The Department of Justice has sentenced a man to 48 months in federal prison for “acting as an illegal agent of the People’s Republic of China (PRC).” Notably, Yaoning “Mike” Sun, 65, of Chino Hills, is the alleged former fiancé of a Southern California mayor. Sun worked as a campaign advisor and treasurer for Arcadia Mayor Eileen Wang while she was running for a city council seat. “Federal law enforcement will not allow hostile foreign nations to infiltrate the governance of our nation’s political bodies,” said First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli. “The relentlessness of PRC intelligence operations in our country must be met by equal relentlessness on our part to secure, protect, and defend the United States,” he added. Wang has not been accused of any wrongdoing. More below: NEW: Eileen Wang, the Democrat Mayor of Arcadia, CA, is under fire after her alleged former fiancé and campaign advisor was CONVICTED for being a Chinese spy. Yaoning Sun, the Chinese spy who helped Wang get elected, was sentenced to 4 years in prison for being an illegal agent… pic.twitter.com/ND8wXiXOgA — Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) February 18, 2026 CBS News explained further: Sun pleaded guilty in October 2025 to one count of acting as an illegal agent of a foreign government from at least 2022 to January 2024, when he “knowingly acted within the United States as an agent” of China, without notifying the attorney general, according to a news release from the Department of Justice. Sun, 55, worked with a person referred to as “Individual 1” from 2020 through 2023 to “operate a purported news website for the local Chinese American community,” while receiving and executing directives from the PRC government to “post pro-PRC content,” the release said. He also worked as a campaign advisor for Individual 1, who was running for a city council seat in an undisclosed city. The person was elected to the city council in November 2022. Wang commented on her relationship with Sun during a council meeting in December 2022. “To my fiancé, Mike Sun, who walked streets with me every single day, who is a real leader of me,” Wang said. After Sun was charged, Wang tried to distance herself from him. “No. 1, he’s not my fiancé,” Wang said in September 2025. “Whoever wants to say he’s my former fiancé, please prove it.” “When Americans vote for elected officials, they expect them to represent the interests of their constituents – not those of a foreign adversary like the Chinese government,” said Assistant Director Roman Rozhavsky of the FBI’s Counterintelligence and Espionage Division. “By exploiting his position as a campaign advisor, Yaoning Sun attempted to undermine our political processes and democratic institutions for the benefit of the Chinese Communist Party. Today’s sentencing underscores the unwavering commitment of the FBI and our partners to defending the homeland and holding accountable anyone who tries to subvert the will of American voters at the behest of our adversaries,” he continued. More from the New York Post: Court records also show that during the April 2023 visit of then-Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen to Southern California, Sun closely monitored her movements and reported directly to PRC consular officials. Sun and Wang — who went on to get engaged — were also closely linked through business ventures. They are registered together on filings for the American Southwest Chamber of Commerce, an association meant to promote communication among Chinese Americans in the Southwest, and Sun ran a media site with Wang called US News Center. Wang has not been charged, and sources said there is no evidence she knew about Sun’s espionage activities. But the affair and business connections highlight how Sun leveraged intimate access to advance Beijing’s influence in local politics.