Sacramento (California), 12 May (H.S.): Arcadia, a city in southern California, has seen its mayor, Elain Wang, resign from office after pleading guilty to acting as an agent for the People’s Republic of China. The resignation came on Monday, following Wang’s admission of guilt in an official legal filing, which the U.S. Department of Justice has now confirmed. U.S. federal prosecutors said that the 58‑year‑old Wang, along with her then‑fiancé, 65‑year‑old Yaoning “Mike” Sun, worked at the direction of Chinese government officials within the United States.
Yaoning Mike Sun is currently serving a four‑year prison sentence after pleading guilty in a federal court last October. He was arrested in December 2024 and was sentenced in February under the same matter.
According to a report in The Guardian, the criminal complaint against Wang alleges that she agreed in court to admit the charges against her, potentially exposing her to a maximum of bondage up to 10 years in prison. It is expected that Elain Wang will also formally enter a guilty plea at a federal court in Los Angeles.
Wang was elected to the Arcadia City Council in November 2022. The council is a five‑member governing body in which the mayor is chosen on a rotating basis from among the council members. U.S. Department of Justice documents state that, under their agreement, Wang and Sun, a resident of Chino Hills, collaborated with the People’s Republic of China and promoted China’s interests through a website called “US News Center.”
The site presented itself as a local news outlet for the Chinese‑American community, while using its platform to disseminate pro‑China messaging.
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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar
