Former Arcadia Mayor to Plead Guilty in China Agent Case

Los Angeles — Eileen Wang, the former mayor of Arcadia, pleaded guilty Friday to a federal charge of acting as an illegal agent of the Chinese government by operating the U.S. News Center and publishing PRC-directed content between late 2020 and 2022. She resigned after charges were announced on May 11 and faces a statutory maximum of ten years in prison. The Department of Justice set Wang's sentencing for Oct. 6; prosecutors cited encrypted instructions directing publication of material favorable to Beijing, including items refuting human-rights reports on Xinjiang. Co-defendant Yaoning "Mike" Sun previously pleaded guilty in October and was sentenced to four years in February, and federal officials said the plea advances enforcement against covert foreign influence operations.