The American mayor accused of working for China
The Global Story
BBC
3.8 • 667 Ratings
🗓️ 18 May 2026
⏱️ 27 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The mayor of the Californian city of Arcadia has agreed to plead guilty to charges she acted as an illegal agent for China. Prosecutors say Eileen Wang was directly co-ordinating with a Chinese official to disseminate news stories downplaying human rights concerns in China, with the aim of trying to influence US government and public opinion.
US authorities say the extent of China’s covert activity and espionage in the United States goes well beyond this case. According to the FBI, Chinese counterintelligence and espionage efforts are a “grave threat to the economic well-being and democratic values of the United States”.
We speak to Andrew Badger, former CIA case officer and co-author of The Great Heist: China's Epic Campaign to Steal America's Secrets.
Producer: Viv Jones and Lucy Pawle Executive producer: James Shield Sound engineer: Travis Evans Senior news editor: China Collins
(Photo: Eileen Wang. Credit: City of Arcadia City Hall/ Reuters)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts. |
| 0:06.1 | Thank President Xi, my friend, for this magnificent welcome. |
| 0:11.9 | And it really was a magnificent welcome like none other. |
| 0:15.9 | Last week was all about America in China. |
| 0:20.4 | And today's story on the global story is about China in America. |
| 0:24.4 | This morning, growing national security concerns after a Democratic mayor in California admitted to |
| 0:29.8 | secretly working for China. |
| 0:31.8 | Eileen Wang was the mayor of Arcadia, California. It's a small city just outside of L.A. |
| 0:37.1 | She'd been in the job for only |
| 0:38.9 | three months when last Monday she abruptly resigned. Federal prosecutors say former Arcadia mayor, |
| 0:46.6 | Eileen Wang pushed pro Beijing propaganda and worked with a convicted Chinese agent to operate a fake |
| 0:52.5 | news site in the U.S. She has resigned from office and could face up to 10 years in prison. |
| 0:58.2 | A few days later, we got another intriguing story. |
| 1:02.1 | We are falling some breaking news right now, and the man accused of running a secret police |
| 1:05.7 | precinct in Chinatown was convicted of obstruction of justice. |
| 1:10.6 | A 64-year-old man in New York, a U.S. citizen, was convicted of obstruction of justice. |
| 1:16.4 | A 64-year-old man in New York, a U.S. citizen, was convicted of running what's been described as a secret Chinese police station. |
| 1:19.9 | Prosecutors accused Liu Jean-Wang of acting as an unsanctioned agent of the Chinese government. |
| 1:28.8 | At least 100 similar stations have been reported across several countries. |
| 1:35.8 | Rights groups have accused China of using these stations to threaten and monitor Chinese |
| 1:41.6 | nationals abroad, especially pro-democracy activists. |
| 1:47.8 | No, China denies this. |
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