Crisis in Chinese Beverly Hills: Residents fear a backlash after mayor accused of working with China

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Generations of Chinese immigrants have settled in Arcadia, transforming the San Gabriel Valley suburb, a typical bedroom community, into a “Chinese Beverly Hills” with high-end real estate and luxury shopping.But the city’s residents, many of them affluent, learned this week that a prominent local elected official had a relationship with the Chinese government that federal prosecutors said crossed the line into illegal conduct.Authorities this week said Arcadia’s mayor, Eileen Wang, was acting as an illegal foreign agent of China, a situation that has brought both shock and concern.Officials were quick to denounce supposed efforts by the People’s Republic of China to influence U.S.

policy, noting that Wang’s alleged involvement occurred before she was elected to public office.Wang, a U.S.citizen, stepped down from her post on the Arcadia City Council on Monday after entering into a plea agreement with prosecutors over charges that she acted under China’s control to promote propaganda in the U.S.

between 2020 and 2022.The federal case outlines an alleged scheme in which the Chinese used Wang to burnish their country’s image.Experts said it is part of a larger effort by the government to recruit allies in local governments across the United States.In Arcadia and other heavily Asian cities in the San Gabriel Valley, the charges have brought questions about what exactly China is doing, along with alarm about a potential backlash in the United States.“Whenever something like this happens, it causes concerns within the Chinese American community as to whether or not we’re going to become scapegoats,” said Joaquin Lim, who served for 17 years on the Walnut City Council.There is no evidence presented so far of a larger conspiracy among local officials, and some residents fear new anti-Asian sentiment.

Arcadia Deputy City Manager Justine Bruno emphasized in an inte...