Dec 19: 
national Yaoning “Mike” Sun (孙耀宁) was arrested on charges of acting as an illegal agent for Beijing when serving as the campaign manager for an unnamed politician elected to a city council in Southern California in 2022 — most likely Arcadia City Councilmember Eileen Wang (王爱琳; lower right pic).
Sun is accused of conspiring with national John Chen aka Chen Jun (陈军; upper right pic), who was sentenced to 20 months last month for acting as an illegal agent of the government (justice.gov/opa/pr/califor). Chen pleaded guilty in July to using Chinese money to bribe federal agents to undermine the anti-Beijing spiritual group Falun Gong (justice.gov/opa/pr/two-men).
The charge against Sun shows that Chen also conspired to interfere with local elections.
Sun was instructed by Chen to write up a report in 2023 to recount to officials how they helped the California politician get elected. Subsequent writings between the two men described the city councilperson as a “new political star” and included a request for $80,000 to fund more pro-Beijing activities in the US.
Chen asked Sun to list all the mainstream American politicians the city councilperson was familiar with and told Sun that it would be “very effective to elevate” the status of the councilperson in China.
While the councilperson is not named in court papers, Yaoning Sun was listed as a campaign treasurer for Arcadia City council candidate Eileen Wang on a campaign statement filing stamped in Feb 2022, according to records on the city’s website.
Wang ran for election to the city council in 2022 and won. She ran a tutoring services company in the city about 24 km northeast of Los Angeles and has participated in numerous community groups, according to her biography on the city’s website.
Yaoning Sun appears to be ideologically invested in furthering the interests of the government in the US; he had previously served in the military.
Sun, a resident of Chino Hills outside Los Angeles, also ran a media outlet called the US News Center with the councilperson and paid for some of the politician’s travel expenses.
Sun is listed on his public LinkedIn profile as the director of US News Center, of which Wang is registered as the owner in California.
Sun worked closely with Chen, who appeared to be in regular contact with officials. Their communications included how to protest a US congressperson’s proposed visit to Taiwan.
The men discussed how to set up a meeting for the politician to meet with the top diplomat in Los Angeles and arrange travel plans for the politician to visit China.
The arrest of Sun came at a time of rising concerns that the government has cultivated a network of operatives to influence local elections in the US to install politicians who are friendly to Beijing and can help promote Chinese interests.
apnews.com/article/china-
justice.gov/opa/pr/califor
justice.gov/opa/media/1381
national Yaoning “Mike” Sun (孙耀宁) was arrested on charges of acting as an illegal agent for Beijing when serving as the campaign manager for an unnamed politician elected to a city council in Southern California in 2022 — most likely Arcadia City Councilmember Eileen Wang (王爱琳; lower right pic).
Sun is accused of conspiring with national John Chen aka Chen Jun (陈军; upper right pic), who was sentenced to 20 months last month for acting as an illegal agent of the government (justice.gov/opa/pr/califor). Chen pleaded guilty in July to using Chinese money to bribe federal agents to undermine the anti-Beijing spiritual group Falun Gong (justice.gov/opa/pr/two-men).
The charge against Sun shows that Chen also conspired to interfere with local elections.
Sun was instructed by Chen to write up a report in 2023 to recount to officials how they helped the California politician get elected. Subsequent writings between the two men described the city councilperson as a “new political star” and included a request for $80,000 to fund more pro-Beijing activities in the US.
Chen asked Sun to list all the mainstream American politicians the city councilperson was familiar with and told Sun that it would be “very effective to elevate” the status of the councilperson in China.
While the councilperson is not named in court papers, Yaoning Sun was listed as a campaign treasurer for Arcadia City council candidate Eileen Wang on a campaign statement filing stamped in Feb 2022, according to records on the city’s website.
Wang ran for election to the city council in 2022 and won. She ran a tutoring services company in the city about 24 km northeast of Los Angeles and has participated in numerous community groups, according to her biography on the city’s website.
Yaoning Sun appears to be ideologically invested in furthering the interests of the government in the US; he had previously served in the military.
Sun, a resident of Chino Hills outside Los Angeles, also ran a media outlet called the US News Center with the councilperson and paid for some of the politician’s travel expenses.
Sun is listed on his public LinkedIn profile as the director of US News Center, of which Wang is registered as the owner in California.
Sun worked closely with Chen, who appeared to be in regular contact with officials. Their communications included how to protest a US congressperson’s proposed visit to Taiwan.
The men discussed how to set up a meeting for the politician to meet with the top diplomat in Los Angeles and arrange travel plans for the politician to visit China.
The arrest of Sun came at a time of rising concerns that the government has cultivated a network of operatives to influence local elections in the US to install politicians who are friendly to Beijing and can help promote Chinese interests.
apnews.com/article/china-
justice.gov/opa/pr/califor
justice.gov/opa/media/1381