Eileen Wang, Arcadia’s mayor, resigned Monday and agreed to plead guilty to running a secret Chinese government propaganda operation, facing up to 10 years in federal prison.
The mayor of a suburban Los Angeles city walked into Arcadia City Hall on Monday morning and handed in her resignation. What followed a few hours later, when the U.S. Department of Justice unsealed her plea agreement, explained why. Eileen Wang, 58, the mayor of Arcadia, California, had already agreed to plead guilty to a federal felony charge of acting as an illegal agent of the People’s Republic of China — a charge that carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison.
Wang’s resignation and the unsealing of her plea deal arrived on the same day, drawing immediate attention from federal law enforcement and rattling the quiet, affluent suburb of about 53,000 people that had elected her to its city council in November 2022. Located roughly 13 miles northeast of downtown Los Angeles, Arcadia has a large Chinese American population, and Wang had presented herself as a community voice and an embodiment of the immigrant success story.
A Propaganda Operation Hiding as a News Site
According to her plea agreement and court documents released by the DOJ, Wang did not act alone. Beginning in late 2020, she and Yaoning “Mike” Sun — her then-fiance and campaign treasurer — worked together to operate a website called U.S. News Center, which presented itself as a news source for the local Chinese American community in Southern California. In practice, federal prosecutors say, it functioned as an outlet for content written or directed by officials of the Chinese government.
Wang and Sun received directives from People’s Republic of China officials through WeChat, an encrypted messaging application, and were instructed on what to post, when to post it, and in some cases given pre-written articles to publish verbatim. Neither the site nor the content disclosed that any of it was being generated at the direction of foreign government officials, a legal requirement under federal law that Wang admitted she violated.
How the Operation Worked in Practice
The court documents lay out specific examples of how Wang carried out her role as a conduit for Beijing’s messaging. In June 2021, a PRC official sent Wang and others a pre-written article via WeChat. The article — which had appeared in the Los Angeles Times as a letter written by China’s consul general in Los Angeles — argued that there had been no genocide, forced labor, or abuse of Uyghur people in China’s Xinjiang province. Within minutes, Wang posted the article on U.S. News Center and sent the PRC official a link confirming it had been published.
In a separate incident the following August, Wang edited an article at the direction of a Chinese official and then sent the official a screenshot showing the article had been viewed more than 15,000 times. The official responded with “Great!” and Wang replied, “Thank you leader,” according to the plea agreement. The exchange captured in those records provides an unusually direct picture of how the relationship between Wang and her PRC handlers actually functioned.
Ties to the PRC Intelligence Apparatus
The scope of Wang’s alleged connections reached further than her immediate co-conspirator. Court documents show that in November 2021, Wang communicated with John Chen, whom prosecutors describe as a high-level member of China’s intelligence apparatus. Chen had attended elite Chinese Communist Party functions, including military parades, and met personally with President Xi Jinping.
In their exchange, Wang asked Chen to help post an article from her website and wrote, “This is what the Ministry of Foreign Affairs wants to send.” Chen was later sentenced in November 2024 to 20 months in federal prison after pleading guilty in the Southern District of New York to acting as an illegal agent of the PRC and conspiracy to bribe a public official. The web of connections outlined in the Arcadia case suggests a coordinated and multi-layered influence effort rather than an isolated act of individual misconduct.
The City of Arcadia Responds
Arcadia officials moved quickly to contain the fallout and reassure residents. In a statement released Monday, city manager Dominic Lazzaretto said that no city finances, staff, or decision-making processes had been compromised. He emphasized that the investigation targeted Wang’s individual conduct, and that the activity in question predated her time in office, having taken place between late 2020 and 2022 before she was sworn in that December.
City of Arcadia Statement
The allegations at the center of this case, that a foreign government sought to exert influence over a local elected official, are deeply troubling. We take them seriously. Following an internal review, we can confirm that no city finances, staff, or decision-making processes were involved.”
The City Council announced it would meet in the coming days to discuss how to replace Wang, who had represented Arcadia’s 3rd District. Her seat will remain vacant until the November 2026 election, at which point the district’s voters will select a new representative.
Eileen Wang Attorney Speaks
A statement released on Wang’s behalf by her attorney offered a different frame for the events. The statement did not contest the facts laid out in the plea agreement, but sought to place Wang’s actions in the context of a personal relationship gone wrong. “Events in Ms. Wang’s personal life, including her trust and love for apparently the wrong person who ultimately led her astray, require her to step away from public service,” the statement read. “She apologizes and is sorry for the mistakes she has made in her personal life. Her love and devotion for the Arcadia community have not changed and did not waver.”
Sun, the man identified as that “wrong person,” had been both Wang’s fiance and a key figure in her 2022 campaign, listed in public filings as her campaign treasurer. He began serving his four-year federal prison sentence after pleading guilty in October 2025. Wang, for her part, had declined prior to Monday to comment on Sun’s guilty plea or sentence.
The Timing Draws Attention
Former prosecutor Lou Shapiro noted publicly that the timing of the plea deal’s unsealing, on the eve of high-stakes diplomatic talks between President Trump and Chinese President Xi in Beijing, was unlikely to be coincidental. “I think there is no coincidence to the timing of that,” Shapiro said. “I think the administration is trying to use this as an opportunity to show them that we are onto you, and that you may think you’re getting something over on us, but we’re not going to let that happen. People will be held accountable.” Wang is expected to formally enter her guilty plea in federal court in Los Angeles in the coming weeks.