LOS ANGELES - A Chino Hills man will serve four years in federal prison after admitting to orchestrating a sophisticated influence campaign on behalf of the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
Yaoning "Mike" Sun leveraged his role as a campaign advisor to help elect a local official while reporting directly to PRC intelligence figures, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Central District of California.
What we know:
Between 2022 and early 2024, Sun worked at the direction of PRC government officials without registering with the U.S. Attorney General.
His activities included "orchestrating" the election of an individual identified as "Individual 1" to a Southern California city council in November 2022.
Sun and "Individual 1" also operated a local Chinese-language news website used to disseminate pro-PRC propaganda.
In 2023, Sun conducted surveillance on Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-Wen during her Southern California visit, providing real-time movement updates and photographs of protesters to PRC consular officials.
Court documents reveal Sun was the "right-hand man" to John Chen, a high-level member of the PRC intelligence apparatus who previously met with President Xi Jinping.
What they're saying:
"Federal law enforcement will not allow hostile foreign nations to infiltrate the governance of our nation’s political bodies," said First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli.
"When Americans vote for elected officials, they expect them to represent the interests of their constituents – not those of a foreign adversary like the Chinese government," said Assistant Director Roman Rozhavsky of the FBI's Counterintelligence and Espionage Division.
"By exploiting his position as a campaign advisor, Yaoning Sun attempted to undermine our political processes and democratic institutions for the benefit of the Chinese Communist Party."
What's next:
Sun will begin serving his 48-month sentence following the ruling.
While Sun's primary co-conspirator, John Chen, was sentenced to 20 months in 2024, federal authorities continue to monitor for similar foreign influence operations targeting local and midterm elections.
The Source: This report is based on official court documents and sentencing memorandums released by the Department of Justice following the proceedings in the Central District of California.