Inside China’s intelligence operation in L.A. County

It was no secret that authorities believed the Chinese government intended to infiltrate state and local governments across America.

For years, the FBI has warned cities and police agencies about foreign actors potentially trying to influence politics. Two years ago, U.S. intelligence officials issued a bulletin stating that the Chinese were collecting information about local officials.

Now, federal prosecutors allege that one Chinese spy operation was underway in the San Gabriel Valley, with the aim of gaining political allies to the country’s cause. The scope of the operation remains unclear, but court documents and sources familiar with the probe said at least one local council member was caught up in the alleged scheme.

The indictment is more a window into routine municipal politics than the stuff of an international spy thriller.

But experts say the case sheds light on Chinese tactics and the scope of how they are attempting to gain influence in America.

Horace Frank, the former assistant chief of the Los Angeles Police Department who oversaw the counterterrorism bureau, said the Chinese government understands that local politicians — even with their limited current roles — may rise to become more influential over time.

“They play a long game,” he said. “They don’t look for a big bang right away. They are going to build from the ground up.”

Authorities allege that a Chino Hills man was helping the Chinese government by working to elect an individual to the Arcadia City Council that the government thought would help them advance policies favorable to the People’s Republic of China in Southern California.

Yaoning “Mike” Sun, 64, was charged with acting as an illegal agent of a foreign power and conspiring with another man — John Chen — who had been plotting to target U.S.-based practitioners of Falun Gong, a spiritual practice banned in China. Chen was sentenced last month to 20 months in prison in a separate case for acting as an unregistered agent of the People’s Republic of China and bribing an Internal Revenue Service agent in New York.

In a criminal complaint, prosecutors allege that Chen had propped Sun and the council member up to Chinese officials as part of a “team dedicated for us.” Chen told government officials that Sun had been his “helping hand in the Chinese community since 1997.”

The complaint does not provide much detail about the activities or suggest how successful their efforts were.

But Frank said it fits a pattern. Chinese government surrogates have been known to inject themselves into city halls in small cities and will often offer up money to help with local projects such as building police substations to garner goodwill, he said.

“They do all these little things here as another way to get a foothold into these communities,” he said, adding that in suburban cities with large Chinese American communities it’s sometimes easier for them to slide into the political scene.

According to the criminal complaint, Sun referred to the council member in messages to Chinese officials as a “new political star.” While the U.S. attorney’s office has declined to identify the politician — identified only as Individual 1 in court records — sources with knowledge of the investigation confirmed to The Times the person is Arcadia Councilmember Eileen Wang.

Arcadia Councilmember Eileen Wang at City Hall.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Wang, who was elected in 2022, has not been charged with any crime and it is not clear whether she was aware of Chen or Sun’s alleged ties to China. Prosecutors emphasized they are continuing to investigate the case.

Sun, Chen nor Wang could be reached for comment.

Chen instructed Sun to make a list of U.S. politicians that Individual 1 is familiar with, noting that “the more the better, the higher position the better.” This, Chen said, would be “very effective to elevate [Individual 1]’s status in China.” He also instructed him to add pictures of the council member campaigning, her picture with an unnamed U.S. congressperson and the People’s Republic of China ambassador to the United States, according to the complaint.

Experts say it’s the latest red flag.

Last year, the House Ethics Committee closed a two-year investigation into allegations that Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Dublin) had ties to a suspected Chinese spy, Christine Fang, who had worked as a volunteer on his congressional campaign.

In closing the probe, the ethics committee wrote in a letter to Swalwell that it had “previously reviewed allegations of improper influence by foreign agents and in doing so, cautioned that Members should be conscious of the possibility that foreign governments may attempt to secure improper influence through gifts and other interactions.”

According to the Associated Press, Fang came into contact with Swalwell’s campaign as he was first running for Congress in 2012. She also participated in fundraising for his 2014 campaign and helped place an intern in his office, the report said. Federal investigators alerted Swalwell to their concerns — and briefed Congress — about Fang in 2015, at which point the California Democrat says he cut off contact with her, AP reported in 2021.

Earlier this year, federal authorities charged a woman who had served as a senior deputy to two New York governors with being a Chinese agent working to push that government’s agenda. Prosecutors alleged that Linda Sun’s actions included preventing representatives of the Taiwanese government from having access to the governor’s office, eliminating references to Taiwan from state communications and blocking meetings between Taiwanese officials and state leaders.

Rep. Eric Swalwell

(Tom Williams / CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images)

Federal authorities said they are focusing more resources in these areas.

In May 2019, the FBI’s Foreign Influence Task Force added a unit aimed at countering China’s political influence in the U.S.

China “understands that U.S. state and local leaders enjoy a degree of independence from Washington and may seek to use them as proxies to advocate for national U.S. policies Beijing desires,” the National Counterintelligence and Security Center said in a bulletin distributed to local officials nationwide.

“They look to cultivate talent early — often state and local officials — to ensure that politicians at all levels of government will be ready to take a call and advocate on behalf of Beijing’s agenda,” FBI Director Christopher A. Wray said during a speech at the Reagan Presidential Library in 2022.

In Los Angeles, the criminal complaint indicates that the Chinese government’s attempt at influence went beyond the San Gabriel Valley. But the success of the effort remains unclear.

On Oct. 9, 2022, Chen sent a People’s Republic of China official the name and picture of a local politician identified in court documents only as a former L.A. County supervisor. He wrote that the politician is “friendly to China. Will chat with him and his wife when back.”

Four days later, the official told Chen that they had briefed the “leader of our line in Beijing” about the earlier discussion noting that the “higher ups do confirm your capability and influence” and said when it’s official there will be “monetary support.”

“Regarding the line you mentioned about the county supervisor, they will approve the current county supervisor, but not the former county supervisor,” the Chinese official wrote. “I personally agree that we can go through the current one from the former one, so we internally are willing to provide the preliminary funding for you to socialize with the former county supervisor, but not a lot at once, it will be enough for meals and conference …”

The official added that if Chen was able to connect with the current supervisor it was likely that the support would increase, according to their communications detailed in the criminal complaint.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.