Chinese Community Surprised by Eileen Wang’s Guilty Plea
Local leaders said the news of Arcadia, California, Mayor Eileen Wang’s guilty plea of acting as a foreign agent for the Chinese regime is getting a lot of attention in the Chinese community.
The Justice Department announced the charge and the guilty plea a year and a half after Wang’s campaign consultant Yaoning “Mike” Sun was charged as a foreign agent in December 2024. Sun pleaded guilty to acting as an illegal agent of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in October 2025 and in February this year was sentenced to four years in prison.
Community leaders said the Wang announcement Monday came as a surprise.
Elected to the Arcadia City Council in November 2022, Wang took office as mayor in February. In Arcadia, about 15 miles northeast of downtown Los Angeles, the job of mayor rotates among the five-person governing body.
The Justice Department did not announce charges against Wang until May 11, and local officials told The Epoch Times they were unaware she was still under investigation. They said her surprise agreement to plead guilty suggests prosecutors may possess irrefutable evidence.
Chia-Yu Teng, mayor of Diamond Bar in eastern L.A. County, said he saw Wang at a community event just this past Saturday. “She was not only invited to attend many events but also organized various community activities herself,” said Teng.
Teng said that Chinese immigrants—particularly those from Taiwan and Hong Kong—are often eager to assist their compatriots back home by working for the betterment of society through civic organizations or by fostering cultural exchanges. In principle, that should be fine, Teng said. However, he said Chinese individuals should be aware that U.S. law requires those working on behalf of a foreign government to first register as a foreign agent.
Wang has admitted to acting as a foreign agent from 2020 to 2022. During this time—and prior to her tenure as mayor—she posted articles on a pro-CCP website she ran together with Yaoning Sun. WeChat messages record her doing so at the request of the Los Angeles Consul General at the time, Zhang Ping.
The former mayor’s attorneys said in an emailed statement to The Epoch Times that she is “sorry for the mistakes she has made in her personal life.”
“Her trust and love for apparently the wrong person who ultimately led her astray—require her to step away from public service,” the statement said, noting that the charges are related to actions Wang took prior to serving on Arcadia City Council.
The case also implicated Chen Jun, aka John Chen, a pro-CCP “community leader” who assisted the CCP in carrying out transnational persecution; U.S. prosecutors have described Chen as a “senior member of a Chinese intelligence agency.” Chen was sentenced to 20 months in prison in November 2024.
Teng said that all Chinese Americans should take note: If one works on behalf of a foreign government, one must register as a foreign agent, and if one becomes an elected U.S. official—whose duty is to serve the American public—one should not simultaneously act as a foreign agent.
More Names to Come?
Eric Ching, a former Walnut City Council member and candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in California’s 31st, said he suspects there is likely more to Eileen Wang’s case.
Ching said he often encountered Wang at community events, but knew her only as a casual acquaintance. A native of Taiwan, Ching served on the Walnut City Council from 2012 to 2024, where at times he also served as mayor.
He noted that he has often observed California officials traveling to China: on official delegations, on personal travel, and also at the invitation of China.
“Unless they remain vigilant, any elected official could very easily engage in similar activities without even realizing it,” he warned. He urged Chinese American elected officials to exercise caution, advising them: “Do not allow yourselves to be exploited.”
Regarding Wang publishing CCP propaganda online, Ching said that while many people share information online, “if such sharing is carried out under the direction of a foreign government or in exchange for benefits, then it constitutes a legal violation; it amounts to acting as an agent for a foreign government.”
Ching believes it cannot be ruled out that individuals within Wang’s immediate circle are also under scrutiny.
Ching surmises that federal authorities may have entered into a plea-based cooperation agreement with both Wang and Sun, with the aim of identifying additional U.S. officials who are secretly acting on behalf of foreign governments.
The Epoch Times Los Angeles bureau contributed to this report.
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