In L.A.’s ‘Chinese Beverly Hills,’ fighting back against Chinese communist infiltration

With its top-tier schools, large residential lots and quiet living, generations of wealthy Chinese families have seen Arcadia as an ideal location to build a life in the United States.

The influx of investment and dedicated citizenry has helped the San Gabriel Valley suburb flourish economically and culturally, earning it the nickname the “Chinese Beverly Hills.” Asian people, including many Chinese, make up the largest slice — roughly 59% — of the city’s population of 54,000, according to the latest census.

“In the San Gabriel Valley, many of the cities that have done very well have done well because of immigration from Asia,” Arcadia Mayor Paul Cheng said in an interview with The Times. “Arcadia has done very well.”

But after months of scandal over a former council member accused of acting as an illegal agent of China, residents and city leaders are trying to reset the relationship and impose safeguards.

Many in Arcadia were shocked the Chinese government would try to wield influence in small-town politics. But there was also anger that such corruption is alleged to have occurred there.

“I think all of us are very sad over the issue, confused, and all of us feel bamboozled,” Cheng said during a study session this month. “But at the same time, I do not want fear, uncertainty or doubt to stop our city from moving forward.”

In response, Arcadia officials this month began what they say is a pioneering effort to determine how to protect local municipalities from influence by foreign governments. It comes at a time when federal investigators are continuing to probe the ways the Chinese government has made inroads into local governments and with elected officials across Southern California.

Possible guidelines, which are expected to return to the council for consideration in September, include more scrutiny on requests for certificates and ceremonies from foreign organizations or governments, training for officials on how to recognize potential influence efforts and an official policy on engaging with foreign governments or officials.

“There isn’t a playbook that’s given to council members,” Cheng said in an interview with The Times. “We are hoping that we can turn what has been a negative into a positive and hopefully be somewhat of a pioneer on how cities our size can be able to improve the safeguards that are in place.”

Some wanted the city to take it a step further, enhancing residency requirements for council members and running background checks on candidates, a move that the city attorney said would probably be illegal.

Most jurisdictions confirm only basic qualifications for holding office including age, residency and voter registration. In Arcadia, City Council candidates must be at least 18 years old, a California resident, a registered city voter and a resident of the district they seek to represent.

Absent a background check, Councilmember Sharon Kwan suggested during this month’s study session that council candidates answer a questionnaire about whether they or any of their family members are connected to a foreign government.

“If you want to elect someone knowing they have someone that’s connected, it’s the voters’ choice,” she said. “We have the duty to have transparency here.”

It’s not clear whether any of the suggestions would have raised a red flag in the case of former Councilwoman Eileen Wang.

Wang, a U.S. citizen who was elected to the Arcadia City Council in 2022, stepped down in May after agreeing to plead guilty to acting as an illegal agent of China. The city of Arcadia wrote in a public statement after she resigned that “no city finances, staff or decision-making processes were involved” in the charges against her.

From late 2020 through at least 2022, Wang worked with Yaoning “Mike” Sun, her ex-fiance, to run a website called U.S. News Center that branded itself as a news source for Chinese Americans, according to a plea agreement filed in federal court. Prosecutors said both Wang and Sun took direction from Chinese government officials to post articles and report back on how many people viewed the stories.

On Aug. 20, 2021, after being complimented for a post that was viewed more than 15,000 times, Wang responded to a Chinese official: “Thank you leader,” according to the plea agreement. Authorities said Wang never disclosed that the Chinese government had directed her to post specific content.

Prosecutors accused Sun and the Chinese government of cultivating Wang in hopes that she would rise in politics and help them strengthen China’s influence in California.

Former Rep. Mike Garcia (R-Santa Clarita), chairman of the nonprofit research institute America First California, said that strategy has been part of China’s long game of influence in the United States for years.

“If they put a chip on every number, meaning if they make contact with almost every elected official, one of those officials is going to move on and rise to a higher position of power,” he said. “If they’re successful in compromising them at the lowest level, they’re probably going to be very successful in compromising them when they get promoted to a federal job like Congress.”

“It may look like an innocuous thing … [that] it’s just a mayor from Arcadia,” Garcia said. “But there’s a lot of cases where mayors turn out to be senators or governors.”

Garcia said foreign influence is something that local governments should be training their elected officials and staff members to watch for.

“The bottom line is that this has been a pervasive problem, it remains a pervasive problem,” Garcia said. “I think there are more cases just like this. China is probably the most aggressive in terms of their efforts to infiltrate and affect and influence not just our politics, but our regulations, our industry, our economy, our culture, our schools, our national security, frankly, at all levels.”

Sun also pleaded guilty to charges that accused him of secretly working for China and was sentenced this year to four years in prison. Wang faces up to 10 years in prison during her sentencing hearing scheduled for October.

In the months that followed Wang’s guilty plea, federal investigations into allegations of public corruption and foreign influence have expanded across Southern California.

The FBI last month searched the homes and businesses of a San Bernardino County supervisor, an Ontario City Council member and a well-known Chinese media producer based in West Covina. No criminal charges have been filed and federal authorities have declined to provide specifics on the investigation.

In Arcadia, the situation has put residents on edge. Some have demanded the city more thoroughly investigate whether municipal finances or policies were compromised and enact safeguards.

“I think everyone, regardless of their political party or local alignments, should be deeply concerned that our leaders are vulnerable to outside foreign manipulation,” said resident MJ Finstrom. “It should be the one thing we can all unite on and fight against.”

It has also created tension for the immigrant population that calls Arcadia home. Cheng said he’s heard from Chinese residents who believe they’ll be looked at with more suspicion because of Wang’s case.

“They’ve always been looked at a little bit differently,” he said. “And so now they’re looked at extremely differently and they almost feel like they have to justify their existence. I’ve been telling people that what happened is an issue that occurred with an American who happens to be Chinese.

“It’s not an issue that Chinese Americans are all tainted,” he said. “It’s something we have to accept: Foreign influence occurs regardless of color.”