Yaoning “Mike” Sun, a 65-year-old resident of Chino Hills, California, has been sentenced to 48 months in federal prison for acting as an unregistered agent of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The case has drawn attention due to Sun’s role as campaign advisor and fiancé to Eileen Wang, the current mayor of Arcadia, a city in Southern California’s San Gabriel Valley.
According to court documents, Sun knowingly acted within the United States as an agent of the PRC without notifying the Attorney General, as required by U.S. law.
At the direction of PRC government officials, he coordinated efforts to promote Chinese interests, including “orchestrat[ing]” a team to help elect a politician referred to as “Individual 1” in legal filings. Sources familiar with the investigation have identified Individual 1 as Eileen Wang, who won a seat on the Arcadia City Council in November 2022.
Sun served as her campaign consultant and treasurer during that election.
From 2020 through 2023, Sun and Individual 1 operated a purported news website for the local Chinese American community, receiving directives from PRC officials to post pro-PRC content. In December 2022, Sun attended a meeting in Southern California with a group, including Individual 1, described as a “team dedicated” to PRC interests.
In February 2023, Sun drafted a report to PRC officials soliciting additional funding and taskings. In it, he stated: “most of all, during the 2022 U.S. midterm elections, I orchestrated and organized my team to win the election for city council” for Individual 1, whom he called a “new political star.”
The report also mentioned his past service in the People’s Liberation Army and efforts to “persist in resisting any hostile forces that undermine the friendship of U.S.-China relations, and Chinese secessionist forces.”
Sun requested $80,000 to fund a pro-PRC demonstration at a Fourth of July parade in Washington, D.C. In addition, Sun surveilled then-Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen during her April 2023 visit to Southern California, providing real-time updates and photographs to a PRC consular official in Los Angeles.
Prosecutors noted in a sentencing memorandum that Sun worked covertly with his primary co-conspirator, John Chen (also known as Chen Jun), a high-level member of the PRC intelligence apparatus who had met personally with PRC President Xi Jinping. Chen was sentenced in November 2024 to 20 months in prison for similar charges in the Southern District of New York.
Wang, a Democrat, was sworn in as mayor of Arcadia in early February 2026, just days before Sun’s sentencing. Arcadia, a city of about 56,000 residents where approximately 60% are of Asian descent, rotates the mayoral position among council members.
She has not been accused of any wrongdoing in connection with the case. During Arcadia’s first City Council meeting following the sentencing, Wang declined to comment on the matter.
