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asianweekly northwest
APRIL 2 – APRIL 8, 2022
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CHERRY BLOSSOM from 6 “hanami” or cherry blossom viewing spot northwest of the Imperial Palace, thousands of people viewed the fluffy pale pink flowers while strolling under rows of trees or from rowboats on the palace moat. “I feel like life has finally gotten back to normal. Here in the downtown area, people have waited for this for so long,” Takanori Shiwaku, a 62-year-old cafe owner, said as he admired the blossoms at the park. He said cherry blossoms, which bloom and then fall en TALIBAN from 11 while international sanctions still prohibit dealings with the Taliban. In the ministry’s labyrinthine halls, hopeful investors stand in line, documents ready to stake their claim of Afghanistan’s untapped mineral riches.
CHOE from 1 Choe was in Olympia on March 19 covering a Proud Boys rally and tweeting out a timeline of what was going on. He wrote on Medium: “In a Tweet recapping the day, I decided to create a photo montage with natural sound from the march… One of my videos picked up music blasting from a speaker strapped over the shoulder of one of the protesters. I could not make out the words and had never
masse, connote a sense of pureness. “I wanted to come here for sure this year, and I’m really happy,” said Midori Hayashi, a 75-year-old retiree who has largely stayed at home for the past two years. Cherry blossoms, or “sakura,” are Japan’s favorite flower and usually reach their peak in late March to early April, just as the country celebrates the start of a new school and business year. At many parks, viewers were requested this year not to gather under the trees for drinking parties—a traditional way of celebrating the season—as part of continuing anti-
virus measures. Tokyo reported 7,846 new cases on March 29, more than twice the 3,533 a week earlier, in a resurgence attributed to the new omicron subvariant. Nationwide, Japan logged 29,740 new cases on March 28, up slightly from the previous week, bringing the country’s total to about 6.4 million, including about 28,000 deaths Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike said the increase underscored “the spread of the BA.2 subvariant of omicron that is replacing the existing variant with significant speed.”
Knocking on Rashidi’s office door these days are Russians, Iranians, Turks and of course, the Chinese. All are “in a great hurry to invest,” he said. Chinese interest is “extraordinary,” he said. Ministry revenues have increased exponentially, from $1.2 million in the year preceding the Taliban takeover, to $67
million in the six months since the Taliban assumed power, according to documents seen by the AP. Ironically, it was the Taliban that hindered work in Mes Aynak for over a decade. An MCC official recalled how the road leading to the mine was laden with IEDs targeting Afghan forces and NATO allies.
When his Taliban hosts told him they had restored safety so work could resume, he replied in jest, “Wasn’t it you who was attacking us?” The men, machine-guns slung around their necks, laughed too.
heard this song in my life. I later learned the song is called ‘We’ll Have Our Home Again,” and is sometimes played at white nationalist rallies. This piece was never meant to air on KOMO News and it never did. I wanted it to be a conversation starter, and it sure did incite an unexpected response. In hindsight, I wish I added more context to this Tweet. But before I could clarify or respond to the criticism, my news director told me to take down all my social media related to the Proud Boys march. I
was also told by my boss not to speak to any outside media. The following day, I was fired from KOMO. I’ve been a journalist now for more than 20 years. If there was a Ku Klux Klan rally and cross burning at Seattle Center in downtown, I would be the first person there to cover the event. My job is to present all sides, not just the one that aligns with my values or worldview.” In a statement, KOMO said that it “did not direct or approve Jonathan Choe’s decision to
cover this… rally, nor did his work meet our editorial standards. We decided to end our employment relationship with him.” A source at the station told TVSpy—an aggregator of television industry news—that staffers were complaining about Choe and that this was the “last straw.” The source also said that station photographers felt Choe was putting them in danger when they worked with him.
SOLUTION from SUDOKU on page 6.
HONG KONG from 11 The changes announced signal a shift in Hong Kong’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, as authorities sought to provide a direction for Hong Kong businesses and its residents after two years of aligning with mainland China’s “zero COVID” policy. Lam said that the changes come as part of an interim review of the city’s measures, and that various stakeholders in the city will be consulted for any longer-term roadmaps when it comes to public health and economic development. “We have to listen more carefully to the experts, both locally and from the mainland,” said Lam. “For any longer-term public health strategy, we will have to take into account both factors that is maintaining Hong
Kong’s accessibility to the mainland, and also ensuring her continued connectivity with the outside world.” Lam also announced that social distancing measures will stay in place, although they will be lifted in stages from April 21 if infections do not surge, Lam said. A ban on dining in after 6 p.m. will be lifted, and public gatherings will be capped at four people, up from two. Other businesses that were ordered to shutter temporarily, such as gyms and massage parlors, will also be allowed to reopen. At the peak of its outbreak, Hong Kong reported over 50,000 cases daily, and has reported over 1 million infections and nearly 5,700 deaths since the current outbreak began at the end of last year.
