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VOL 39 NO 49 DECEMBER 5 – DECEMBER 11, 2020
Political fight brewing over Neera Tanden, Biden’s OMB nominee By ZEKE MILLER and ANDREW TAYLOR WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — President-elect Joe Biden’s pick to lead the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is quickly emerging as a political battle that could disrupt his efforts to swiftly fill out his administration. Neera Tanden would be the first woman of color and the first South Asian woman to oversee OMB. Some Republicans are expressing doubt that Tanden could be confirmed by the Senate after she spent years attacking GOP lawmakers on social media—and many panned the choice. Arkansas Republican Sen. Tom Cotton claimed Tanden’s rhetoric was “Filled with hate & guided by the woke left.” Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn said Tanden’s “combative
FREE 38 YEARS YOUR VOICE
Biden and China: Guarded optimism from local Chinese leaders
President-elect Joe Biden
Gary Locke
By Mahlon Meyer NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY Neera Tanden
and insulting comments” about Republican senators created “certainly a problematic path.” He called her “maybe (Biden’s) worst see TANDEN on 12
Amazon Fresh uses bins that would have been marked up 25% because of tariffs imposed by the Trump administration. But Ben Zhang, whose company Greater Pacific Industries imports them, last year shifted operations to Cambodia, where he could obtain them duty-free. He also found new supply chains in Vietnam, the Philippines, Burma, and Taiwan.
Ben Zhang
“I cannot predict the future,” he said in an interview with Northwest Asian Weekly. “But we are hopeful that President-elect Biden will lift the tariffs soon.” Like other local notaries, whether in trade or politics, many have strong but guarded optimism for how a Biden administration will bring stability and mutual growth back to China-U.S. relations. see BIDEN on 9
Volunteers needed to deliver Prosecutors: Hate groceries, hot meals in CID crimes on the rise in King County
“Due to COVID, we have seen hate crimes cases come in against Asian Americans”
Seattle-International District Rotary Club members Judy Ginn, David Della, David Goldsmith, and Henry Wong along with Bethany Burton and Meghan Cannon from Washington Alarm
SEATTLE — On the day before Thanksgiving, members and friends of the Seattle International District Rotary Club helped pick up and deliver groceries and hot meals to hundreds of residents across the Chinatown-International District (CID). Club members Judy Ginn, David Della, David Goldsmith, and Henry Wong, along with Bethany Burton and Meghan Cannon from Washington Alarm, volunteered alongside other organizations and community supporters. This work was in support of coordinated efforts between Asian Counseling and Referral Service and Seattle Chinatown International District Preservation and Development Agency to provide weekly grocery and meal deliveries to CID residents in need. These critical grocery and meal
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deliveries have been ongoing since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in March. If you want to support these organizations with providing no-contact grocery and meal deliveries, email Club President Henry Wong at henry.n.wong.tn@gmail.com, or Membership Chair and SCIDpda Board Member David Della at ddella03@gmail.com. Volunteers are needed to either pick up groceries or meals and drive them to designated CID buildings, or to meet the drivers in the CID and make door-todoor deliveries inside the buildings (delivery carts and PPE provided). Volunteer support is needed each Friday from 11 a.m.–1 p.m. and on two Wednesdays (Dec. 23 and Dec. 30).
SEATTLE (AP) — Two years ago, there were 30 hate crimes in King County, and last year that number was 38, but so far in 2020, the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office has handled 51 hate crime cases. One case happened last month in Federal Way. Police say two white men chased a Black man in their cars for more than 10 miles, KING 5 reported. The defendants accused the man of a hit and run, and when they caught him, they began beating him and yelling racial
epithets, according to police. The man had to be hospitalized. “By far the most common victims for hate crimes in Seattle are African Americans and gay men,” said David Bannick. He and Leandra Craft are the deputy prosecuting attorneys who focus on hate crime cases for King County. The pandemic has contributed to the rise in hate crimes in King County, they said. “Due to COVID, we have see HATE CRIMES on 12
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