The long shadow of Chinese foreign influence looms over California

Eileen Wang, the mayor of Arcadia until last week, was forced to resign, pleading guilty to federal charges of acting as an unregistered agent of the People’s Republic of China.She previously co-ran a fake news site dressed up as a community resource for Chinese Americans.They copy-pasted propaganda from Beijing handlers —  including cheerful denials of atrocities — and bragged about the clicks.It was almost comically straightforward: Propaganda in, influence out.That’s the genius —  and the gall — of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) playbook.They don’t need to hack voting machines when they can simply shape what voters read and believe in California’s San Gabriel Valley, the San Francisco Bay Area, or anywhere else they can reach.Chinese immigrant communities, often tight-knit and linguistically insular, become prime targets for “ethnic media” that look local but march to Beijing’s tune.Gullible populations are exploited because they trust outlets and leaders who speak their language and claim to represent their interests.When those outlets are secretly directed by a foreign authoritarian regime, trust erodes, one article at a time.The legal tripwire in these cases is the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA).

Passed in 1938 to expose Nazi propagandists, FARA demands that anyone acting on behalf of a foreign government register with the Department of Justice, disclose their funding, and label their materials as foreign-directed.It’s a transparency law, not a ban.But the CCP and its United Front Work Department (UFWD) treat FARA like optional paperwork.

Why register when you can launder influence through romantic partners, community websites, and sympathetic officials?The Eileen Wang case perfectly illustrates how this influence works on the ground.Propaganda doesn’t just float in the ether; it molds perceptions.Readers absorb Beijing’s version of Taiwan, human rights, US-China relations, Israel, Hamas, Gaza, Iran, Trump, Republi...