A federal criminal complaint alleges that Yaoning "Mike" Sun sent reports to Beijing while managing the campaign of a city council candidate who won election in 2022.
A Chinese national was arrested Thursday on charges of serving as an unregistered foreign agent for China while working as a campaign manager in a local election -- a case that U.S. Justice Department officials described as part of a "disturbing" trend of the Chinese government attempting to place pro-Beijing candidates in power.
According to a criminal complaint filed on Thursday, Yaoning "Mike" Sun, 64 -- a well-known cultural figure within the Chinese diaspora -- is accused of sending reports to Chinese government officials while managing the campaign of a California city council candidate who won election in 2022.
Martin Estrada, U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, said in a call with reporters the city council member is unnamed because "that person is not yet charged." He said that the investigation is ongoing and that they expect further facts to come to light.
The complaint said that both Sun and the city council member were directly in contact with a man sentenced last month on federal charges of acting as a foreign agent for China. That man -- Chen "John" Jun, 71 -- was sentenced in November to 20 months in prison for attempting to bribe IRS officials as part of a scheme led by the Chinese government.
The complaint also alleges that Sun requested $80,000 in funding from Chinese government agents to support his and Chen's efforts to promote Chinese interests in the United States and suppress anti-Beijing groups, including those in support of Taiwan independence.
"The People's Republic of China is seeking to influence foreign and domestic policies in the United States. To do so, government officials in China are seeking to help get elected individuals who they see as being friendly to Chinese foreign policy," said Estrada.
Sun is charged with acting as an unregistered foreign agent on behalf of the Chinese government, a charge distinct from espionage as it generally does not involve the collection of sensitive information and thus carries significantly lower penalties.
Recently, there has been a surge in similar charges brought against individuals in the Chinese diaspora. Linda Sun, a former senior aide to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) and former governor Andrew M. Cuomo, was arrested in September and charged with acting as an unregistered agent on behalf of the Chinese government. On Wednesday, one of two men arrested in 2023 and accused of illegally operating a secret Chinese police station in New York pleaded guilty, also on charges of acting as an unregistered foreign agent.
In the lead up to this year's presidential election, U.S. intelligence officials warned that Beijing was increasingly targeting downballot state and local races with influence operations.
Thursday's complaint lays out how Sun -- at Chen's request -- compiled reports that were passed on to an unnamed "boss" via the United Front, a Chinese Communist Party organization that works through diaspora communities to influence people and policy in favor of Beijing.
Chen, whose phone was seized in his 2023 arrest, also held multiple extended phone calls with the unnamed city council member. In one message he said he hoped the newly elected official would "make Chinese people proud."
Estrada said that in discussions between Chen and Sun, they described the council member as a "new political star."
"It's definitely a long game approach that we are seeing from the People's Republic of China ... their goal was to get people elected in this country and also promote those people so they could rise through the political system," said Estrada.
According to the complaint, Sun also solicited funds from the Chinese government to stage pro-China exhibits at high-profile U.S. events. Sun, in his request to Chinese agents, argued the funding was necessary to counter the influence of "ceaseless ... anti-China forces," including supporters of Taiwanese and Xinjiang independence. He requested $80,000 to fund and train a 100-person drum band to participate in the July Fourth parade in Washington, D.C. in 2024.
If convicted, Sun faces a maximum of ten years in prison, though similar cases have yielded much shorter sentences.