California campaign manager charged as alleged Chinese foreign agent

The charges filed against Yaoning “Mike” Sun followed those against a former aide to two New York governors, Linda Sun, in September.

A Chinese national was arrested Thursday on charges of acting as an illegal agent for Beijing when serving as the campaign manager for an unnamed politician elected to a city council in Southern California two years ago.

The arrest of Yaoning “Mike” Sun, 64, came at a time of rising concerns that the Chinese government has cultivated a network of operatives to influence local elections in the U.S. to install politicians who are friendly to Beijing and can help promote Chinese interests.

According to a complaint filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, Sun is accused of conspiring with Chen Jun, who was sentenced to 20 months last month for acting as an illegal agent of the Chinese government.

Chen, 71, also a Chinese national, pleaded guilty in July to using Chinese money to bribe federal agents to undermine the anti-Beijing spiritual group Falun Gong. The charge against Sun shows that Chen also conspired to interfere with local elections.

It wasn’t immediately clear if Sun had a lawyer who could speak on his behalf.

Sun was instructed by Chen to write up a report in 2023 to recount to Chinese officials how they helped the local politician get elected, according to the affidavit. Subsequent writings between the two men described the city councilperson as a “new political star” and included a request for $80,000 to fund more pro-Beijing activities in the United States, according to the court documents.

Chen asked Sun to list all the mainstream American politicians the city councilperson was familiar with and told Sun that it would be “very effective to elevate” the status of the councilperson in China.

“This case is yet another example of a very disturbing trend: the People’s Republic of China is seeking to influence foreign and domestic policy in the United States,” Martin Estrada, U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, said in a call with reporters. “To do so, government officials in China are seeking to help get elected individuals who they see as being friendly to Chinese foreign policy.”