Arcadia Mayor Resigns, Pleads Guilty to Acting as Chinese Agent

The mayor of Arcadia, California, has resigned and agreed to plead guilty to acting as an illegal agent for the Chinese government.

Eileen Wang, 58, was charged in April with one count of acting in the United States as an illegal agent of a foreign government. Prosecutors say she shared articles favorable to Beijing without notifying the U.S. government as required by law.

Wang was elected to the city council in November 2022 and served as mayor on a rotating basis. City officials stressed no city funds or staff were involved.

The charge carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison. Wang's attorneys said she accepts responsibility for "past personal mistakes."

According to her plea agreement, Wang and associate Yaoning “Mike” Sun worked for Chinese government officials from 2020 to 2022, promoting pro-PRC propaganda through a news website aimed at the Chinese American community. Sun is serving a four-year sentence after pleading guilty last October.

In one instance, Wang posted a letter from the Chinese consul general in Los Angeles that denied forced labor and genocide against Uyghurs in Xinjiang. The U.S. and others have labeled those policies as crimes against humanity.

Wang is expected to plead guilty in federal court in Los Angeles in the coming weeks.