The mayor of Arcadia, California, a heavily Chinese-American suburb of Los Angeles, has agreed to plead guilty to a federal charge of acting as a foreign agent of China and spreading propaganda on behalf of Beijing, US (United States) officials said on Monday.
Eileen Wang, the Arcadia mayor, was also accused of carrying out instructions from Chinese officials, including sharing material favourable to Beijing without informing US authorities as required under law. She has also resigned from her city position following the plea agreement.
Federal officials said that Wang, 58, agreed to plead guilty to the felony charge, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison.
Wang was elected in November 2022 to a five-member city council, from which the mayor is selected on a rotating basis.
City manager Dominic Lazzaretto said in a statement that no city finances or staff were involved in the case.
“We want to be clear: this investigation concerns individual conduct, and the charges are for conduct that ceased after Ms. Wang was sworn into office in December 2022,” he said.
Wang’s attorneys Jason Liang and Brian Sun said that she accepts responsibility for “past personal mistakes”.
“She apologizes and is sorry for the mistakes she has made in her personal life,” they said. “Her love and devotion for the Arcadia community have not changed and did not waver”.
According to the plea agreement, Wang and Yaoning “Mike” Sun worked between late 2020 and 2022 on behalf of officials from the People’s Republic of China, promoting pro-Beijing content in the United States.
Sun, who was listed as treasurer in Wang’s 2022 election campaign filings, is already serving a four-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to the same charge last year.
Authorities said that the two operated a website called U.S. News Center, aimed at the Chinese-American community, which was used to publish pro-PRC material under direction from Chinese officials.
In one instance in June 2021, a Chinese official sent Wang a link to a letter published in the Los Angeles Times written by the Chinese consul general in Los Angeles.
The article rejected allegations of persecution, forced labour and abuse of Uyghurs in Xinjiang, stating, “There has never been genocide in Xinjiang or forced labor in the region’s cotton fields or any other sector”.
Within minutes, Wang shared the link on the website.
At the time, Wang was engaged to Sun, her attorneys said, adding that the relationship ended in 2024. They also said she was misled due to “her trust and love for apparently the wrong person who ultimately led her astray”.
Wang also communicated with John Chen, who previously pleaded guilty to acting as an agent for China and was sentenced to 20 months in prison.
Arcadia, located about 13 miles northeast of Los Angeles, has a population of around 53,000 and a large Chinese-American community.
