Eileen Wang, the mayor of Arcadia, California, resigned after federal authorities accused her of acting as an illegal agent for the Chinese government in the U.S. and said she agreed to plead guilty to a felony that carries up to 10 years in prison. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]
The complaint says Wang, 58, followed instructions from Chinese officials from late 2020 through late 2022 to run and post pro-China content on a website called U.S. News Center, or 美国新闻中心. Prosecutors said the site published pieces defending China's position on Xinjiang and denying allegations of genocide and forced labor. [2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 5, 6]
Reports said Wang worked with Yaoning “Mike” Sun on the site, and that Sun has already pleaded guilty in a similar case and served time. One report said Chinese officials sent Wang and others prewritten articles on WeChat in June 2021, and that she posted them within minutes. Another said she later revised articles at an official's request and sent screenshot proof of the page views, including one report listing 15,128 views. [1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 5, 6]
Wang's lawyer said she accepted the seriousness of the case and blamed “errors, trust and emotional factors” in her personal life, adding that she was sorry for the conduct. Arcadia said the probe focused on personal conduct and did not involve city funds, staff or the city's decision-making process. [3, 9, 10, 11, 12, 6]
Wang resigned as mayor after the charges were made public on 2026-05-11, and multiple reports said she also stepped down as a city council member. She was elected to the council in 2022, with some reports saying she took office in December that year. [1, 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, 12, 5, 6]
