Southern California mayor quits after admitting acting as agent of Chinese government

International

A MAYOR in Southern California resigned from her post after pleading guilty to acting as an illegal agent for the Chinese government.

Eileen Wang, the mayor of Arcadia, was accused of doing the bidding of Chinese officials, such as sharing articles favorable to Beijing, without prior notification to the US government as required by law, a report by CNN said.

The 58-year-old Wang was charged in April with one count of acting in the United States as an illegal agent of a foreign government. She was elected in November 2022 to a five-person city council, from which the mayor is selected on a rotating basis.

In a news release, city manager Dominic Lazzaretto said that no city finances or staff were involved.

“We want to be clear: this investigation concerns individual conduct, and the charges are for conduct that ceased after Ms. Wang was sworn into office in December 2022,” he said.

Wang agreed to plead guilty to the felony, which comes with a maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison, authorities said.

Wang’s attorneys Jason Liang and Brian Sun said in a statement that she recognizes the seriousness of the charge and accepts responsibility for “past personal mistakes.”

“She apologizes and is sorry for the mistakes she has made in her personal life,” they said. “Her love and devotion for the Arcadia community have not changed and did not waver.”(MyTVCebu)