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The Arcadia City Council member is the fiancée of a man charged by federal prosecutors this week with acting as an illegal agent of the Chinese government in an effort to influence local politicians, according to court records and interviews.
The personal relationship between Eileen Wang, who was elected to the San Gabriel Valley Suburban City Council two years ago, and Yaoning “Mike” Sun has been a hot topic, especially regarding Wang’s alleged conspiracy to promote pro-China policies regarding Taiwan. This deepens the question of what he knew.
In the criminal charges against Mr. Sun, prosecutors named a local politician, “Individual 1,” and said that Mr. Sun and Chinese government associates were responsible for Mr. Sun’s rise in politics and China’s growing influence in California. He claimed that he was training politicians in the hope that they would contribute to the future.
Two sources familiar with the investigation identified Mr. Wang as Individual 1. The complaint describes Mr. Sun as Person 1’s campaign manager and business partner and states that Mr. Sun’s registered address with the DMV is a home owned by Person 1.
Prosecutors have not charged Wang with a crime. A person familiar with the case, who spoke to the Times on condition of anonymity, said there was currently no evidence that Mr. Wang knew of the alleged Chinese government activities. Wang did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
The indictment names Sun and John Chen, also known as Chen Jun, who was sentenced to federal prison last month for acting as an illegal Chinese agent and conspiring against Falun Gong, a spiritual practice banned in China. Extensive interactions between the two countries are described. According to messages found by federal investigators on Chen’s cell phone and described in the complaint, the pair sent detailed information about Person 1, including his connections to other U.S. politicians, to Chinese government officials. We talked about it.
According to the complaint, Sun’s LinkedIn listed him as the head of the media site U.S. News Center, which he co-runs with Wang.
Court records also reveal a close relationship between Wang and Son. The two companies are registered together on several business filings, including the American Southwest Chamber of Commerce, an association whose purpose is to “promote exchanges between people in southwestern China,” according to the company’s incorporation filing.
Last year, Michelle Wu, who worked for the Chamber of Commerce, sued both Wang and Son for defamation. In her lawsuit, Ms. Wu claimed that the two falsely accused her of stealing money from the group, which Ms. Wu denied.
As part of that lawsuit, Mr. Wang said in court documents that he was engaged to Mr. Sun. Wu said in an interview that the couple had been dating since around 2018.
The accusations against Mr. Sun shocked the San Gabriel Valley’s large Chinese community. Both Mr. Sun and Mr. Wang have established high profile there in recent years, with Mr. Wang holding elected office and Mr. Sun active as an organizer of community events.
“He’s a well-known figure in the Chinese community,” said Daniel Deng, a Rosemead lawyer who represents many Chinese clients. “He’s been very active in Southern California for a long time.”
Residents said Mr. Sun hosted and promoted numerous events in the area, including a Lunar New Year festival in the San Gabriel Valley. He was considered quiet and not particularly politically active. One resident said allegations of collaboration with Chinese government officials spread “like a bomb dropped in the community.”
Deng Xiaoping said he saw Sun and Wang departing from the 2024 Miss Asia International Pageant with another Arcadia City Council member in the lobby of the Sheraton in San Gabriel on Wednesday evening. He said he met them when Wang was running for office.
“This morning, my friends were saying, ‘Mike has been arrested!'” Deng Xiaoping said Thursday. “I said, ‘That’s impossible. I saw them last night.’
Wang spoke to the Times last month for a story on Asian American voters and said she immigrated to Southern California from China 30 years ago. Her mother is a doctor of Chinese medicine and acupuncture, and her father was a doctor in Sichuan province before working at USC, she said.
The complaint alleges that Mr. Chen instructed Mr. Son to prepare updates for the Chinese government regarding Individual 1’s election. Sun responded with a short biography of the politician, noting that she immigrated to the United States from the Sichuan city of Chengdu in 1995.
Wang, a mother of two, said she has maintained roots in Arcadia for the past 18 years. Before entering politics, she was primarily known for running an after-school program in Arcadia called Little Stamford Academy, according to two people who know her.
Mr. Wang knocked on doors five times in his district during the 2022 election campaign, and decided to switch from the Republican Party to the Democratic Party after being swayed by left-wing housing policies that voters seemed to need, such as rent subsidies. he said.
Mr. Wang defeated Mr. Shengchang, a longtime city councilor in the Asian-majority city, to win the city council seat. She said she was the first female member of the Arcadia City Council of Chinese descent and the first Asian American Democratic member. After the Nov. 5 election, the council is now all Asian American — perhaps the first in California, council members say.
“I talked to the district, and I realized that people needed me,” Wang told the Times last month. “We needed to do something for them.”
US attorney. Martin Estrada painted the incident as part of a pattern by the Chinese government of trying to influence local officials who have not yet reached the national stage but may soon. There is.
According to the complaint, Mr. Chen asked Mr. Sun to prepare a report on Mr. Wang’s election to high-level positions in the Chinese government, calling him a “new political star.”
This year, U.S. Representative Judy Chu (D-Monterey Park) honored Wang as one of her “2024 Women in Congress.”
The award is “given to a woman nominated by people in her city or community,” according to a press release. It is unclear who appointed Wang, and Chu did not respond to requests for comment.
“Maybe they see Irene as a future star,” said Joaquin Lim, who served on the Walnut City Council for 17 years, adding that what the Chinese government would gain from a politician who never rose through the ranks at the local level. He pointed out that there are almost no
“That’s one way of looking at it: the expectation that this person is going to run for high-level public office,” he said.
Lim said he was not surprised to hear of the indictment, noting the recent flurry of headlines about the People’s Republic of China trying to win support from local politicians around the world. Prosecutors in September charged a former aide to the New York governor with using his position to benefit the Chinese government and blocking officials from entering Taiwan, which China considers part of its territory. .
“This is not just happening in the US. It’s happening in the UK. It’s happening in Australia, it’s happening in Canada,” Lim said. “When I read about Eileen, I said, ‘Okay, well, I’m just surprised, but in this case, the San Gabriel Valley.’
San Gabriel Mayor John Woo was elected around the same time as Irene Wang. He said he had seen her at events in the area, including groups with strong ties to Taiwan, but had never had any suspicions about her. He finds it hard to believe that she would get involved in something like this.
“In my opinion, there is no need for foreign governments to interfere in local politicians or elections,” Wu said, adding, “Local governments should work with their communities to decide which roads to pave and how to allocate the budget.” The focus is on decisions such as deciding whether to
But Wu worries that the situation could cast unwarranted suspicion on local Chinese-American politicians.
“That could jeopardize the entire effort that Chinese American elected officials have made over the years to serve their communities,” he said. “This could throw an entire generation’s efforts into vain.”
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