Last month, federal prosecutors charged Arcadia, California, Mayor Eileen Wang with acting as an agent of the People’s Republic of China in one of the most foreign influence cases in American history. But that scandal is just the latest evidence that the Chinese Communist Party has gained a foothold in the country’s most populous state.
According to a statement from the Department of Justice (DOJ), Wang, who was elected in 2022, spent years distributing Chinese government propaganda without disclosing that she was acting as an agent of the PRC. Prosecutors say Wang worked with Yaoning “Mike” Sun – her fiancé – between 2020 and 2022 at the direction of Chinese government officials while operating a website that presented itself as a news source for Chinese Americans.
Chinese officials supplied Wang and Sun with articles defending Beijing’s policies, including denials of forced labor and genocide allegations in Xinjiang. Wang allegedly posted the material to the site, coordinated with Chinese officials through WeChat, and edited articles at their request.
Wang pleaded guilty in an L.A. courtroom last week. A judge will sentence her this October, and she faces up to ten years in prison. As CNN reported, Sun is serving a four-year sentence after he pleaded guilty to the same charge last October. He was also listed in campaign filings as the treasurer for Wang’s 2022 campaign.
It is alarming, to say the least, that a sitting California mayor worked with Chinese officials to circulate foreign propaganda from inside the United States. But Wang’s case is not some one-off incident. California – and California Democrats – have been popping up for years in counterintelligence investigations involving Chinese political influence, technology theft, and espionage operations.
Beijing systematically targets diaspora communities, elected officials, and centers of innovation. California – with its huge Chinese American population, world-class tech sector, and powerful politicians – offers uniquely rich targets for these influence operations.
Perhaps the most infamous story broke in 2020, when Axios reported that suspected Chinese intelligence operative Christine Fang, also known as “Fang Fang,” spent years building relationships inside California political circles. According to Axios, Fang attended campaign events, worked through campus organizations, helped fundraise for politicians, and cultivated local officials whom Beijing viewed as promising long-term prospects.
Her best-known connection was then-Rep. Eric Swalwell of California – who sat on the powerful House Intelligence Committee while Fang was in his orbit. Axios reported that Fang participated in fundraising activity connected to Swalwell’s 2014 reelection campaign and helped place at least one intern in his congressional office.
Fang also interacted with several other California politicians over the years, appearing at political events alongside figures including Ro Khanna, Judy Chu, and Mike Honda.
FBI investigators eventually grew concerned enough about Fang’s activities to brief Swalwell around 2015, after which he cut ties with her. Amid the FBI probe, Fang suddenly returned to China. But Swalwell has refused to publicly answer basic questions about the nature of his relationship with Fang – or what sensitive information he may have relayed to her.
California’s political class has seen this problem before at much higher levels.
In 2018, CBS San Francisco reported that a longtime staffer for Sen. Dianne Feinstein had provided information to Chinese intelligence officials. The employee reportedly worked for Feinstein for roughly 20 years as a driver, office aide, and liaison to the Bay Area’s Chinese American community. CBS reported that he also attended events at the Chinese consulate on Feinstein’s behalf.
The FBI reportedly informed the senator that the staffer had been tied to Chinese intelligence activity, and Feinstein fired him.
Former FBI agent Jeff Harp told CBS at the time that Chinese intelligence services maintained a strong interest in Bay Area politics, technology, trade secrets, and Silicon Valley research. Silicon Valley houses many of the world’s most important technology and AI firms. Major universities conduct sensitive research with commercial and military applications. Los Angeles and San Francisco connect the United States to Pacific trade networks. And California politicians often move on to the national stage – with the most recent example being former Vice President Kamala Harris.
The methods of Chinese espionage rarely resemble cliché spy movies. Fang moved through student associations, civic groups, fundraisers, mayoral conferences, and community organizations. That may explain why these operations often evade scrutiny for years. They blend into environments that already revolve around networking, access, fundraising, international business relationships, and community outreach.
But what makes California an even more attractive target for Chinese espionage is the fact that it is run entirely by Democrats. The state’s liberal leaders have made it a perfect target for Beijing’s influence machine.
In a political culture obsessed with identity politics, Democrats are terrified to question the motives, loyalties, or foreign ties of anyone who can claim minority status or community representation. That creates exactly the opening Chinese intelligence operatives need. They can move through civic groups, ethnic organizations, donor networks, and local political circles while anyone who asks hard questions risks being smeared as bigoted or xenophobic.
Meanwhile, sanctuary-state policies mean that Chinese spies smuggled across the border will be protected from deportation. For the CCP, California is not just another target, but a wide-open door.
These cases are not isolated embarrassments or partisan sideshows. They are warnings that America’s largest state has become a major access point for CCP influence inside the United States — and unless leaders are willing to call it out plainly, the threat to national security will only grow.
Sarah Katherine Sisk is a proud Hillsdale College alumna and a master’s student in economics at George Mason University. You can follow her on X @SKSisk76.
