California mayor's ex-fiancé sentenced four years for acting as foreign agent

The mayor of a Southern California city has declined to comment after her former fiancé was sentenced to four years in federal prison for acting as an illegal agent of China.

According to the US Department of Justice, Yaoning 'Mike' Sun, 55, was sentenced last week after pleading guilty to one count of acting as an illegal agent of a foreign government.

Prosecutors said he knowingly acted within the United States on behalf of China from at least 2022 to January 2024 without notifying the attorney general, as required by law, reports CBS News.

Sun, who was previously engaged to Eileen Wang, had also worked as a campaign staffer. During Arcadia’s first city council meeting since his sentencing, Mayor Wang refused to comment on the case.

In a statement, the Department of Justice said Sun worked with another individual between 2020 and 2023 to operate what was described as a news website serving the local Chinese American community.

Authorities said the site published content favourable to the Chinese government under direction from officials in Beijing.

Prosecutors also said Sun acted as a campaign adviser to the same individual, who was elected to a city council seat in November 2022, the outlet reported.