Mayor of Californian city resigns over Chinese agent charge

Mayor of Californian city resigns over Chinese agent charge11 minutes agoShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleHenry MooreBBC NewsReutersEileen Wang pictured speaking earlier this year in Arcadia, CaliforniaA mayor of a southern Californian city has resigned after the US Department of Justice (DoJ) charged her with acting as an illegal agent of China.Eileen Wang, 58 - the mayor of Arcadia - agreed to plead guilty to the felony count and Arcadia City Council said she resigned from her post on Monday.Wang could face a sentence of up to 10 years in prison. Her lawyers, Jason Liang and Brian Sun, said in a statement on her behalf that "she apologises and is sorry for the mistakes she has made in her personal life".First assistant US attorney Bill Essayli said: "This plea agreement is the latest success in our determination to defend the homeland against China's efforts to corrupt our institutions"."Individuals in our country who covertly do the bidding of foreign governments undermine our democracy," Essayli added.Wang is accused of following directions from Chinese officials, according to the DoJ, including sharing favourable articles about Beijing without informing the US government, as required by law.She was elected to the Arcadia City Council in November 2022 - a five-member governing body where each member takes on the role of mayor on a rotating basis.Washington dinner shooting suspect pleads not guiltyWang accepts responsibility for "past personal mistakes", she said in a statement via her lawyers, according to the AP news agency."Her love and devotion for the Arcadia community have not changed and did not waver," the statement added.According to the DoJ, Wang worked alongside Yaoning "Mike" Sun, 65, to operate US News Center - a website that claimed to be a news source for Chinese Americans living in Arcadia.An example used by the DoJ points to a Chinese government official sending Wang pre-written n...