California man charged with acting as Chinese agent to influence local election

FILE PHOTO (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato)

LOS ANGELES – A Southern California man was arrested Thursday on federal charges for allegedly acting on behalf of the People’s Republic of China to influence a local city council election.

Yaoning “Mike” Sun, 64, of Chino Hills was arrested without incident and is expected to make his initial appearance Thursday afternoon in downtown Los Angeles, according to the US Department of Justice.

A criminal complaint filed in LA federal court charges Sun with acting as an illegal agent of a foreign power.

He is also charged with conspiring with another man, Chen Jun, who was sentenced to federal prison last month for acting as an illegal agent of the PRC government and plotting to target US-based practitioners of Falun Gong, a spiritual practice banned in China, federal prosecutors said.

According to the complaint, Sun served as the campaign manager and close personal confidante for an unnamed Southern California politician who was running for city council of a city in the area — not named in court papers — in 2022.

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During the campaign, Sun allegedly communicated with Chen regarding his efforts to get the politician elected. Chen discussed with Chinese government officials how the PRC could “influence” local politicians in the United States, particularly on the issue of Taiwan, according to the complaint.

In November 2022, shortly after the politician was elected to the city council, Chen instructed Sun to prepare a report on the election that was sent to Chinese government officials, who responded positively and expressed thanks, according to the complaint affidavit.

Chen also sent a message to the newly elected politician stating that the politician was “doing a good job, I hope you can continue the good work, make Chinese people proud,” the affidavit states.

About a month after the election, Chen arranged a lunch at a Rowland Heights restaurant with Sun and others, a gathering that Chen described to a PRC official as a “core member lunch,” the affidavit alleges.

Court papers allege Chen subsequently described the lunch as “successful” as participants agreed to establish a “US-China Friendship Promotional Association.”

While the politician did not attend the meeting, Chen described him as being part of the association and Sun serving as vice president. “This is the basic team dedicated for us,” Chen wrote to the Chinese government official, prosecutors allege.

“This case highlights the breadth of the PRC’s relentless intelligence and malign influence activities targeting the United States,” according to a statement from Akil Davis, assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office.

Early last year, Sun and Chen drafted two reports to PRC officials — one of which requested an $80,000 budget to fund additional pro-PRC activities and to combat “anti-China forces” in the United States, the DOJ alleges.

After Chen and Sun discussed a planned trip to the PRC to meet with “leadership,” and after Chen directed Sun to schedule a meeting with the Chinese consul general in Los Angeles, Sun and the city council member traveled to China in late August 2023, according to federal prosecutors.

The charge of acting as an illegal agent of a foreign government carries a sentence of up to 10 years in federal prison, while the offense of conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States carries a possible sentence of up to five years, prosecutors noted. (CNS)