A Southern California mayor has agreed to plead guilty to acting as an illegal agent for the Chinese government, and has resigned from her city position, officials said Monday. Eileen Wang, the mayor of Arcadia, was charged in April with one count of acting in the United States as an illegal agent of a foreign government. She was accused of doing the bidding of Chinese officials, such as sharing articles favorable to Beijing, without prior notification to the US government as required by law. The 58-year-old was elected in November 2022 to a five-person city council, from which the mayor is selected on a rotating basis. City manager Dominic Lazzaretto said in a news release that no city finances or staff were involved.
“We want to be clear: this investigation concerns individual conduct, and the charges are for conduct that ceased after Ms. Wang was sworn into office in December 2022,” he said. Federal officials said she has agreed to plead guilty to the felony, which comes with a maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison. Wang’s attorneys Jason Liang and Brian Sun said in a statement that she recognizes the seriousness of the charge and accepts responsibility for “past personal mistakes.” “She apologizes and is sorry for the mistakes she has made in her personal life,” Wang’s attorneys Jason Liang and Brian Sun said in a statement. “Her love and devotion for the Arcadia community have not changed and did not waver.” According to her plea agreement, Wang and a colleague, Yaoning “Mike” Sun, worked on behalf of government officials for the People’s Republic of China from the end of 2020 to 2022 to promote their interests by promoting pro-PRC propaganda in the U.S. Sun is serving a four-year sentence after he pleaded guilty to the same charge last October.
He was also listed in campaign filings as the treasurer for Wang’s 2022 election campaign. Wang and Sun operated the news website U.S. News Center, aimed at the Chinese American community, and were instructed by Chinese government officials to post pro-PRC content on it. In one instance in June 2021, a government official sent Wang a link to a letter to the editor published in the Los Angeles Times written by the consul general of the People’s Republic of China in Los Angeles. The piece refuted reports of the persecution, forced labor, and abuse of Uyghers in China’s Xinjiang province, stating, “There has never been genocide in Xinjiang or forced labor in the region’s cotton fields or any other sector.”
Texas has finalized one of the most significant land conservation deals in its history, securing nearly 54,000 acres of Hill Country terrain to establish the future Silver Lake State Park. Once opened,…
Nebraska State Patrol (NSP) says troopers seized more than 500 pounds of suspected cocaine during a traffic stop on Interstate 80 Wednesday morning and arrested a Northern California man. The stop happened…
A Riverside County beekeeper says that last week’s Verona Fire, which broke out near Hemet and burned hundreds of acres, caused him to lose 80 hives and millions of bees. Brandon Teller,…
Top Democratic officials and lawmakers are breaking with Democratic Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner as his past blunders and online history stack up. Platner’s ascendency to the top of the ticket in…
Elevated E. coli levels along parts of the Chattahoochee River are forcing some businesses to temporarily shut down operations as officials continue monitoring unsafe water conditions following days of heavy rain. The…
Police responding to reports of a shotgun blast at a convenience store sounds like the opening of countless American crime movies, but when cops in Nebraska responded to a recent such call…
Baltimore police are looking for two men after an 11-year-old boy and an adult were shot at a playground in the city’s Upton neighborhood Wednesday evening. Officers were called to Pennsylvania Avenue…
Three tribal church pastors from the Thadou Baptist Association (TBA) of India were killed, and four others were injured in an armed ambush on May 13 in Kangpokpi district of Manipur. Roughly…
A racing team slicing through the waters of Monterey Bay over Memorial Day weekend got the shock of a lifetime when an overexcited sea lion launched itself straight onto their outrigger canoe…
School was not in session over the holiday weekend, but a four-legged friend still managed to pay a visit to a Zimmerman, Minnesota, Montessori school. The entire incident lasted less than 10…
A southern California man has died after an assault last week in front of his San Diego area home, which was well known for its extensive collection of US flags and signs…
A small plane crashed at an airport in Sonoma County on Wednesday, injuring three people, authorities said. The crash happened at about 4:20 p.m. at the Sonoma Valley Airport, also known locally…
A marmot took an unexpected trip across Colorado this week after it climbed into the frame of a truck. The marmot wound up traveling more than 250 miles, from Lake City in…
A Chester police officer is expected to recover after authorities say he was violently attacked Tuesday morning while responding to a reported domestic burglary. According to the Delaware County District Attorney’s Office,…
Authorities in Northern California alerted residents on Tuesday about an invasive species found on plants from Costco that could threaten the region’s vineyards and other agriculture in the region. Agriculture officials in…
The owner of a Marietta tree cutting service says business is up this week as residents grow concerned about the effects of heavy rain on their trees. Tree-cutting crews report they are…
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara has resigned following an internal investigation into his conduct, the mayor announced Tuesday evening. In a press conference, Mayor Jacob Frey said Assistant Police Chief Katie Blackwell…
Seoul, South Korea — North Korea launched a short-range ballistic missile and other weapons toward the sea on Tuesday, South Korea’s military said, the latest in a series of weapons demonstrations by North…
At least one person was killed and nine workers were unaccounted for following the implosion of a chemical tank at a pulp and paper mill in southern Washington state on Tuesday, local…
Monday is Memorial Day, but one tradition always happens on the Sunday before. In 1942, the USS San Francisco miraculously survived a pivotal battle in World War II and each year…
The Trump administration has reportedly been pushing to release records from an FBI investigation related to Eric Swalwell and alleged links to a Chinese agent as the Democratic congressman makes gains in the California governor’s race. The Washington Post reported on Saturday, citing “three people familiar with the effort”, that the FBI director, Kash Patel, is pushing to release the files, even though there is no public evidence of wrongdoing on Swalwell’s part.
The records stem from a decade-old investigation into a suspected spy who had developed relationships with US politicians and assisted Swalwell with fundraising. An FBI official previously said Swalwell was cooperative with the investigation and was not suspected of wrongdoing. He cut off contact with the woman after speaking to the FBI. The profile of Swalwell, an outspoken critic of Donald Trump who served as a congressional manager during the president’s second impeachment trial, has risen as the contest for California governor takes shape. The field of candidates to replace Gavin Newsom is crowded, with at least eight Democrats, including Swalwell, and two Republicans.
Tens of thousands of American flags are on display on the Boston Common as part of the annual Memorial Day weekend tradition. It’s the 16th year the flags have been on…
Memorial Day parades are taking place all across New York City’s five boroughs this weekend. Paradegoers may want to pack their umbrella before heading out, however. Inaugural NYC Memorial Day walk…
Thousands of Minnesotans are called to action this Memorial Day weekend, stemming from a simple conversation a decade ago. “We just feel like this is what we’re supposed to be doing…
California firefighters made cautious progress during an all-night operation Sunday to test the pressure inside a cracked tank at the center of a toxic chemical leak in Orange County, officials told…
In Gilmer County, at the foot of Georgia’s Blue Ridge Mountains, fourth-generation farmer Joshua Aaron is worried about the upcoming fall apple season. Aaron’s great-grandparents started Aaron Family Orchards decades ago,…
The Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad (C&TS), originally scheduled to open its 2026 season on Saturday, announced earlier this week that it will postpone operations due to severe drought conditions and…
California Gov. Gavin Newsom proclaimed a state of emergency in Orange County on Saturday as officials desperately search for a safe resolution to a leaking toxic chemical tank at an aerospace facility. “The…
This recall includes three lots of the seasoning products sold nationwide at Walmart and on the Blackstone website. Source: Blackstone recalls seasoning over salmonella contamination – CBS Chicago
Straus Family Creamery is voluntarily recalling a variety of organic ice cream flavors and sizes sold in 17 states because of concerns there may be metal fragments in the frozen treats,…
The CBS News Atlanta NEXT Weather team has issued a NEXT Weather Alert for the holiday weekend. Increasing rain chances will impact North Georgia and metro Atlanta for Memorial Day. After…
Thursday, heavy rain moves into the metroplex by the afternoon. As a result, it’s a First Alert Weather Day in North Texas. There is a level 2/4 risk for flooding from…
Kyle Busch, a two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, died Thursday after being hospitalized with what his family called a “severe illness.” He was 41. “We are devastated to announce the sudden…
A Harford County man who was serving prison time for killing his niece in 2013 was found unconscious in his cell in Washington County, and later died, according to the Maryland…
A Ford dealership in Kansas can’t let a customer take home an already-bought F-250 Super Duty, and the reason is for the birds—quite literallySee, Olathe Ford of Olathe, Kansas, which posted…
An Air France flight from Paris to Detroit was forced to divert to Montreal on Wednesday due to U.S. flight restrictions linked to the Ebola outbreak after it was determined that one…
A wildfire roaring about 10 miles east of Breezy Point, Minnesota, has grown to over 1,600 acres, officials said in a Tuesday morning update. According to the Minnesota Incident Command System,…
A fire that originated in the Santa Ana River bed in Riverside County on Tuesday morning has injured multiple people and prompted evacuations, authorities said. According to Cal Fire, the blaze,…
Residents of Minnesota’s North Shore can now return home to assess damage caused by wildfires, according to the Minnesota Incident Command System. The Stewart Trail Fire near Two Harbors is now…
A strong storm powered through Maryland on Wednesday, uprooting trees in some communities and bringing heavy downpours. The line of storms contained damaging wind gusts of up to 60 mph, along…
Opposition leaders in the Bahamas are demanding an investigation into a suspected drug trafficker who survived a recent plane crash near Florida and was allegedly found with roughly $30,000, according to…
You must be logged in to post a comment.