Who is Yaoning ‘Mike’ Sun? China’s illegal agent serving as California political operative, aided Eileen Wang, sentenced to 4 years in federal prison

Yaoning “Mike” Sun, a 65-year-old political strategist from Chino Hills, California, has become a central figure in a high-stakes legal battle. In February 2026, Sun was sentenced to 48 months in federal prison after admitting that he operated as an undisclosed agent of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), including while working as a campaign advisor for a successful Southern California city council candidate.

Sun, who pleaded guilty in October 2025 to acting as an illegal agent of a foreign government, was sentenced in federal court in Los Angeles before Judge R. Gary Klausner. Prosecutors said Sun knowingly took direction and control from PRC officials between 2022 and January 2024 without ever notifying the US Attorney General, a legal requirement under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA).

Authorities allege Sun used his political experience to coordinate with US-based collaborators to advance China’s interests within American political structures. Sun’s work included assembling a team to help elect a candidate, referred to in court as “Individual 1”, to a local city council in November 2022, and serving as that candidate’s campaign adviser throughout 2022 while receiving directives from PRC officials.



Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg described Sun’s actions as a “brazen violation” of US sovereignty, saying Sun “distorted our public discourse by disseminating Chinese propaganda, and surveilled groups in the United States that China viewed as threatening its interests.”

Propaganda, surveillance, and reporting back to Beijing

Sun’s activities extended beyond local politics. Court records reveal that he and associates ran a website, marketed as a news source for the Chinese-American community, which prosecutors say they used at the direction of PRC officials to publish content favorable to Beijing.

Federal filings show that in April 2023, during a visit to Southern California by Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-Wen, Sun provided real-time updates to a PRC consulate official on the president’s movements and sought permission to publish articles about the visit, raising concerns about intelligence collection. Sun also photographed and relayed images of both supporters and critics of the visit to PRC contacts.

In a report drafted for Chinese officials in February 2023, Sun highlighted his past service in the People’s Liberation Army and described his role in advancing PRC objectives, including efforts to counter groups opposed to Beijing’s positions on Taiwan, Tibet, Xinjiang, and Falun Gong.

The report even requested $80,000 funding to organize a pro-PRC demonstration during a Fourth of July parade in Washington, DC.

Connections to Arcadia’s political leadership

Sun’s conviction has overlapping implications with another federal case in Southern California involving Eileen Wang, the former mayor of Arcadia, California and Sun’s former fiancé. In May 2026, Wang was federally charged with acting as an illegal agent of the PRC and agreed to plead guilty. Court documents indicate that Wang and Sun worked together from 2020 through 2022 to promote pro-Beijing content on the same news website.

The Department of Justice says Wang repeatedly posted articles supplied or edited at the direction of PRC officials, including messages denying forced labor and genocide in Xinjiang, language that mirrored official PRC talking points.

Communications retrieved from encrypted messaging platforms show PRC officials thanking Wang and her collaborators for swiftly publishing articles favorable to Beijing’s government.

Sun was also connected professionally to John Chen (a/k/a Chen Jun), a high-level PRC intelligence operative who pleaded guilty in 2024 in a separate federal case tied to acting as an illegal agent and bribery conspiracies. According to prosecutors, Sun served as Chen’s “right-hand man in the United States for decades.”