California mayor charged with acting as illegal agent for China

Eileen Wang, the mayor of Arcadia, California, was charged with acting as an illegal foreign agent for China, the Justice Department announced on Monday.

Wang agreed to plead guilty, the DOJ said.

The City of Arcadia said Wang resigned from her position on Monday.

Starting in late 2020, Wang and Yaoning "Mike" Sun worked together to operate a website called U.S. News Center that "purported to be a news source for the local Chinese-American community."

The Justice Department said in a plea agreement that Wang and Sun "received and executed directives from PRC (People's Republic of China) government officials to post pro-PRC content on the website, and sometimes sought approval from PRC government officials to circulate other pro-PRC content."

In one instance in November 2021, Wang wanted to circulate an article about the Chinese and Russian ambassador asking for Americans to respect the PRC's "democratic rights."

"This is what the Ministry of Foreign Affairs wants to send," she said.

In her plea agreement she admitted to not notifying the attorney general that she was working for the PRC.

"Individuals elected to public office in the United States should act only for the people of the United States that they represent," said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg. "It is deeply concerning that someone who previously received and executed directives from PRC government officials is now in a position of public trust at all, but particularly so because that relationship with that foreign government had never been disclosed."