California mayor Eileen Wang charged with acting as agent of China
Eileen Wang (58), the mayor of Arcadia, a city just north of Los Angeles with a population of about 50,000, has agreed to plead guilty to the felony charge, the department said in a statement.
Wang resigned from her post as mayor on Monday, according to the Arcadia City Council's website.
Acting as an illegal agent of a foreign government carries a maximum term of 10 years in prison in the US.
The Justice Department said Wang and an accomplice, Yaoning Sun, promoted pro-Chinese propaganda through a website they operated called US News Center, serving the local Chinese American community.
"Wang and Sun received and executed directives from [Chinese] government officials to post [pro-Chinese] content on the website," it said.
Sun pleaded guilty in 2025 to acting as an illegal agent of a foreign government and is serving a four-year prison sentence.
President Donald Trump is scheduled to visit Beijing this week and meet with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping.
Cover photo: Frazer Harrison / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP