Liputan6.com, Jakarta - Eileen Wang, the mayor of Arcadia, California, unexpectedly resigned on Monday, May 11, 2026.
This resignation came after the US Department of Justice announced charges against her as an illegal foreign agent for China.
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Wang has agreed to plead guilty to the serious felony charges, shaking up the local political landscape in California.
“By her own admission, Eileen Wang secretly served the interests of the Chinese government,” Roman Rozhavsky, assistant director of the FBI’s counterintelligence and espionage division, said in a statement.
The charges against Wang, 58, involve acting as an illegal agent of a foreign government in the United States.
She is accused of collaborating with Yaoning "Mike" Sun to promote the interests of the People's Republic of China (PRC) through the website "US News Center."
This activity took place from late 2020 to 2022, before Wang was elected to the Arcadia city council.
Details of the Charges and Wang's Role
Wang was charged with one felony count of acting as an unlawful agent of a foreign government in the United States.
According to his plea agreement, Wang and Yaoning "Mike" Sun, 65, of Chino Hills, collaborated with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to promote the interests of that country.
They used the "US News Center" website they operated, claiming it was a news source for the local Chinese-American community, to spread pro-PRC propaganda.
This illegal activity took place from late 2020 to 2022, before Wang was elected to the Arcadia City Council.
Wang admitted his role as a PRC agent and deliberately failed to disclose on his website that some content had been posted at the direction of members of the Chinese government.
As a concrete example, in June 2021, a PRC official contacted Wang and others through an encrypted WeChat chat.
The official provided pre-written news articles, including an essay denying genocide and forced labor in Xinjiang.
Wang then posted the material on her website and sent a link to Chinese officials.
Legal Consequences
The felony charges Eileen Wang faces carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison.
As part of the legal process, Wang was ordered to surrender her passport and barred from communicating with Chinese government officials.
Wang's case is not isolated.
Yaoning "Mike" Sun, Wang's former fiancé, was also implicated in the operation.
Sun was sentenced to four years in federal prison after pleading guilty to similar charges in October 2025.
Sun was also listed as Wang's campaign treasurer for the 2022 election, suggesting a deeper connection between the two.
In addition to Sun, John Chen, another convicted foreign agent, received a 20-month prison sentence in 2024 on similar charges.
Wang's attorneys, Brian A. Sun and Jason Liang, said Monday that the conduct related to his personal life and website and did not involve the city of Arcadia.
“She apologizes and is sorry for the mistakes she has made in her personal life. Her love and devotion for the Arcadia community have not changed and did not waver,” the attorneys said.
Background and Career in California
Eileen Wang, born in the People's Republic of China around 1967 or 1968, has lived in Southern California for the past 30 years.
Her journey took her from China to the United States, where she became involved in local politics.
Her involvement as a foreign agent before taking office suggests a hidden agenda from the start.
Wang was elected to the Arcadia City Council in November 2022, marking the beginning of her political career in California.
She culminated in serving as Mayor of Arcadia from February 3, 2026, to May 11, 2026, a short but tumultuous term.
Arcadia itself is a city in Los Angeles County with a population of approximately 54,000, with a majority Asian population and a high concentration of Chinese residents.