She Switched Parties to Win.
Judy Chu Endorsed Her.
Her Campaign Treasurer Was
A Chinese Spy.
On May 11, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice unsealed a federal plea agreement against Eileen Wang (D), the sitting mayor of Arcadia, California. Wang admitted to one felony count of acting as an illegal agent of the People’s Republic of China under 18 U.S.C. § 951— taking direction from a PRC intelligence officer to operate a propaganda website denying the Uyghur genocide and pushing Beijing’s line into the Chinese-American community. The conduct ran from late 2020 through 2022 — overlapping her successful run for the Arcadia City Council. She resigned within hours of the plea being made public.
The co-conspirator who fed Wang her marching orders was not a stranger. He was her then-fiancé and her 2022 campaign treasurer, Yaoning “Mike” Sun, sentenced to four years in federal prison earlier this year for the same offense. The PRC operative who handled them both, John Chen, was sentenced in November 2024 to 20 months federal prison; court filings note Chen “regularly attended elite Chinese Communist Party functions” and “met personally with PRC President Xi Jinping.”
Wang ran as a Republican before 2022. She switched parties to win her city-council seat, branded herself as “Arcadia’s first Asian-American Democrat on the council,” and was endorsed by U.S. Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA-28), L.A. County Supervisor Hilda Solis (D), and former state Assembly Member Mike Eng (D). She won with 64.21% of the vote. Three months before her plea unsealed she was rotated into the mayor’s chair. As of publish, none of her D endorsers has publicly recanted.
- 10 yearsstatutory maximum18 U.S.C. § 951 carries up to 10 years federal prison plus $250,000 fine. Wang signed a plea agreement to one count.
- 64.21%Wang's 2022 vote shareArcadia City Council District 3, November 8, 2022 — endorsed by Judy Chu (D), Hilda Solis (D), Mike Eng (D).
- 4 yearsco-conspirator sentenceYaoning 'Mike' Sun — Wang's then-fiancé and her own 2022 campaign treasurer — sentenced to 4 years federal prison earlier in 2026.
- 20 monthsPRC handler sentenceJohn Chen, the PRC intelligence operative who fed Wang her propaganda directives via WeChat, was sentenced November 2024 to 20 months.
- Same dayplea + resignationWang resigned all elected offices within hours of the May 11, 2026 plea unsealing.
Wang was charged under 18 U.S.C. § 951 — the federal statute that prohibits acting as an agent of a foreign government within the United States without prior notification to the Attorney General. It is the same statute used to prosecute clandestine foreign operatives. It is distinct from the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), which addresses public lobbying disclosure. Section 951 addresses covertaction on behalf of a foreign government — taking direction, following tasking, executing operations — while concealing the relationship from American authorities.
Propaganda vehicle:Wang and Sun ran “U.S. News Center” — a website that posed as a Chinese-American community news outlet. According to the plea agreement, the operation received pre-written articles via WeChat from PRC officials, published them within minutes, and reported view-count data back to PRC handlers.
Specific content: Articles denying Uyghur forced labor and the Xinjiang genocide — written by the PRC Ministry of Foreign Affairs as direct rebuttal to a Los Angeles Times investigation.
Direct quote (Wang to John Chen, November 2021, per plea):“This is what the Ministry of Foreign Affairs wants to send.”
Venue: U.S. District Court, Central District of California. Federal information filed; plea agreement signed.
“Individuals elected to public office in the United States should act only for the people of the United States that they represent.”
John A. Eisenberg · Assistant Attorney General for National Security · DOJ statement, May 11, 2026
Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA-28)— Member of Congress; senior Asian-American House Democrat; chairs the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus. Endorsed Wang’s 2022 Arcadia City Council campaign. No public statement on the plea as of publish.
L.A. County Supervisor Hilda Solis (D) — former U.S. Secretary of Labor under President Obama. Endorsed Wang in 2022. No public statement on the plea as of publish.
Former Assembly Member Mike Eng (D) — former California State Assembly Member representing the San Gabriel Valley; husband of Judy Chu. Endorsed Wang in 2022. No public statement on the plea as of publish.
Governor Gavin Newsom (D-CA) — sitting governor; no public statement on the plea or the federal investigation as of publish.
The pattern: Wang was a Republican until 2022. She switched parties to run, branded herself as the first Asian-American Democrat on the Arcadia council, and was elevated by some of the most prominent Asian-American Democratic officeholders in California. The plea agreement covers a period that overlaps every part of that 2022 campaign — including the months in which her co-conspirator was serving as her campaign treasurer.
The mechanics described in the plea are unusually clean. Wang and Sun did not write the propaganda themselves. They received it — fully composed, in Mandarin, from PRC officials — and pushed publish. In some cases the gap between PRC transmission and Wang’s posting on the U.S. News Center website was measured in minutes. Wang then reported back to the PRC operative John Chen with view counts, engagement metrics, and confirmations that the content had reached the Chinese-American community in the San Gabriel Valley.
The substantive content was not benign cultural reporting. The flagship example identified in the plea: a series of articles denying the existence of Uyghur forced labor and the broader Xinjiang genocide — written by the PRC Ministry of Foreign Affairs as a direct rebuttal to a Los Angeles Times investigative report. Wang published it as her own community-news outlet’s reporting. To the Chinese-American reader in Arcadia, the article looked like local journalism. It was Beijing’s press release.
“By her own admission, Eileen Wang secretly served the interests of the Chinese government. Let this serve as a clear warning: individuals who act on behalf of foreign governments to influence our democracy will be identified, investigated, and brought to justice.”
Roman Rozhavsky · Assistant Director, FBI Counterintelligence and Espionage Division · May 11, 2026
Population profile: Arcadia, CA — population ~57,000, roughly 60% Asian-American, one of the largest concentrations of Mandarin-speaking residents in the United States. Sister cities relationships with multiple Chinese municipalities. Long-documented PRC influence-operation activity in the broader San Gabriel Valley.
The strategic value: A friendly mayor in Arcadia gives Beijing access to a Chinese-language information environment that mainstream American media does not reach. It also gives PRC operatives an officeholder whose endorsement, presence, and platform validate propaganda to readers who otherwise might be skeptical.
The track record:Federal counterintelligence has flagged San Gabriel Valley municipal politics as a soft target for PRC influence operations for more than a decade. Wang’s case is the highest-profile conviction to date, not the first warning.
The systemic question:If a co-conspirator can serve as a Democratic campaign’s treasurer for two years without the campaign noticing he is running directly with the PRC Ministry of Foreign Affairs, how robust is the screening any local Democratic Party apparatus actually applies before endorsing?
The FBI's Counterintelligence Division will continue to investigate and dismantle illegal foreign influence operations targeting our communities and our democratic process.
DOJ’s on-record statements came from three named officials: Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg; First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California Bill Essayli; and FBI Counterintelligence Assistant Director Roman Rozhavsky. Lead AUSA on the case: Amanda B. Elbogen. The investigation was conducted by the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office under the direction of FBI Director Kash Patel.
The federal information does not publicly disclose the specific dollar amounts PRC handlers paid Wang and Sun. What the public record does show: Wang was awarded a “U.S. Congressional Women’s Award” in 2024 — a non-governmental honor distributed by Asian-American organizations with documented ties to the United Front Work Department. She was named “Arcadia’s first Asian-American Democrat on the council.” She secured the institutional endorsements of three senior California Democrats. Three months into her tenure as rotating mayor, federal prosecutors unsealed the plea agreement. By the end of the day, she had resigned.
“Individuals in our country who covertly do the bidding of foreign governments undermine our democracy.”
Bill Essayli · First Assistant U.S. Attorney · Central District of California · May 11, 2026
The accountability question is not whether Wang was a Republican before 2022 or a Democrat after. The accountability question is what due diligence the prominent Democratic officials who endorsed her actually performed before lending their names — and what they will say now that the plea agreement is on the record. Wang’s co-conspirator was her own campaign treasurer. The campaign filings naming Yaoning Sun as treasurer are public. The endorsements of Judy Chu, Hilda Solis, and Mike Eng are public. The plea agreement is public. The question that is not yet on the record is what each of those three Democratic endorsers will say now.
A sitting California mayor pleaded guilty to running a Chinese government propaganda operation while she campaigned for office — endorsed by Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA-28), L.A. Supervisor Hilda Solis (D), and former Assembly Member Mike Eng (D). Her co-conspirator and her 2022 campaign treasurer were the same person. None of her Democratic endorsers has publicly recanted.