By Mark Gutglueck
Yaoning “Mike” Sun, the Chino Hills man who was arrested by the FBI in December 2024 on charges that he acted as an unregistered agent of the People’s Republic of China, has implicated Arcadia Mayor Eileen Wang in his acknowledged efforts of seeking to influence governmental activity and decision-making at several levels within the United States and in Southern California, the Sentinel is reliably informed.
As a consequence of information Sun provided to the FBI, both prior to and after entering a guilty plea in October 2025 and his sentencing to four years in prison on February 9, 2026, Mayor Wang found herself boxed in on all sides and herself provided federal investigators with specific information with regard to how an espionage, influence and propaganda operation being carried out by agents of the Chinese government was operating, the Sentinel has learned.
While being interrogated by the FBI, Wang acknowledged she was clandestinely working with Sun, to whom she was at one time engaged to be married, in pursuing the interests of the Chinese government which were inimical to those of the United States.
Both Sun and Wang had associations with others in the United States who were functioning at the behest of and in coordination with the People’s Republic of China in disseminating propaganda placed before Americans in social media and which was published or broadcasted in the press/traditional media outlets, as well as participating in efforts to harm those dissenting from Chinese Communist rule who were residing in the United States.
Wang is the owner of the single family home in Chino Hills where Sun resided and is listed on documents filed with the California Secretary of State’s office’s corporate licensing division as the owner of U.S. News Center, of which Sun was the director. Articles now known to have been written by Chinese government officials which contradicted or greatly downplayed reports of internal repression of individuals or groups in China based on their ethnicity, religion or ideology along with unfair trade practices were published by the U.S. News Center or placed with American newspapers through the U.S. News Center.
Sun and Wang were connected to Chen Jun, who was indicted by a grand jury in the Southern District of New York on June 9, 2023 on conspiracy, acting as a foreign agent, money laundering and bribing of a public official charges, Chen pleaded guilty to two of those charges on July 24, 2024, admitting in doing so that he had acted as an illegal agent of the People’s Republic of China in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 951. Chen is known to have worked for the People’s Republic of China’s “610 Office,” a unit of the communist Chinese government engaged in espionage. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, based on the contents of Chen’s text and communications messages on his devices, he had “extensive conversations” with People’s Republic of China government officials relating to influencing politicians in Southern California, including Wang, and he assembled a “team” – which included both Sun and Wang – “dedicated” to promoting the goals of the Chinese government in California and the United States. According to the FBI, Chen and the communist Chinese government were seeking to influence local government in the United States through concentration on a former and a current county supervisor in Los Angeles County.
It appears that the People’s Republic of China government invested heavily in promoting Wang’s political career.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, on October 13, 2022, little more than three weeks before Wang was elected to the Arcadia City Council, an exchange took place between Chen and a People’s Republic of China government official, identified as “Government Official 2.” The Chinese government official conveyed an intent to engage in activity, partially consisting of a propaganda blitz and an effort to influence legislation at the U.S. Congressional level to weaken American resolve to support an independent Taiwan. This communication stated that “the leader of our line in Beijing” and “the higher ups” were to provide “monetary support” to “execute” a plan and that “their preliminary plan is that after the election they will disrupt new congressman who will visit Taiwan just like you proposed.”
According to court documents filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Wang was a sleeper agent for the Chinese government or at the very least was being cooperative in working to assist agents such as Chen.
An affidavit relates that Sun did an extensive examination of Wang’s ancestry and connection to Chinese society. The affidavit quotes Sun as reporting that Wang, referred to as “Individual 1,” was “born in the late 70s. Han ethnicity. Born in Chengdu, Sichuan, China. Great-grandfather [Relative 1] was commander during the Wuchang Upraising. Grandfather [Relative 2] was commander of Zhongshan gunboat. Father [Relative 3] was (former [occupation redacted]). [Individual 1] emigrated to the U.S. from Chengdu in 1995, studied at [redacted]. Later served as a committee member of [redacted]. Established [names of businesses redacted].”
The affidavit states that during 2022 the campaign, Sun was in communication with Chen in conjunction with the effort to get Wang elected to the Arcadia City Council. Shortly after the November 2022 election, Chen called upon Sun to put a report together on the election which was forwarded to Chinese government officials. Those Chinese officials were positively impressed and expressed thanks, according to the affidavit. Chen directly sent a message to Wang, according to the affidavit, telling her she was “doing a good job, I hope you can continue the good work, make Chinese people proud.”
In February 2023, Sun and Chen drafted a report to Communist Chinese government officials requesting $80,000 to pay for further efforts to promote the People’s Republic of China and oppose “anti-China forces” in the United States.
Among the issues Sun and Chen took up in their communications related to creating problems for Falun Gong.
Falun Gong is a spiritual practice or religion founded by Li Hongzhi in China in 1992 which combines meditation, qigong exercises, and moral teachings somewhat akin to Christianity.
The Chinese government objects to the Falun Gong in virtually all of its aspect, most particularly with regard to the sect’s efforts to preserve or revive Chinese culture and traditions from the time before the Chinese Communist Revolution. Accordingly, the communist regime in China has outlawed the worshiping practices of Falun Gong on Mainland China, and there is concern among Chinese leaders that the Falun Gong movement represents a long-term seditious threat to the Chinese government.
Chen Jun paid cash bribes on behalf of the People’s Republic of China to a purported Internal Revenue Service agent, who was in fact an undercover law enforcement agent, in exchange for assistance in filing a complaint as part of a People’s Republic of China Government-directed scheme to revoke the tax-exempt status of a 501(c)(3) organization run by Falun Gong practitioners.
In an exchange with Sun on March 23, 2023, Chen suggested that Sun engage himself in causing problems for the Falun Gong community in California. According to an affidavit filed with the court by an FBI agent, a text from Chen was cited. It read, “Several questions: Does Wheel [Wheel being a Chinese term referring to Falun Gong] have locations in [a California city]? Activities? Can you create some obstacles for them? If you can eliminate one or several locations, or create some obstacles, there will be rewards.”
The Sentinel is informed that Wang, as part of an agreement with federal authorities, will resign as mayor as early as next week.