduct underlying the information and the agreement with the government relates solely to Ms. Wang's personal life i.e., a media platform that she once operated with someone whom she believed to be her fiance and not to her conduct as an elected public official, Sun and Liang said in a statement."

Eileen Wang, former mayor of Arcadia, agreed to plead guilty to acting as an illegal agent of a foreign government from late 2020 until 2022. Prosecutors said she did not notify the U.S. government that she was acting on behalf of China while promoting pro-Beijing propaganda. She operated a website called the US News Center that published content supportive of the People’s Republic of China while presenting itself as news for Chinese Americans. The site republished a PRC official-written essay denying allegations of genocide against Uighurs in Xinjiang. Wang resigned as mayor and faces up to 10 years in prison.

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