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Published May 29, 2026 12:49 PM
Eileen Wang, the former mayor of the City of Arcadia, pleaded guilty to one felony charge for acting as an illegal foreign agent of China.
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Frazer Harrison
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Getty Images
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Topline:
A former Arcadia mayor pleaded guilty Friday to acting as an “illegal agent” for China, according to court documents. She resigned from her position with the city earlier this month.
The charges: Eileen Wang, 58, was charged with one count of acting as an illegal agent of a foreign government, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The charge carries a potential sentence of up to 10 years in federal prison. Wang’s legal team did not immediately respond to LAist’s request for comment.
Who else was involved: According to prosecutors, Wang and Yaoning “Mike” Sun of Chino Hills worked at the direction of the Chinese government and with people based in the U.S. to promote pro-People’s Republic of China propaganda in the United States. Those actions occurred between 2020 and 2022, prosecutors said. Sun, 65, pleaded guilty in October 2025 in federal court to acting as an illegal agent of a foreign government. He is serving a four-year federal prison sentence.
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What else: Arcadia said in a post on its website that a new mayor would be picked from the remaining council members at the next meeting.
Dana Littlefield contributed to this story.
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