Themayor of Arcadia admitted to acting as an illegal foreign agentof China in a federal plea deal unsealed on Monday.
Eileen Wang agreed with prosecutors that she worked with the People’s Republic of China to boost propaganda with a fake news website on US soil between 2020 and 2022. She was elected to Arcadia City Council in November 2022. The city is within LA County.
LA’s top federal prosecutor Bill Essayli said this is not the first time China has been caught trying try to exert its influence in the United states.
“Ms. Wang is just the latest to act as an agent for the PRC and it should terrify Americans that she was able to rise to the highest levels of local office in her city,” Essayli said. “I expect her to resign quickly if she hasn’t already.”
According to court documents, Wang worked with her then fiancé, Yaoning “Mike” Sun, on a web site called “U.S. News Center,” which claimed to be news source for Chinese Americans.
But in reality the pair were carrying out Beijing’s orders through the site, and sharing data on how many people had viewed the story with Chinese officials.
Wang and Sun “executed directives” from the Chinese government, posting propaganda designed to help China and reporting back to their masters with screenshots showing how many people viewed the stories, according to the plea agreement.
Wang is set to appear in court for arraignment in downtown Los Angeles on Monday afternoon. She faces a maximum of 10 years in prison.
Source: California Post – Breaking California News, Photos & Videos
