The Justice Department has charged a California mayor with acting as an agent of the Chinese government.
Arcadia Mayor Eileen Wang, 58, agreed to plead guilty and resigned from her position. The case centers on her alleged role in promoting Chinese Communist Party (CCP) propaganda in the United States from 2020 through 2022, according to ABC7.
Wang admitted in a plea agreement that she worked for the Chinese government and did not register as a foreign agent, according to the Justice Department.
Investigators found Wang’s message exchange with Chinese officials on WeChat. She allegedly posted state-approved material to her website and sent screenshots to Chinese officials showing article traffic. In a 2021 text exchange, Wang told a Chinese intelligence officer that the country’s foreign ministry wanted her to send a particular article.
Mayor of Arcadia, California Eileen Wang to plead guilty after being accused of promoting Chinese propaganda pic.twitter.com/K6rujwvObm
— Defiant L’s (@DefiantLs) May 12, 2026
The former mayor collaborated with her former fiance, Yaoning “Mike” Sun, to operate a website called U.S. News Center, which portrays itself as a news outlet for the local Chinese-American community. Yet, this was a cover for an effort to disseminate pro-CCP propaganda, the Justice Department claims. The Chinese government directed the couple to post content favorable to the regime. In some cases, Wang and her fiance had to request approval to post articles.
On May 11, 2026, Eileen Wang, the former mayor of Arcadia, California, resigned and agreed to plead guilty to federal charges of acting as an illegal agent for the Chinese government.
— Erica 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 (@EricaRN4USA) May 12, 2026
Prosecutors revealed that from 2020 to 2022, Wang used a local news site to spread pro-Beijing… pic.twitter.com/bUDdCH5tis
Arcadia Mayor Eileen Wang just copped to being a Chinese unregistered foreign agent. She ran a propaganda site whitewashing Uyghur camps while taking orders from Beijing.
— AMERICA FIRST 🇺🇸 (@DavideZ1911) May 12, 2026
Meanwhile, Eric Swalwell is somewhere in DC sweating bullets like 'Wait... they can charge you for that?!'…
One example came in June 2021, when a Chinese official sent Wang and some others a prewritten article promoting Beijing’s talking points Xinjiang. Wang posted the piece within minutes and provided the official with the link. The operation persisted in August 2021 when Wang and others posted the same article across multiple sites and reported back with readership numbers.
Wang could face up to 10 years in federal prison and is expected to enter her guilty plea in the coming weeks. Sun received a four year sentence after pleading guilty in 2025.