{"id":128,"date":"2026-05-12T20:04:04","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T20:04:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sanfranciscomovingguide.com\/?p=128"},"modified":"2026-05-12T20:04:04","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T20:04:04","slug":"thank-you-leader-calif-mayor-charged-with-working-for-chinese-government","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sanfranciscomovingguide.com\/?p=128","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;Thank you leader&#8217;: Calif. mayor charged with working for Chinese government"},"content":{"rendered":"<article>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\n<p>The mayor of a Southern California city abruptly resigned Monday after federal prosecutors accused her of secretly advancing the interests of the Chinese government, including publishing propaganda through a website that purported to serve the local Chinese American community.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/sanfranciscomovingguide.com\/?p=126\">California neighbors save 350-year-old redwood at the last minute<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"x1px y1px vh abs\" height=\"1\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-channels-pixel.ex.co\/events\/0012000001fxZm9AAE?integrationType=DEFAULT&amp;template=design%2Farticle%2Fplatypus_two_column.tpl\" width=\"1\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Former Arcadia Mayor Eileen Wang was charged in federal court with acting as an illegal agent \u201cat the direction and control\u201d of the People\u2019s Republic of China between late 2020 and 2022, according to the U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office for the Central District of California. The news release said Wang is expected to plead guilty in the next few weeks.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Hours after the charge was announced on Monday, the city of Arcadia updated its website to state that Wang \u201cresigned\u201d from the mayor\u2019s office and her position on the City Council effective May 11.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>\u201cAt its next meeting, the City Council will select a Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem from among the remaining Councilmembers and will begin discussing how Arcadia\u2019s District 3 will be represented until the next election cycle in November 2026,\u201d the website said in its update.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Prosecutors said Wang worked alongside Yaoning \u201cMike\u201d Sun, a Chino Hills political operative who was sentenced earlier this year to four years in federal prison in a related foreign-agent case. According to Wang\u2019s plea agreement, the pair operated a website called U.S. News Center that presented itself as a local Chinese-language news outlet while allegedly distributing pro-Beijing messaging provided directly by Chinese officials.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Prosecutors cited an example from a June 2021 WeChat group message in which a Chinese government official circulated prewritten articles defending China\u2019s policies in Xinjiang, including a statement that said \u201cthere is no genocide in Xinjiang\u201d and no \u201cforced labor\u201d tied to cotton production. Minutes later, prosecutors alleged, Wang\u00a0reposted the material to her own website and sent the official a link. The official replied: \u201cSo fast, thank you everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Wang also allegedly edited an article at the request of a Chinese official and later sent a\u00a0screenshot showing it had received more than 15,000 views, according to Monday\u2019s press release. After the official responded \u201cGreat!\u201d Wang allegedly responded, \u201cThank you leader.\u201d The case also pulls in allegations tied to John Chen, a California businessman sentenced in 2024 in New York after pleading guilty to acting as an unregistered Chinese agent and participating in a bribery scheme targeting the Shen Yun Performing Arts organization and Falun Gong practitioners.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/sanfranciscomovingguide.com\/?p=124\">Nevada\u2019s bleakest tourist destination cancels tours through 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Wang communicated in 2021 with Chen, described by prosecutors as a \u201chigh-level member of the PRC intelligence apparatus\u201d who had attended elite Chinese Communist Party events and met personally with Chinese President Xi Jinping, the news release said. In one message cited by prosecutors, Wang allegedly asked Chen to share an article from her site, writing: \u201cThis is what the Ministry of Foreign Affairs wants to send.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>FBI officials described the case as part of a continuing counterintelligence crackdown targeting covert foreign influence operations in the United States.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\n<p>\u201cAll Americans should be alarmed to learn an elected official was brazenly spreading propaganda on behalf of the Chinese government,\u201d said Patrick Grandy, the assistant director leading the FBI\u2019s Los Angeles field office, in the news release. \u201cThe FBI is dedicated to rooting out those illegally acting as agents of a foreign government as they do the bidding of America\u2019s adversaries.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Wang made her initial appearance Monday afternoon in federal court in downtown Los Angeles. The charge carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>More News<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>\u2014 Calif. mayor charged with working for Chinese government<br \/>\u2014 The SF tech worker whose unhinged order broke In-N-Out forever<br \/>\u2014 Lyft passenger killed on I-80 after fight with driver, CHP says<br \/>\u2014 Infamous California killer Betty Broderick dies<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/sanfranciscomovingguide.com\/?p=122\">Giants beat the scuffling Dodgers 9-3 as Devers and Adames spark a 7th-inning surge<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><em>Sign up for\u00a0daily SFGATE breaking news alerts here.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On Monday, Arcadia mayor Eileen Wang resigned from her post after being charged with working for the Chinese government.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":127,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-128","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - 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