Federal prosecutors said the operative worked to boost Beijing’s interests while advising a local candidate.
LOS ANGELES, CA — A San Bernardino County man was sentenced to four years in federal prison after prosecutors said he acted as a covert agent for China while working on a Southern California city council campaign linked to Arcadia Mayor Eileen Wang, who has not been accused of wrongdoing.
The sentence has renewed attention on how foreign influence efforts can reach local politics, far from Washington. Federal officials said Yaoning “Mike” Sun took directions from People’s Republic of China officials, pushed pro-Beijing messages and tracked people China saw as threats. The case also put a spotlight on Arcadia, an L.A. County city where Wang recently became mayor after winning a council seat in 2022.
Sun, 65, of Chino Hills was sentenced to 48 months by U.S. District Judge R. Gary Klausner after pleading guilty in October 2025 to acting as an illegal agent of a foreign government. Federal officials said Sun knowingly worked as an agent of the Chinese government from at least 2022 to January 2024 without notifying the U.S. attorney general, a legal requirement. The Justice Department said Sun helped assemble a team that worked to get a local candidate, called “Individual 1” in court records, elected to city office and then used those ties to seek more funding and assignments. An Associated Press report and campaign filings identified the candidate as Wang, who was sworn in as Arcadia’s mayor earlier this month.
In a statement released after the sentencing, Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg said Sun “received and executed taskings” from Chinese officials, spread propaganda and took part in surveillance aimed at intimidating groups in the United States. FBI Assistant Director Roman Rozhavsky said the case showed what investigators view as a direct threat to elections, saying Americans expect local officials to represent their constituents, not a foreign adversary. First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said federal law enforcement would not allow “hostile foreign nations” to infiltrate political bodies. Sun’s lawyer asked for a time-served sentence in court papers, arguing Sun could have acted within the law if he had known he needed to register and that he had lived a law-abiding life in the United States since moving from China in 1996.
Prosecutors described Sun as a longtime political and community figure who used local connections to advance Beijing’s interests. Court records said that, at the direction of Chinese officials, Sun and “Individual 1” worked from 2020 through 2023 to operate what authorities called a news website aimed at the local Chinese American community. Officials said Chinese government contacts sent directives about what to post, and Sun carried them out. During 2022, prosecutors said, Sun also served as the campaign adviser for “Individual 1,” who won a city council seat in November 2022. The Justice Department said that at a December 2022 meeting in Southern California, Sun attended with others, including “Individual 1,” and later described the group to Chinese officials as a team dedicated to China’s interests.
Sun’s activities went beyond messaging, prosecutors said. The Justice Department said Sun closely surveilled Taiwan’s then-president, Tsai Ing-wen, during her April 2023 visit to Southern California and reported her movements to Chinese officials. Authorities said Sun sent real-time updates to a Chinese consular official based in Los Angeles and also photographed people protesting for and against Tsai, forwarding those images to the official. In a February 2023 report described in court records, prosecutors said Sun highlighted his past service in China’s People’s Liberation Army and wrote about leading delegations of U.S. dignitaries and cultural workers to China. The Justice Department said the same report asked China for $80,000 to fund a pro-China demonstration at a Fourth of July parade in Washington, D.C.
The case also tied Sun to another man federal officials called a key figure in Chinese intelligence operations. Prosecutors said Sun worked with John Chen, also known as “Chen Jun,” and described Chen as a high-level member of China’s intelligence apparatus. Chen was sentenced in November 2024 to 20 months in federal prison after pleading guilty in New York to acting as an illegal agent of China and conspiracy to bribe a public official, according to the Justice Department. In filings described by the Los Angeles Times, prosecutors argued Sun served as Chen’s right-hand man in the United States for decades, while defense lawyers urged a lighter sentence and said Sun posed a low risk of reoffending because of his age and background.
Arcadia’s role in the case has raised questions because of the city’s position and demographics. Arcadia sits in the San Gabriel Valley, northeast of downtown Los Angeles, in a region with large immigrant communities and frequent political and cultural ties across the Pacific. Federal officials have repeatedly warned that foreign governments may seek influence at state and local levels, where smaller campaigns can offer easier access and fewer barriers. In this case, prosecutors said Sun used community networks, a Chinese-language website and campaign work to build credibility. The Justice Department said Sun communicated in 2023 and 2024 with a Chinese consulate official in Los Angeles about activities related to Taiwan in Southern California.
Wang has not been charged and officials have not accused her of taking part in Sun’s alleged covert work. Still, the case has followed her political career, and her public remarks about Sun have been scrutinized. CBS Los Angeles reported Wang declined to comment during Arcadia’s first City Council meeting after the sentencing. In a December 2022 council meeting, Wang publicly thanked Sun, saying, “To my fiancé, Mike Sun, who walked streets with me every single day.” Later, as the federal case moved forward, Wang pushed back on the relationship label. CBS reported that in September 2025 she said, “No. 1, he’s not my fiancé,” and challenged anyone calling him a former fiancé to prove it. The Los Angeles Times reported Wang previously said the relationship ended months before Sun was charged in late 2024.
Sun’s prison sentence closes one phase of the case but leaves other questions open. The Justice Department said Sun admitted acting as an illegal agent without registering, yet the court filings refer to “Individual 1” without naming the candidate in the charging documents. Officials have not announced any separate criminal case involving Wang, and no public filings describe any plan to remove her from office. Investigators have framed the case as part of broader counterintelligence work focused on foreign influence and what they call transnational repression, a term used for efforts to pressure or monitor diaspora groups outside a country’s borders. In the same filings, prosecutors said Sun tracked groups China viewed as hostile, including movements tied to Taiwan and Falun Gong.
For residents in and around Arcadia, the story has played out in a mix of court records, council meetings and local reaction. CBS Los Angeles reported that a longtime Arcadia resident and citizen journalist, Sonia Martin, said Sun tried to recruit her during a luncheon that included the mayor. The report did not describe what, if anything, resulted from the approach. Federal officials said Sun sought more money and assignments from Chinese government contacts, and prosecutors highlighted his description of helping elect a “new political star.” The Justice Department said the FBI investigated the case, and federal prosecutors said the sentence was meant to deter others from acting on behalf of foreign powers without disclosure.
Sun is now serving a 48-month federal prison term, while Arcadia’s City Council continues its work under Wang’s mayoral leadership. The next public milestones are expected to come through any additional court filings, oversight reviews or public statements as federal officials continue broader foreign influence investigations in Southern California.
Author note: Last updated February 22, 2026.