After being sworn in as deputy commander of the Arcadia City Council, Eileen Wang tackled the controversy that had Eaton Fire seized the back seat for months after he was devastated near Altadena.
“We broke up our fiancée relationship,” Wang said of her former campaign manager, Yaoning “Mike” Sun. “We maintain friendship.”
The King said their romantic relationship ended last spring, eight months before federal prosecutors acted as a conspiracy and an illegal agent of foreign governments.
The April 15th statement from the King from the current mayoral Protem of San Gabriel Valley City is one of the few times she has publicly addressed accusations against the Sun, and he hopes to work with China to help her stand up to politics and promote Chinese policies, including opposition to Taiwan.
Faced with her call to resign, the king vowed in January not to leave the council, emphasizing that she “will not be held responsible for the actions of others.”
Wang did not respond to several calls or emails from The Times. The other four councillors also did not respond to emails.
“I have a lot of questions,” said Sheng Chang, a former councillor who ran to the king in 2022.
Shenchan lost the Arcadia City Council race to Irene One in San Gabriel’s office in 2022.
(Allen J. Scheven/Los Angeles Times)
Arcadia City manager Dominic Lazzaretto issued a brief statement shortly after Sun was accused in December, saying Wang is working with the FBI and Sun is “not involved in Arcadia City Business or Decision-Making.”
Wang, who moved to the US from China 30 years ago, was not accused, so it is unclear whether she knew of the suspicious plan. In criminal charges against the Taiyo, the prosecutors identified her as “individual 1.”
The complaint offers a rare glimpse into the secret influence that the Chinese government is said to have, which is said to be working on politicians and organizations in San Gabriel Valley, a landing site for many Chinese and Taiwanese immigrants.
The campaign records investigated by the Times show that Sun served as King’s campaign manager, lending money and helping him bring donations.
James SU, president of West Covina’s EDI Media, donated $500 to Wang’s campaign on October 10, 2022. SU’s media company included a LA-based media group that includes the Chinese-language website Icity News, but in May 2022 it had to register as a foreign agent as it printed the US edition, which is considered a “foreign mission.”
As the November 2022 election approached, Icity News published numerous articles about Wang, a political beginner and owner of an after-school tutoring company.
“Remember! You have to vote for Irene!” concludes the article, one of about half a dozen outlets published by the King that year.
As for King’s opponent, Chang, there was no mention of Taiwanese immigrants who ran the Barebones campaign for the $34,000 he lent.
Lina Li, the office manager at EDI who said she was responding on SU’s behalf, wrote in an email that the $500 donation was made from SU’s personal funds, as she believed Wang was a “good candidate.” The company has not had to register as a foreign agent since 2022, she said.
According to campaign finance records, Sing Tao Us, a subsidiary of Sing Tao Us, a Chinese-owned newspaper subsidiary registered as a foreign agent, was also donated to Wang’s campaign, and on August 9, 2022, it gave $3,300.
Records show that Wang paid the same amount to the company for the print ads.
Sing Tao Daily is one of Hong Kong’s oldest newspapers and has been featured for a long time at newsstands in Chinatown and San Gabriel Valley. Sing Tao Us wrote in a government submission that it is “editorically independent” from its Chinese parent company.
Robin Mui, CEO of Sing Tao Us, said Wang’s campaign had made a mistake in its campaign finance form. Sing Tao has never contributed to Wang’s campaign and only received payments for advertising, Mui said.
“la [branch] He has never made a political contribution.
The criminal charges against Sun explained the widespread interaction between Sun and John Chen. John Chen acted as an illegal Chinese agent last year and was sentenced to federal prison for a conspiracy against Falun Gong, a spiritual custom that is banned in China.
Chen reportedly described a former LA County supervisor who was identified as “friendly to China.” Chen’s Chinese handler told him he would be given the funds to “interact” with the former supervisor in the hopes of getting an introduction to Ma’s successor, identified as CB.
Mike Antonovic, a former manager who oversaw the district, including parts of the San Gabriel Valley from 1980 to 2016, said he first met Chen at a dinner at the Chinese Association and occasionally came across community events. He never felt that Chen was pushing for a political agenda, he said.
Antonovic said he felt pressure from the Chinese government before the national holiday in Taiwan on October 10th, and every year, the Chinese consulate will reach out to each supervisor and ask not to attend local celebrations.
Antonovic said he didn’t listen to the guidance and spoke twice in the Double 10 celebration.
Director Katherine Berger, who succeeded Antonovic, said she had never met Chen or Sang, and neither man had a record of reaching out to her office.
Many of the campaigns in which San was organized for the King are considered standard fares for up-and-coming San Gabriel Valley politicians.
A longtime resident of Arcadia, King hired the Santa Maria Group, a well-known lobbying company. She is LA County supervisor Hilda Solis, U.S. Rep. Judy Chu (D. Monterry Park), Chu’s husband and former state legislator Michael Eng.
In total, the king raised $119,000 from a donor with an address in San Gabriel Valley. Another top fundraiser, Councillor Michael Kao, brought about around $125,000 to his campaign that year.
After winning seats in 1994 and 2000, Chan, who had been sought a third term for the city council, said his legacy became a hot topic during the election.
Wang’s Instagram account at the time was packed with videos from the campaign trail set in Zippy Pop Songs. She previously told the Times that she knocked every door in her district multiple times to make sure she reached all residents.
“I walked for about 140 days…I didn’t stop,” she said last November, before a criminal charge against the Sun. “I walked around the district five times.”
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