A Chinese national has been charged with acting as an illegal agent of the Chinese Communist Party as he was serving on the campaign of Democratic candidate who ran for an Arcadia City Council in California.
On Thursday, Yaoning “Mike” Sun, 64, was arrested and accused of conspiring with Chen Jun, another defendant who was convicted last month and sentenced to 20 months in prison for acting as an agent for the Chinese government, according to the Associated Press.
Although the candidate for which Sun worked for is not named in the court documents, the New York Times reported that the candidate named as "Individual 1" in the documents is Eileen Wang, a Chinese American who ran for Arcadia City Council in 2022. Sun worked as Wang’s treasurer for the 2022 run.
Wang is still on the city council and is identified as a Democrat in her campagin filings during her 2022 run, but has not been accused of any wrongdoing.
The 71-year-old Chen, who is also a foreign national of China, pleaded guilty to using money to bribe federal agents in an effort to undermine Falun Gong, spiritual group that is built around anti-CCP values. Sun as well as Chen are also charged with conspiring to impact elections.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry on Friday claimed that the country “never interferes in the internal affairs of other countries" and was not familiar with the case. According to charging documents, Chen told Sun to report in 2023 on how they got an elected official in office in California. The report detailed that the politician that was pushed by the pair was a "new political star" in the state.
"This case is yet another example of a very disturbing trend: the People’s Republic of China is seeking to influence foreign and domestic policy in the United States,” US Attorney Martin Estrada told reporters. "To do so, government officials in China are seeking to help get elected individuals who they see as being friendly to Chinese foreign policy.
The charges against Sun come as heightened concerns about China's influence in America has grown. This past week, a Chinese spy also pleaded guilty to running a secret Chinese police station in Manhattan.
