Washington, May 31 (IANS) Arcadia’s former Mayor pleaded guilty to being an illegal agent of China in the US, local media reported.

As per the court filings, Eileen Wang (56) was charged in April and agreed to plead guilty to accusations that she was asked by the Chinese government to promote propaganda in the US from 2020-2022.

Wang was elected to the City Council in 2022 and assumed the position of Mayor, a post that rotates among the Council members, Los Angeles Times reported.

In April, she resigned as Mayor after the plea agreement was unsealed.

Arcadia officials and Wang’s lawyers said the actions mentioned by federal authorities were taken before Eileen Wang assumed office. She appeared in court in Los Angeles to enter her plea. Wang faces up to 10 years in prison when she will be sentenced in October.

From late 2020 to 2022, Wang and her former fiance, Yaoning “Mike” Sun used to run a website called US News Center that branded itself as a news source for Chinese Americans, according to Wang’s plea agreement.

Wang and Sun used to comply with orders issued by Chinese government officials, sharing requested articles and sharing screenshots to Chinese authorities, showing how many people viewed the stories, as per the plea agreement.

Earlier this year, Sun was sentenced to four years in prison after he pleaded guilty to charges that accused him of secretly working for China.

In 2021, Wang received a message from a government official about ‘China’s stance on the Xinjiang issue’.

At the time, news reports highlighted Chinese government’s incarceration, persecution and “re-education” of Uyghurs in the Xinjiang province, Los Angeles Times reported.

As per the plea agreement, the message from the Chinese government official said, “There is no genocide in Xinjiang; there is no such thing as ‘forced labour’ in any production activity, including cotton production. Spreading such rumour is to defame China, destroy Xinjiang’s safety and stability.”

After receiving the message, Wang posted the article on her website and shared the link of her article with the Chinese government official, as per the court filing.

According to prosecutors, Wang edited articles after receiving requests from officials, Los Angeles Times reported.

In a statement, Wang’s lawyers, Jason Liang and Brian Sun, said that Wang had pleaded guilty to the federal charge, however, “her posting of articles in no way should be construed as an inherently nefarious act.”

The lawyers said that Wang not registering as a foreign agent should not “be equated with spying or engaging in acts of espionage on behalf of a foreign country”.

Meanwhile, an American journalist and political commentator who worked for several Chinese state media outlets has been charged in the US with acting as an unregistered agent for China, according to federal court documents unsealed in Virginia.

Federal prosecutors alleged that Thomas Weir Pauken II, also known as “Tom McGregor”, worked under the direction of individuals linked to China’s Ministry of State Security (MSS) and sought to cultivate sources in the United States, including a person pursuing a role in the Trump administration.

The affidavit, filed in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, said Pauken had been working “at the direction and control” of individuals connected to People’s Republic of China (PRC) since at least 2019.

FBI Special Agent Timothy J. Healy wrote that Pauken’s alleged handler, identified only as “Cathy”, assigned him tasks that included meeting potential human sources, delivering communication devices, collecting information and sending reports back to China.

According to the affidavit, Pauken admitted during voluntary interviews that his work with “Cathy” and others “was part of a conspiracy to obtain classified information from the United States government”.

The case was first detailed by Politico, which reported that Pauken allegedly told the FBI he was “80 per cent sure” an associate connected to the incoming Trump administration would eventually provide classified information to China.

The Hill later reported that Pauken was accused of providing phones, laptops and encrypted communications tools to facilitate contact between US-based individuals and his Chinese handlers.

Court filings noted that Pauken moved to China around 2010 and worked for China Radio International, China Central Television, China Global Television Network and later in a news agency, which is the “official state news agency of the PRC”.

Investigators said Pauken met a Chinese woman known as “Cathy” around 2017 after being introduced by a man described as one of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s speechwriters.

The affidavit said that “Cathy” primarily communicated with Pauken through WeChat, Signal and Telegram.

FBI alleged that Pauken travelled repeatedly between China and the US between 2019 and 2025, with trips allegedly financed by his Chinese contacts.

Prosecutors said he received $100,000 for reports and assignments, federal prosecutors alleged.

–IANS

akl/khz