California man agrees to plead guilty to acting as Beijing’s agent

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A California man has agreed to plead guilty to acting as an illegal agent for the Chinese government in Southern California while working as a campaign advisor for a local politician.

Yaoning “Mike” Sun is expected to appear in court in Los Angeles on Monday to enter his plea under a deal with federal prosecutors, according to a copy of the agreement available in online court records. It was signed by Sun, his attorney and a prosecutor earlier this month. If the plea is accepted by a judge, Sun could face a maximum sentence of up to 10 years in prison, the agreement says.

The U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles declined to comment on the deal. Sun’s attorney, Adam Olin, also declined to comment.

Under the agreement, Sun acknowledges acting as a foreign agent on behalf of the People’s Republic of China from 2022 to 2024 without notifying the U.S. attorney general as required by law. Sun is a Chinese citizen living in the U.S. legally, the U.S. attorney’s office said.

The case against Sun was filed during President Joe Biden’s administration amid a time of rising concern that the Chinese government had cultivated a network of operatives to influence local elections in the U.S. to install politicians who were friendly to Beijing and could help promote Chinese interests. Sun was accused of conspiring with Chen Jun, who was sentenced in New York to 20 months in prison for acting as an illegal agent of the Chinese government.

According to the plea deal, Sun received instructions from Chinese government officials to post pro-Beijing content on a website he ran with another individual who became a candidate for local office and won election in 2022. Sun worked as a campaign advisor for the individual and the following year drafted a report for Chinese officials seeking funding and assignments for more pro-Beijing activities, the agreement says.

“Defendant and Individual 1 received and executed directives from PRC government officials to post pro-PRC content on the website, and sometimes sought approval from PRC government officials to post other pro-PRC content on the website,” the agreement says.

The individual is not named in court papers. Sun was listed as a campaign treasurer for Arcadia City Council candidate Eileen Wang on a campaign statement filing stamped in February 2022, according to records on the city’s website. Arcadia is a city of nearly 60,000 people northeast of Los Angeles with a large Asian population, according to census data.

After Sun was arrested in December, Arcadia City Manager Dominic Lazzaretto said Sun had no affiliation with the city. Lazzaretto said Wang had not been charged and planned to cooperate with federal officials. A message was left Monday for Wang at Arcadia City Hall.