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Who is Yaoning ‘Mike’ Sun? Meet Arcadia mayor Eileen Wang's ex-fiancée sentenced to 4 years in prison
Yaoning 'Mike' Sun received a 48-month prison sentence for acting as an undisclosed agent for China while advising a city council candidate.
Eileen Wang, the mayor of Arcadia, has confessed to functioning as an unlawful foreign agent for China, leading to her resignation in a startling federal plea agreement that was made public on Monday.
Wang has come to an understanding with prosecutors that she collaborated with the People’s Republic of China to enhance propaganda via a fraudulent news website operating on US territory from 2020 to 2022. She was elected to the Arcadia City Council in November 2022 — a city situated in the San Gabriel Valley within Los Angeles County.
Wang, 58, partnered with her then fiancé, Yaoning “Mike” Sun, to create a website named “U.S. News Center,” which purported to serve as a news source for Chinese Americans, as per court documents.
Bit in reality, the duo was executing directives from Beijing through the website.
Wang and Sun “executed directives” from the Chinese government, disseminating propaganda intended to promote China, all while providing feedback to their superiors with screenshots that displayed the number of views for the articles, according to the plea agreement.
Who is Yaoning ‘Mike’ Sun?
In Februray 2026, Yaoning "Mike" Sun, a 65-year-old political strategist hailing from Chino Hills, California, received a sentence of 48 months in federal prison after acknowledging that he acted as an undisclosed agent for the People’s Republic of China (PRC), even during his tenure as a campaign advisor for a victorious city council candidate in Southern California.
Sun, who admitted guilt in October 2025 for functioning as an unlawful agent of a foreign government, received his sentence in federal court in Los Angeles from Judge R. Gary Klausner. Prosecutors said that Sun deliberately followed the instructions and control of PRC officials from 2022 until January 2024 without ever informing the US Attorney General, which is a legal obligation under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA).
Authorities assert that Sun leveraged his political expertise to collaborate with US-based associates to promote China’s interests within American political frameworks. Sun’s activities included forming a team to assist in the election of a candidate, identified in court as “Individual 1”, to a local city council in November 2022, and acting as that candidate’s campaign adviser throughout 2022 while getting orders from PRC officials.
Yaoning ‘Mike’ Sun's conduct dubbed “brazen violation” of US sovereignty
Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg characterized Sun's conduct as a “brazen violation” of US sovereignty, asserting that Sun "distorted our public discourse by disseminating Chinese propaganda, and surveilled groups in the United States that China viewed as threatening its interests."
Sun's endeavors went beyond local political matters. Court documents state that he and his associates operated a website, promoted as a news outlet for the Chinese-American community, which prosecutors allege was utilized under the guidance of PRC officials to disseminate content favorable to Beijing.
Federal records reveal that in April 2023, during a visit to Southern California by Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-Wen, Sun provided real-time updates to a PRC consulate official regarding the president’s movements and requested authorization to publish articles concerning the visit, prompting alarms about intelligence gathering. Sun also captured and transmitted images of both supporters and detractors of the visit to PRC contacts.
In a report prepared for Chinese officials in February 2023, Sun emphasized his previous service in the People’s Liberation Army and outlined his role in promoting PRC goals, including initiatives to counter groups that opposed Beijing’s stances on Taiwan, Tibet, Xinjiang, and Falun Gong.
The report even solicited $80,000 in funding to arrange a pro-PRC demonstration during a Fourth of July parade in Washington, DC.
