CHINO HILLS, CA — A Chino Hills man was charged last week by federal prosecutors for allegedly acting as an illegal agent for the Chinese government, including while serving as the campaign manager for a Southern California political candidate, the U.S. Department of Justice announced.
According to court documents, Yaoning “Mike” Sun, 64, was charged with acting as an illegal agent of a foreign power and conspiring with another man — John Chen — who was plotting to target U.S.-based practitioners of Falun Gong, a spiritual practice banned in China.
Chen was sentenced last month to 20 months in prison for acting as an unregistered agent of the People’s Republic of China and bribing an Internal Revenue Service agent.
Following Sun’s arrest last week and a Dec. 17 criminal complaint filed against him in federal court, U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said, “The conduct alleged in this complaint is deeply concerning — the defendant is charged with acting on behalf of the People’s Republic of China to influence our political system. We cannot permit hostile foreign powers to meddle in the governance of our country.”
According to court documents and reporting from the Los Angeles Times, Sun is the fiancée of Eileen Wang, who was elected two years ago to the Arcadia City Council. Arcadia is a suburb of the San Gabriel Valley.
In the complaint against Sun, prosecutors referred to a local politician as “Individual 1,” alleging that Sun and his Chinese government contacts were cultivating that person in hopes that she would rise in politics and help them strengthen China’s influence in California.
Through its reporting the Times named Wang as Individual 1, though the U.S. attorney’s office declined to confirm.
Sun served as Individual 1’s campaign manager and confidante while she was running for local elected office in 2022. During the campaign, Sun allegedly communicated with Chen regarding his efforts to get Individual 1 elected, according to the complaint.
Chen discussed with Chinese government officials how the PRC could “influence” local politicians in the United States, particularly on the issue of Taiwan, according to the complaint.
In November 2022, shortly after Individual 1 was elected to office, Chen instructed Sun to prepare a report on the election that was sent to Chinese government officials, who responded positively and expressed thanks, according to the complaint.
Chen also sent a message to Individual 1 stating that she was “doing a good job, I hope you can continue the good work, make Chinese people proud,” the complaint states.
About a month after Individual 1’s election, Chen arranged a lunch at a Rowland Heights restaurant with Sun and others, a gathering that Chen described to a PRC official as a “core member lunch,” the complaint alleges.
Chen subsequently described the lunch as “successful” as participants agreed to establish a “US-China Friendship Promotional Association.”
Wang did not attend the meeting, but in the complaint Chen described Individual 1 as being part of the association and Sun serving as vice president.
“This is the basic team dedicated for us,” Chen wrote to the Chinese government official.
In early 2023, Chen instructed Sun to write up another report for Chinese officials describing “you and me cultivating and assisting [Individual 1’s] success,” according to the complaint.
In a February 2023 draft of Sun’s report, he described his personal background, his history of working against “Chinese secessionist forces,” and boasted that, “most proudly of all, during the 2022 U.S. midterm elections, I orchestrated and organized my team to win the election for city council member candidate [Individual 1].”
In subsequent communications outlined in the complaint, Chen instructed Sun to include a section on Individual 1, who was to be described as a “New Political Star” with connections to other prominent politicians. The complaint also states that Chen and Sun discussed their “past struggle fighting Taiwanese independence forces … over the years and fighting ‘FLG’ [Falun Gong] influences” in a California city.
In February 2023, Sun and Chen drafted a second report to PRC officials that requested an $80,000 budget to fund additional pro-PRC activities and to combat “anti-China forces” in the United States.
After Chen and Sun discussed a planned trip to the PRC to meet with “leadership,” and after Chen directed Sun to schedule a meeting with the Chinese consul general in Los Angeles, Sun and Individual 1 traveled to China in late August 2023. It’s not clear what happened while the two were abroad.
The charge of acting as an illegal agent of a foreign government carries a statutory maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison. The charge of conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States carries a maximum statutory sentence of five years.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Wang’s involvement in any wrongdoing is unclear and she has not been charged.
“One source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, stressed that officials have no evidence that Wang knew of the alleged activities,” the Times reported.
