California mayor charged with spying for China
Arcadia, California mayor Eileen Wang was federally charged with acting as an illegal agent of China, accused of helping promote Beijing-backed pro-China propaganda in the United States. The DOJ says Wang worked with Chinese officials between 2020 and 2022 and that she received and helped disseminate articles denying allegations of genocide and forced labor in Xinjiang, including content published through outlets such as the *Los Angeles Times*. Wang agreed to plead guilty to the felony charge, which carries up to 10 years in prison, and is expected to appear in federal court in Los Angeles and enter her plea in the coming weeks. The DOJ also alleges Wang failed to disclose her role as a foreign agent to U.S. authorities and communicated with a China intelligence-linked figure named John Chen.
The mayor of Arcadia, California, was charged with acting as an illegal agent for China after allegedly helping promote Beijing-backed propaganda in the United States.
Eileen Wang, 58, elected to the Arcadia City Council in November 2022, was charged with one count of acting in the U.S. as an illegal agent of a foreign government, according to the Department of Justice.
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Wang agreed to plead guilty to the felony charge, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, in a related filing.
She is expected to make her initial appearance Tuesday afternoon in federal court in downtown Los Angeles and plead guilty in the coming weeks.
“Individuals elected to public office in the United States should act only for the people of the United States that they represent,” Assistant Attorney General John A. Eisenberg said in a statement.
FBI Assistant Director Roman Rozhavsky, who is with the bureau’s Counterintelligence and Espionage Division, said Wang “secretly served the interests of the Chinese government,” adding that people who act on behalf of foreign governments “to influence our democracy will be identified, investigated, and brought to justice.”
According to the DOJ, Wang and Yaoning “Mike” Sun worked with Chinese government officials between 2020 and 2022 to promote pro-China propaganda in the U.S. Sun is serving a four-year federal prison sentence after pleading guilty in 2025 to acting as an illegal foreign agent.
Prosecutors said that in June 2021, a Chinese official sent Wang and others prewritten articles through the encrypted messaging app WeChat, including material denying allegations of genocide and forced labor in Xinjiang.
The DOJ said Wang was sent a PRC official-written essay in the Los Angeles Times that stated, “China’s Stance on the Xinjiang Issue – There is no genocide in Xinjiang; there is no such thing as ‘forced labor’ in any production activity, including cotton production. Spreading such rumor to do defame China, destroy Xinjiang’s safety and stability, weaken local economy, suppress China’s development.”
Court documents also allege Wang communicated in 2021 with John Chen, described by prosecutors as a high-level member of China’s intelligence apparatus with ties to Chinese President Xi Jinping. According to the DOJ, Wang asked Chen to share an article from her website, writing, “This is what the Ministry of Foreign Affairs wants to send.”
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Chen was sentenced in 2024 to 20 months in prison after pleading guilty in New York to acting as an illegal agent of China and conspiring to bribe a public official.
According to her plea agreement, Wang admitted she did not notify the U.S. attorney general that she was acting as an agent of the Chinese government and failed to disclose that some content on her website had been posted at the direction of Chinese officials.
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