VOL 41 NO 28 | JULY 9 – JULY 15, 2022

PRSRT STD U.S. Postage Paid Permit No. 746 Seattle, WA

VOL 41 NO 28 JULY 9 – JULY 15, 2022

FREE 40 YEARS YOUR VOICE

A celebration of the Japanese Americans’ achievements

Photo by Assunta Ng

Biden awards Medal of Honor for Vietnam heroism

Lori Matsukawa: Recipient of Japanese Emperor’s Rising Sun Award

From left: WA Secretary of State Steve Hobbs, Seattle Port Commissioner Toshiko Hasegawa, Lori Matsukawa, Ambassador to the U.S. Koji Tomita, Consul General of Japan Hisao Inagaki, Lt. Gov. Denny Heck, and Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell.

President Joe Biden presents the Medal of Honor to Staff Sgt. Edward Kaneshiro for his actions during the Vietnam War, as his son John Kaneshiro accepts the posthumous recognition during a White House ceremony on July 5.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden bestowed the nation’s highest military honor to four Army soldiers on July 5— including two Japanese Americans—for heroism during the Vietnam War, bravery that he said had not diminished even with the passage of time.

Biden presented the Medal of Honor to Staff Sgt. Edward N. Kaneshiro, Spc. Five Dwight W. Birdwell, Spc. Five Dennis M. Fujii, and retired Maj. John J. Duffy.

Speaking at a ceremony in the White House East Room, Biden praised their heroism, noting that many like them don’t receive “the full recognition they deserve.”

“Today, we’re setting the record straight.

We’re upgrading the awards of four soldiers who performed acts of incredible heroism during the Vietnam conflict,” Biden said.

“It’s just astounding when you hear what each of them have done,” he said. “They went far above and beyond the call of duty. It’s a phrase always used but ... it takes on life when you see these men.”

Addressing the three living soldiers and

relatives of Kaneshiro, who is deceased, the president said, “I’m proud to finally award our highest military recognition, the Medal of Honor, to each of you.”

Biden noted that more than 50 years had passed “since the jungles of Vietnam where, as young men, these soldiers first proved their mettle. But time has not diminished their astonishing bravery, their selflessness in putting the lives of others ahead of their own and the gratitude that we as a nation owe them.”

Kaneshiro, killed in action by hostile gunfire in Vietnam in 1967, received his honor posthumously for a Dec. 1, 1966 raid where his unit came under fire by North Vietnamese troops. His actions were credited with helping his unit withdraw from the village where they were fighting. Kaneshiro was born and raised in Hawaii, a son of Japanese immigrants.

Fujii received a Medal of Honor for actions over four days in February 1971 treating wounded and directing air strikes against enemy positions after his air ambulance was forced to crash land. 

PICTORIAL 37th annual naturalization ceremony at Seattle Center celebrates diversity, freedom, and citizenship ON THE SHELF For the love of our parents

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT Victor Kai Wang: A life of art

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FOOD Recipe: Load up steak banh mi with contrasting textures

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see MATSUKAWA on 16

Local community benefits from man’s pickleball passion

Gordon Sata getting ready for a game of pickleball

By Juliet Fang NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY

THE INSIDE STORY

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On June 29, movers and shakers gathered at the residence of the Consul General of Japan to honor former KING TV anchor Lori Matsukawa, recipient of the Emperor of Japan’s Order of the Rising Sun Award.

Ambassador of Japan Tomita Koji was in Seattle to present the award

to Matsukawa for her work as cofounder of the Japanese Community Cultural Center of Washington State (JCCCW). Established in 1875, the prestigious award is for those who have made distinguished achievements in international relations, promotion of Japanese culture, and other services.

Photo provided by Gordon Sata

AP Photo/Evan Vucci

By Assunta Ng NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY

Plunk! Plunk! Plunk!

These are the sounds emanating from Seattle’s tennis courts as pickleball, a tennis-adjacent sport that uses paddles, gains popularity in the city. Gordon Sata, a board member of Seattle Metro Pickleball Association and devout pickleball player, has inspired this pickleballplaying craze amongst Seattleites by regularly hosting playing events for all ages and experience levels.

“I love pickleball because anyone can play the game,” Sata says passionately. “It’s a great group activity.”

Pickleball’s accessibility for nov-

ices and experts alike was woven into the development of the sport early on by founders Joel Pritchard, Bill Bell, and Barney McCallum.

Bored one summer evening on Bainbridge Island, the men improvised a game using ping-pong paddles, a plastic ball, and an old badminton court.

The men, realizing how fun the game was, created rules and officially founded the sport of pickleball in 1965. Since then, the sport has been named “the fastest growing sport in the United States,” with almost 5 million players.

Sata was introduced to pickleball by way of his father, who often see PICKLEBALL on 15

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asianweekly northwest

JULY 9 – JULY 15, 2022

■ NAMES IN THE NEWS

Maddow’s time slot four nights a week, Tuesdays through Fridays.

Wagner, who has worked at CBS News, as a co-host of Showtime’s “The Circus” and as an editor at The Atlantic, is on her second stint at MSNBC. She rejoined MSNBC in February after hosting a show on the network a decade ago.

A first-generation Asian American whose mother immigrated to the U.S. from Myanmar, Wagner wrote a book about her experiences, “FutureFace: A Family Mystery, an Epic Quest, and the Secret to Belonging.”

Wagner’s new show will premiere Aug. 16. A continued rotation of anchors will fill in at the 9 p.m. hour until then. 

Khan named new King County public health director

King County Executive Dow Constantine has selected Dr. Faisal Khan, the former director of public health in St. Louis County, to be the next director of Public Health—Seattle & King County.

Khan, 48, had been acting director of the St. Louis County Department of Public Dr. Faisal Khan Health since February 2021.

Born in Pakistan, Khan grew up in Indonesia and returned to Pakistan for medical school. He has worked in Pakistan, Australia, Vietnam, South Africa, Botswana, and the U.S. on communicable disease control issues, specializing in HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis.

He moved to the U.S. in 1999, after his wife got a medical residency in West Virginia.

Khan plans to move to the Seattle area later this summer and start Sept. 6. The position requires the approval of the Metropolitan King County Council. 

The Washington State History Museum is open TuesdaySunday from 10 a.m.–5 p.m.

Visit www.WashingtonHistory.org for details. 

MSNBC appoints Alex Wagner as 4-night prime-time anchor

Art of the Aloha Shirt

The exhibition, Art of the Aloha Shirt: Keoni of Hawaii, 1938–51, opened on July 1 at the Washington State History Museum in Tacoma and will be on view through Sept. 11. Art of the Aloha Shirt explores the history, artistry, and production of Hawaii’s enduring fashion statement.

The exhibition of 60 objects, including original textile artwork, production sketches and swatches, advertisements, and vintage shirts, tells the story of an early innovator, John “Keoni” Meigs, in an industry that has left an indelible mark on fashion in the United States and the world.

40 YEARS

MSNBC has appointed Alex Wagner to fill Rachel

Biden picks Prabhakar as science adviser President Joe Biden nominated engineer and physicist Arati Prabhakar, who during the Obama administration directed the James Bond-like Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) which came up with the Internet and stealth aircraft, to the science adviser job, which also includes running the White House Office of Dr. Arati Prabhakar Science and Technology Policy.

Prabhakar helped kick-start work in DARPA that eventually led to the type of RNA vaccine used to develop shots for COVID-19.

She immigrated to Chicago and then Texas with her family from New Delhi, India, when she was 3.

In nominating her, Biden called Prabhakar “a brilliant and highly respected engineer and applied physicist'' who will help use science and technology to “solve our toughest challenges and make the impossible possible.'' 

YOUR VOICE

■ LETTER

JULY 9 – JULY 15, 2022

asianweekly northwest

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Removal of Sound Transit train route alternatives adjacent/through CID

Dear Sound Transit Board Chair University Place Rep. Kent Keel, Vice Chair King County Executive Dow Constantine, Vice Chair Snohomish County Executive Dave Sommers, and Board Members Auburn Mayor Nancy Backus, Kenmore Councilmember David Baker, King County Council Chair Claudia Balducci, Pierce County Executive Bruce Dammeier, Everett Mayor Cassie Franklin, Lynnwood Mayor Christine Frizzell, Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell, Seattle City Council President Debora Juarez, King County Council Vice Chair Joe McDermott, WA State Secretary of Transportation Roger Millar, Renton City Councilmember Ed Prince, Fife Mayor Kim Roscoe, King County

Councilmember Dave Upthegrove, King County Councilmember Peter Von Reichbauer, Tacoma Councilmember Kristina Walker, and Labor Liaison Mark Riker: We write as civil rights advocates for Asian Pacific Islander communities from the Chinese American Citizens Alliance – Seattle (C.A.C.A. Seattle), OCA Asian Pacific Advocates Greater Seattle formerly known as Organization of Chinese Americans (OCA-GS), Japanese American Citizens League, Seattle Chapter (JACL-Seattle), and Filipino American Political Action Group of Washington (FAPAGOW).

The abhorrent and thoughtless proposals

by Sound Transit staff to route trains through

our fragile Chinatown-International District (CID) will further damage and destroy our vulnerable historic district neighborhood that has already suffered multiple historical racial disinvestments. The Sound Transit alternatives appear to have embedded implicit, institutional, unconscious bias, and purposeful discrimination, developed with total disregard for your anti-racist organizational policy and Title VI of the federal Civil Rights Act as amended.

We request the Sound Transit Board immediately intervene to 1) take the destructive CID-related alternatives off the table, and 2) conduct a review of how your internal equity systems failed which allowed these racially harmful alternatives to come this far.

Maria Batayola will act as the contact person to our organizations. She can be reached at mbjumpstart@msn.com or at 206-293-2951. We look forward to a positive response within the next two weeks.  Sincerely, Maria Batayola Cathy Lee Stanley N. Shikuma Dr. Connie So FAPAGOW Political CACA Seattle JACL – Seattle OCA - GS Voice Co-Chair President Co-President President

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asianweekly northwest

JULY 9 – JULY 15, 2022

■ NATIONAL NEWS

40 YEARS

Anti-Black, gay, Asian bias fuel California hate crime surge SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Hate crimes driven by homophobia and racism resulted in a 33% surge in reported incidents in California last year, following a similar spike in hate-driven attacks the year prior and confirming what officials have been hearing anecdotally since the pandemic began, the state’s attorney general said on June 28.

Attorney General Rob Bonta said that crimes against Black people were again the most prevalent in 2021, climbing 13% from 2020 to 513 reported incidents. Hate crimes motivated by sexual orientation bias increased nearly 50% to 303 incidents while crimes against Asian Americans were up 178% to 247 incidents.

“One hard truth in our state, just as we see across the nation, is that the epidemic of hate we saw spurred on during the pandemic remains a clear and present threat,” said Bonta, a Democrat, at a news conference. “Each of these incidents represents an attack on a person, a neighbor, a family member, a fellow Californian.”

The 1,763 hate crimes reported in 2021 was the sixth highest tally since the department began collecting and reporting data statewide in 1995. It is also the highest since 2001, when 2,261 hate crimes fueled by the 9/11 terrorist attacks were reported in California.

Last year’s annual report showed a similarly high increase—31%—with anti-Black bias making up the bulk of incidents in a state where African Americans are 6% of the population. The 2020 report also showed a startling increase in bias crimes against Asian Americans following

the emergence of the coronavirus in China.

Video of assaults on Asian Americans, particularly seniors, went viral last year with San Francisco police in January reporting an astonishing 567% increase in reported crimes from the previous year. The initial count showed 60 victims in 2021, up from nine in 2020. Half of last year’s victims were allegedly targeted by one man.

Still, not all criminal attacks carry a hate crime charge since prosecutors need to prove the suspect was motivated by bias. In San Francisco, for example, the 2021 death of an 84-year-old Thai grandfather is headed to trial although the district attorney’s office has not filed hate crime charges in that case.

Officials say reported hate crime statistics may be far lower than actual numbers, but add they’ve taken steps to encourage reporting by victims. Nationally, hate crimes rose to the highest level in more than a decade in 2019, according to an FBI report.

Community leaders who joined Bonta at the press conference urged people to report crimes and to seek resources such as mental health services. Cirian Villavicencio, commissioner with the California Commission on Asian and Pacific Islander American Affairs, said hateful attacks against the Asian American and Pacific Islander community are not new.

But the sheer rise in attacks during the pandemic was alarming, he said.

“Our elders were being physically attacked, women and

young people were being verbally insulted, AAPI students were being harassed and bullied at school and AAPIowned small businesses were targeted and discriminated against just because they were AAPI,” Villavicencio said.

In May, a white gunman killed 10 Black shoppers and workers at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York. A steep rise in anti-Asian bias since 2020 included the March 2021 killing of eight people at Atlanta-area massage businesses, including six women of Asian descent.

A hate crime is motivated by the victim’s gender, nationality, race or ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation or disability. Hate incidents such as name calling are not necessarily criminal. The California Department of Justice has collected and reported statewide data on hate crimes since 1995.

Crimes showing bias against Latinos increased 30% to 197 incidents in 2021 while anti-Jewish bias events increased 32% to 152 in 2021, the most in the religious bias category.

Bonta announced the new position of a statewide hate crime coordinator within the California Department of Justice to assist state and local law enforcement efforts to battle hate crimes.

The report also showed that district attorneys and elected city attorneys filed 30% more cases in 2021 involving hate crime charges. 

JULY 9 – JULY 15, 2022

YOUR VOICE

asianweekly northwest

■ WORLD NEWS Ex-Alibaba employee says ex-boss should be charged with rape

By HUIZHONG WU ASSOCIATED PRESS TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — A former employee of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba has accused her then-manager of trying to rape her on a business trip last year as she pushes police to review charges in a case that has cast a rare spotlight on workplace harassment in the country.

The employee, a woman identified only by her last name Zhou, alleged in a lengthy account posted last week that there were

inconsistencies in a police statement about the case that she says led to online victim blaming against her. That came a week after a second man in the case was sentenced to 18 months in prison for sexual assault.

The high-profile case kicked off a national discussion last year over workplace sexual harassment and highlighted the struggle and backlash that victims face when coming forward with allegations.

The former Alibaba employee accused her former manager of attempting to rape her while she was drunk and at times unconscious.

Alibaba has fired both Zhou and the manager, who has been identified in police statements only by his last name, Wang. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Zhou criticized the official police account for turning her manager from “someone who objectively has criminal intention, a rapist with actual criminal intentions, into a good boss caring for his drunk female subordinate.”

“And as for me? ... I have become a slut who see ALIBABA on 14

China’s Baidu races Waymo, GM to develop self-driving cars

Dictator’s son Marcos Jr. takes oath as Philippine president

By JOE McDONALD AP BUSINESS WRITER

By JIM GOMEZ ASSOCIATED PRESS

BEIJING (AP) — With no one at the wheel, a self-driving taxi developed by tech giant Baidu Inc. is rolling down a Beijing street when its sensors spot the corner of a delivery cart jutting into its lane.

The taxi stops a half-car-length away. “So sorry,” a recorded voice tells passengers. The steering wheel turns on its own as the taxi makes its way around the cart. A Baidu technician watches from the front passenger seat.

Baidu is China’s highest-profile competitor in a multibillion-dollar race with rival autonomous vehicle developers including Alphabet Inc.`s Waymo and General Motors Co.`s Cruise to turn their

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the namesake son of an ousted dictator, was sworn in as Philippine president on June 30 in one of the greatest political Ferdinand Marcos Jr. comebacks in recent history that opponents say was pulled off by whitewashing his family’s image.

His rise to power, 36 years after an armybacked “People Power” revolt booted his father from office and into global infamy, upends politics in the Asian democracy,

Hindu man killed as religious tensions boil in India

By SHEIKH SAALIQ and KRUTIKA PATHI ASSOCIATED PRESS NEW DELHI, India (AP) — Tensions were high in India’s western Udaipur city in late June, a day after police arrested two Muslim men accused of slitting a Kanhaiya Lal Hindu tailor’s throat in a brutal attack that highlights a dramatic escalation of communal violence in a country riven by deep religious polarization.

The Hindu man, Kanhaiya Lal, was see LAL on 12

futuristic tech into a consumer product.

Baidu and a rival, Pony.ai, received China’s first licenses in April to operate taxis with no one in the driver’s seat but with a safety supervisor on board. That came 18 months after Waymo started driverless ride-hailing service in Phoenix, Arizona, in October 2020.

Founded in 2000 as a search engine operator, Baidu has expanded into artificial intelligence, processor chips and see BAIDU on 13

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where a public holiday, monuments and the Philippine Constitution stand as reminders of the end of Ferdinand Marcos Sr.’s tyrannical rule.

But in his inaugural speech, Marcos Jr. defended the legacy of his late father, who he said accomplished many things that were not done since the country’s independence, adding he would emulate him.

“He got it done, sometimes with the needed support, sometimes without. So will it be with his son,” he said to applause from his supporters in the crowd. “You will get no excuses from me.”

“My father built more and better roads, produced more rice than all administrations before his,” Marcos Jr. see MARCOS on 12

asianweekly northwest

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JULY 9 – JULY 15, 2022

40 YEARS

■ COMMUNITY CALENDAR THRU JULY 10 EMBODIED CHANGE: SOUTH ASIAN ART ACROSS TIME Seattle Asian Art Museum, South Gallery Fri-Sun, 10 a.m.–5 p.m. seattleartmuseum.org THRU FEB 19, 2023 EXHIBIT, “WE ARE CHANGING THE TIDE: COMMUNITY POWER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE” The Wing Luke Museum, 719 S. King St., Seattle Thu-Sun, 10 a.m.–5 p.m. wingluke.org/we-are-changingthe-tide

JUL 7 CLUB MEETING WITH JENNIFER ADAMS VEHICLE RESIDENT OUTREACH 11:30 a.m.– 1 p.m.

For Zoom link, contact rotaryofseattleid@gmail.com

7-9 TANABATA STAR FESTIVAL Seattle Japanese Garden, 1075 Lake Washington Blvd.

E., Seattle July 7 & 8, 3-6:30 p.m.

July 9, 11 a.m.-4 p.m.

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12

16 & 17

IN-PERSON EVENT WITH BETSY AOKI, IN CONVERSATION WITH COOKIE HIPONIA, “BREAKPOINT” Third Place Books 7 p.m.

Register at thirdplacebooks.com

INTERNATIONAL SPECIAL REVIEW DISTRICT Hybrid meeting via WebEx Event or Room L2-80 Boards & Commissions Seattle City Hall, 600 4th Avenue, Floor L2 4:30 p.m.

More info, https://bit. ly/3Ay7rYa

THE LATEST INTIMATE PORTRAIT FROM HONG SANG-SOO, “IN FRONT OF YOUR FACE” Northwest Film Forum July 16, 4:30-6 p.m.; July 17, 3:30-5 p.m.

Tickets at brownpapertickets.com/ event/5453104

8-10 THE LATEST INTIMATE PORTRAIT FROM HONG SANG-SOO, “IN FRONT OF YOUR FACE” Northwest Film Forum July 8, 8-9:30 p.m.

July 9 & 10, 5-6:30 p.m.

Tickets at brownpapertickets.com/ event/5453104

9 OUTDOOR PARTY IN CANTON ALLEY Canton Alley South, Seattle 1-6 p.m.

Register at https://bit.ly/3mpIW7h

9 & 28 SEATTLE ASIAN AMERICAN NATIVE HAWAIIAN/ PACIFIC ISLANDER WOMEN ARTISTS UNITED IS A VISUAL CAMPAIGN TO FIGHT THE TIDE OF ANTIASIAN VIOLENCE AND XENOPHOBIA Posters will be free to public

13 & 14 THE LATEST INTIMATE PORTRAIT FROM HONG SANG-SOO, “IN FRONT OF YOUR FACE” Northwest Film Forum July 13 & 14, 7:30-9 p.m.

Tickets at brownpapertickets.com/ event/5453104

CID FOOD WALK Seattle’s C-ID 11 a.m.-4 p.m.

Sign up for a booth https://bit.ly/3O1tE4g

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CLUB MEETING WITH TOM IM OF INTERIM 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m.

For zoom link, contact rotaryofseattleid@gmail.com

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CLUB MEETING WITH DR. JULIE PHAM, CEO OF ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT FIRM 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m.

For Zoom link, contact rotaryofseattleid@gmail.com

EUGENIA WOO OF HISTORIC SEATTLE 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m.

For zoom link, contact rotaryofseattleid@gmail.com

28 MICHAEL POLLAN WITH JANE C. HU, “THIS IS YOUR MIND ON PLANTS” Town Hall, 720 Seneca St., Seattle 7:30 p.m.

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20 CID FOOD WALK Seattle’s C-ID 11 a.m.-4 p.m.

Sign up for a booth: https://bit.ly/3O1tE4g

WABA KOREA EXPO Pier 62, 1951 Alaskan Way, Seattle 11 a.m.-6 p.m.

206-251-5659 sinaemorningstarkcc.org

View the solution on page 14

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YOUR VOICE

■ PICTORIAL

JULY 9 – JULY 15, 2022

37th annual naturalization ceremony at Seattle Center celebrates diversity, freedom, and citizenship Photos by Ellen Ferguson

N

asianweekly northwest

early 300 new Americans came together in a naturalization ceremony on the Fourth of July at the Seattle Center.

Immigrants from 74 countries in total (with many from Canada, the Philippines and India) were present.

Gov. Jay Inslee, U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, King County Executive Dow Constantine, and Chief U.S. District Judge Ricardo Martinez were part of the ceremony. 

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asianweekly northwest

JULY 9 – JULY 15, 2022

■ ON THE SHELF

For the love of our parents

By Samantha Pak NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY

Aru Shah and the Nectar of Immortality

By Roshani Chokshi Rick Riordan Presents, 2022 Aru Shah and the Potatoes are back, and they need to stop—once and for all—the Sleeper's plan to gain access to the nectar of immortality and, as a result, infinite power. The Pandavas only have until the next full moon (about two weeks), but after losing their celestial weapons, Aru, Mini, and Brynne have no idea how they can even hope to defeat him.

In Chokshi’s final installment of her Pandavas quintet, we see Aru and her friends continue to fight, even when they feel all has been lost. Along their quest, they call on old friends for help, meet new allies, and face trials like never before— including performing in a rock concert at the end of the world (because, why not?).

This is a story about perseverance, especially when it seems like there's no hope.

As readers of this column would know, I am a longtime fan of Aru and her adventures. So while it was bittersweet to see it all come to an end, Chokshi brings everything to a satisfying end, from the ultimate Potatoes’ quest that everything has been leading up to, to the

relationships we’ve all been wanting to see finally coming to fruition. It’s been a long journey and I’ve loved seeing Aru and company grow and evolve individually and as a team. Aru has gone from a young tween who would lie her way through life to get people to like her, to a young adult who learns to do what she believes is right, no matter what others (including literal gods) think. see SHELF on 12

■ COMMUNITY NEWS ICHS to host COVID-19 vaccine clinic for young children The International Community Health Services (ICHS) will host a COVID-19 vaccine clinic specifically to administer vaccines to children 6 months to 4 years old on July 16.

ICHS will be administering the pediatric Pfizer vaccine, and parents or guardians must be present.

This event is free and open to ICHS patients and members of the public who are not ICHS patients. Registration by phone is

required. Walk-up appointments will not be available.

This event will be at the 2nd floor of the ICHS Holly Park Medical & Dental Clinic located at 3815 South Othello Street in Seattle.

Language support in Mandarin, Cantonese, and Vietnamese will be available.

Call ICHS at 206-788-3500 to reserve a spot during the vaccine clinic hours of 9:00 am-4:30 pm. 

New COVID-19 vaccine based on UW Medicine technology approved in S Korea SKYCovione, a vaccine for COVID-19 based on technology from the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle, has been approved by the South Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety for use in individuals 18 years of age and older.

It becomes the first clinical therapeutic approved for use in people to emerge from computational protein design efforts at UW Medicine.

Unlike vaccines approved earlier for COVID-19 that use mRNA, viral vectors, or an inactivated virus, SKYCovione is made of proteins that form tiny particles studded with fragments of the pandemic coronavirus.

These nanoparticles were designed by

scientists at UW Medicine and advanced into clinical trials by SK bioscience and GlaxoSmithKline with financial support from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations. SKYCovione contains GlaxoSmithKline’s pandemic adjuvant, AS03.

The researchers wanted to create a second-generation COVID-19 vaccine that is safe, effective at low doses, simple to manufacture, and stable without deep freezing.

These attributes could enable vaccination at a global scale by reaching people in areas where medical, transportation, and storage resources are difficult to obtain. 

40 YEARS

Book recommendations

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YOUR VOICE

JULY 9 – JULY 15, 2022

■ ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

asianweekly northwest

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“Enthusiasm: Hidden”, 1992, by Victor Kai Wang

A life of art

Courtesy: Victor Kai Wang Family

Victor Kai Wang

Victor Kai Wang using Chinese brushes with marking ink on Formica board. In the background is Victor’s painting, “Crystal Rainbow.”

By Kai Curry NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY

“Bow and Extend”, 1993, by Victor Kai Wang.

There are few artists who dedicate their lives to art. Serious art. Without significant pause, Picasso comes to mind. Victor Kai Wang (汪凯) is another. Nothing stopped Victor from pursuing his art—not the

Cultural Revolution in China. Not starting from scratch in Seattle.

“If you have your ‘why,’ you can endure almost any ‘how,’” said Victor’s older son, Will Wang Graylin, paraphrasing philosopher and Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl. see WANG on 15

■ ON THE SHELF ArtSEA: In a new novel, Seattle is the seat of tech dystopia

By Brangien Davis Crosscut.com REPUBLISHED WITH PERMISSION Amazon announced in June a new functionality for its Alexa smart assistant: speaking in the voice of a deceased family member. Still in development with no launch date set, the feature was touted at the company’s re:MARS conference (on machine learning, automation, robotics and space). Using just a voicemail from your grandmother, for example, the device will be able to mimic her speech patterns. In the widely reported demo, a child asks, “Alexa, can Grandma finish reading me “The Wizard of Oz”? and soon a soothing elderly voice takes over.

Amazon’s head scientist for Alexa, Rohit Prasad, noted that many people had lost loved ones during the pandemic, and said, “While AI can’t eliminate that pain of loss, it can definitely make the memories last.” Meanwhile, on social media, people were generally creeped out.

Last year, Microsoft earned similar comparisons to a certain “Black Mirror” episode (“Be Right Back”) with its patent filing for a chatbot based on a deceased person’s online profile. But in Prasad’s view, which he shared at the conference, “We are unquestionably living in the golden era of AI, where our dreams and science fictions are becoming a reality.”

It was an uncanny connection to the new novel I just finished reading: “The Immortal King Rao,” by Vauhini Vara.

This sweeping, prescient and vividly told tale spans about 100 years, including a near-future in

which a tech company based in Seattle—with a “Frank Gehry-designed campus” on Bainbridge Island, “the centerpiece of which was the quintet of giant transparent spheres that doubled as tropical greenhouses”—has taken over the role of civic government.

In this dystopia, citizens are “shareholders” and your station in life is determined by your “social capital” online. As is the current custom, the tech company—led by a computer genius named King Rao, who grew up on a coconut farm in South India—purports that its technologies bring humanity closer together. One of his developments lodges the internet inside your brain.

After an uprising, a swath of humans known as the “Exes” opt out, choosing to live Internetfree on islands worldwide, including Bainbridge, where resisters are fomenting a new kind of utopia. The story is narrated by Athena, Rao’s only child, to whom he has given full access to his memories through a trick of technology.

Originally from Saskatchewan, Canada, Vara moved with her immigrant parents to Mercer Island, where she attended middle school and high school in the 1990s. She started her writing career in the early 2000s as a tech reporter for The Wall Street Journal, before attending the Iowa Writers Workshop to focus on fiction. She wrote “King Rao” over 12 years, on nights and weekends.

It’s a thoroughly engaging and thoughtsee KING RAO on 14

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asianweekly northwest

■ FOOD

40 YEARS

JULY 9 – JULY 15, 2022

Recipe Load up steak bánh mì with contrasting textures

By CHRISTOPHER KIMBALL CHRISTOPHER KIMBALL’S MILK STREET Evidence of French colonial rule is dotted throughout Vietnam, particularly in the cuisine. Coffee, butter, roasting and beef are all French legacies, even if the coffee comes loaded with sweetened condensed milk and the beef is stir-fried with soy and fish sauces.

Baguettes also are everywhere, though they are crispier and lighter than the loaves found in France—and more likely to be stuffed with a distinctively Vietnamese riot of contrasting flavors.

The result is the iconic banh mi sandwich, which combines savory, sweet, spicy and herbal flavors, as well as a blend of crunchy and chewy textures. 

Vietnamese Skirt Steak Sandwiches Start to finish: 50 minutes Servings: 4 3/4 cup white vinegar 1/4 cup white sugar Kosher salt and ground black pepper 2 medium carrots, peeled and shredded (1 cup) 1 pound skirt steak, cut crosswise into 3- to 4-inch pieces, patted dry 1/3 cup mayonnaise 3 tablespoons Sriracha Four 7- to 8-inch French bread rolls (see note), split horizontally 1/2 English cucumber, sliced into [-inch-thick rounds 1 cup cilantro sprigs 1. In a medium bowl, stir together the vinegar, sugar and 1 teaspoon salt. Stir in the carrots and set aside. Heat the broiler to high with one rack 4 inches from the element and another in the middle. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil.

2. Season the steak on both sides with 2 teaspoons kosher salt and 1 teaspoon pepper. Place in an even layer on the prepared baking sheet and let stand at room temperature for 15 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, stir together the mayonnaise and Sriracha; set aside. Pull out some of the interior crumb of each piece of bread; the remaining crust and crumb should be about 3/4 inch thick. Set aside.

4. Broil the steak until the center of the thickest piece reaches 125°F for medium-rare or 130°F for medium, 3 to 5 minutes, flipping once halfway through. Turn off the broiler, transfer the steak to a plate and tent with foil. Let rest for 10 minutes.

5. Meanwhile, arrange the bread halves cut sides down on the now-empty baking sheet; it's fine if they overlap a bit. Place in the oven on the middle rack and heat until the bread is warm, about 5 minutes. Strain the carrots.

6. Spread the cut sides of the bread evenly with the mayonnaise.

Cut the steak against the grain on the bias into thin slices. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Evenly divide the steak and any accumulated juices among the bottom halves of the bread, then top with the carrots, cucumber slices and cilantro. Top with the remaining bread.

JULY 9 – JULY 15, 2022

YOUR VOICE

■ NATIONAL NEWS

asianweekly northwest

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Man punches father, child in suspected anti-Asian bias crime PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A man punched a father and his 5-year-old daughter riding bikes on Portland’s Eastbank Esplanade near the Hawthorne Bridge in an alleged anti-Asian bias crime, police said.

The suspect approached a family from California on the bike path south of the bridge about 3:45 p.m. on July 2 and started making comments about what he thought was their Japanese descent, police said.

He then punched the 36-year-old father in the head and the daughter on her bike helmet numerous times before

bystanders intervened, police said.

Officers found the suspect nearby as he was trying to leave and arrested him, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported.

Dylan J. Kesterson, 34, was booked into the jail on suspicion of bias crimes.

The man and his daughter were hurt but didn’t need medical attention, police said. Police didn’t publicly identify the family.

Reports of anti-Asian bias increased last year at a higher

rate than other calls to the state bias hotline, according to a report released last month.

The president of the Oregon Chinese Coalition, Hongcheng Zhao, called the incident “extremely alarming.”

“The threat to Asians is a threat to the entire community,” Zhao wrote in a statement. “No one should live in fear in our community and in this great country.” 

■ WORLD NEWS Activists with Peng Shuai T-shirts searched at Wimbledon

By CHRIS LEHOURITES AP SPORTS WRITER WIMBLEDON, England (AP) — Four activists wearing “Where is Peng Shuai?”

T-shirts were stopped by security at Wimbledon on July 4 and had their bags searched.

Peng is a retired professional tennis player from China who last year accused a former high-ranking member of the country’s ruling Communist Party of sexual assault. She has made very few public appearances since then.

A similar episode happened to someone

China state museum opens in Hong Kong amid patriotism drive HONG KONG (AP) — China’s famed Palace Museum began displaying artifacts in Hong Kong on July 3 amid a drive to build loyalty to Beijing in the former British colony that reverted to Chinese rule 25 years ago.

Works of calligraphy and paintings on silk dating back more than 1,000 years feature heavily in the exhibition, housed in a seven-story building in a newly developed harborside arts district.

The delicate artworks will be returned to Beijing for safekeeping after 30 days, but China’s Communist Party leaders want the exhibition’s cultural and political impact to linger for far longer.

Despite that background, museum director Louis Ng stated that the Hong Kong space was not simply a branch of the Beijing Palace Museum.

“We have our own visions, identity and also the autonomy in our operation and curatorial decisions,” Ng said.

The opening of the exhibition came just two days after China’s leader Xi

Jinping marked the anniversary of Hong Kong’s return with a visit to what is officially called the special autonomous region and a speech emphasizing Beijing’s control under its vision of “one country, two systems.”

Xi praised the city for overcoming “violent social unrest”—a reference to massive pro-democracy protests in 2019 that were followed by a crackdown that has snuffed out dissent and shut down independent media.

The sweeping national security law imposed by Beijing has seen government critics who have not moved abroad being either jailed or intimidated into silence. That has aligned Hong Kong ever closely with the party’s rigid controls exercised on the mainland and in the outer regions of Tibet, Xinjiang, and Inner Mongolia.

The political controls have increasingly taken on cultural and see MUSEUM on 14

wearing a T-shirt supporting Peng at this year’s Australian Open. A spectator in Melbourne was removed from the grounds, but the tournament later reversed its decision and allowed people to wear the clothing as long as they didn’t congregate in large groups or cause problems for other spectators.

Jason Leith of the Free Tibet organization said he and his three colleagues put on the white T-shirts after entering the grounds of the All England Club.

“We didn’t have these on when we came in because we worried about not being let in. So we put them on and we were just

walking around and a few people wanted selfies with us, so we were taking pictures with people,” said Leith, who is British.

Security arrived a short time later when the four men were walking under the big screen at the base of Henman Hill, Leith said. “(They) started asking, ‘Are you planning to do any direct protesting? Are you planning on disrupting things?’” Leith said. “And then they asked, ‘Oh, do you mind coming over here so we can search your bags?” see PENG SHUAI on 13

KING COUNTY, WASHINGTON NOTICE TO PROPOSERS Sealed bids will be received by the King County Procurement Services Section through the County’s E-Procurement system for the following listed bids.

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JULY 9 – JULY 15, 2022

SHELF from 8 Throughout the series, an ongoing theme has been the trustworthiness and reliability of adults and supposed figures of authority, especially parents. This final installment continues this and highlights the complicated relationships between parents and children.

While it’s no surprise to read about Aru’s relationship with her Sleeper father, and some of the other Potatoes and their parents, Chokshi shows how these relationships don't become less complicated as we get older.

Kamila Knows Best

By Farah Heron Forever, 2022 Kamila Hussain’s life is great. She hosts weekly Bollywood movie parties for her friends, her dog has tons of Instagram followers, and she works with her father at a job she loves. With all of this, and friends who clearly need help with their love lives, Kamila doesn’t have time to think about romance for herself.

But then there’s Rohan Nasser, Kamila’s longtime friend—successful, good looking, and always there for Kamila. Rohan has always put up with her "harmless flirting,"

LAL from 5 stabbed multiple times on June 28 inside his tailoring shop by two cleaver-wielding men who also filmed the attack and posted it online, police said, warning that the incident could inflame religious tensions and lead to violence. The video showed the tailor taking measurements of one assailant before he attacks Lal from behind and stabs at his throat with a cleaver.

TV reports aired video of Lal lying on the ground with his throat slit. The two men later claimed responsibility for the killing in another video and accused Lal of blasphemy.

They also threatened to kill Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the same manner, brandishing the blood-stained weapons they used to attack Lal. Local media reported the victim had purportedly shared a social media post supporting a suspended spokesperson for Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party who made controversial remarks on the Prophet Muhammad in May.

40 YEARS

but lately, it doesn’t feel as harmless as Rohan has started flirting back.

As Kamila takes on more responsibilities at work and through her volunteer work— with the hopes that others will take her more seriously—it’s starting to show that her perfectly ordered life is starting to unravel and turn upside down.

In this retelling of “Emma,” Heron takes Jane Austen’s famous matchmaker and brings her into the modern world. Kamila is a strong protagonist, though I’ll admit, I initially judged her harshly for her love of parties and obsession with social media.

Though maybe that was Heron’s intention, as there are moments when Kamila calls out other characters for doing just that and I realized I was just as guilty. It was quite the lesson in not judging a book by its cover.

While “Kamila” is categorized as a romance, its original source material isn’t— which may confuse some readers who are looking for more in terms of Kamila and Rohan's relationship. But personally, I was okay with that. I enjoyed reading about Kamila’s relationship with her father. She’s very devoted to her father and so much of what Kamila does in her life is for him and making sure he is healthy—given his past

physical and mental health issues. I really appreciated how Heron showed that mental health issues can be ongoing. People aren’t “cured” after a few rounds of therapy. Mental health is still something we don’t talk about enough in Asian communities, so to see Heron highlight this was great to read.

The killing comes after months of rising tensions between Hindus and Muslims, as well as a spate of attacks by Hindu nationalists on minority groups—especially Muslims— who have been targeted for everything from their food and clothing style to interfaith marriages. More recently, Muslim homes have also been demolished using bulldozers in some Indian states, in what critics call a growing pattern of “bulldozer justice” against the minority group.

These tensions escalated in May when two spokespeople from Modi’s party made speculative remarks that were seen as insulting Islam’s Prophet Muhammad and his wife Aisha. Both were later suspended by Modi’s party after it led to severe diplomatic backlash for India from many Muslimdominated countries. The controversy also led to protests in India that turned violent in some places after demonstrators pelted stones at police. At least two people were killed.

Experts worry that the latest incident could worsen India’s religious fault lines that critics say have deepened since Modi came to power

in 2014.

“This gruesome incident could lead to escalated religious tensions across India, especially with the ruling party espousing a very strident Hindu majoritarian cause,” said Sushant Singh, a senior fellow at the Centre for Policy Research, a public policy think tank.

“It is unlikely that this government or leadership would go out of its way to tell supporters to not get provoked, to urge for calm and peace,” he said.

Attacks on people accused of alleged blasphemy are common in neighboring Muslim majority countries like Bangladesh and Pakistan. But in India, where religious tensions often boil over into sporadic riots and deadly protests, incidents of brutal killings of this nature are rare.

In May, a Hindu man in the southern city of Hyderabad was stabbed to death in public by his Muslim wife’s relatives. Last year, a Muslim man was beheaded by members of a vigilante group on orders of his girlfriend’s Hindu family because they didn’t approve of

MARCOS from 5 said, and also praised the infrastructure projects by his equally controversial predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte.

He called for unity, saying “we will go further together than against each other, pushing forward not pulling each other.” He did not touch on the human rights atrocities and plunder his father was accused of, saying he would not talk about the past but the future.

Activists and survivors of the martial law era under his father protested Marcos Jr.’s inauguration, which took place at a noontime ceremony at the steps of the National Museum in Manila. Thousands of police officers, including anti-riot contingents, SWAT commandos and snipers, were deployed in the bayside tourist district for security.

Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan and U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris’s husband, Doug Emhoff, were among foreign dignitaries attending.

“Wow is this really happening?” asked Bonifacio Ilagan, a 70-year-old activist who was detained and severely tortured by counterinsurgency forces during the elder Marcos’s rule.

“For victims of martial law like me, this is a nightmare.”

Such historical baggage and antagonism stand to hound Marcos Jr. during a six-year presidency beginning at a time of intense crises.

The Philippines has been among the countries worst-hit in Asia by the two-year coronavirus pandemic, after more than 60,000 deaths and extended lockdowns sent the economy to its worst recession since World War II and worsened poverty, unemployment and hunger. As the pandemic was easing early this year, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sent global inflation soaring and sparked fears of food shortages.

Marcos Jr. previously announced he would serve as secretary of agriculture temporarily after he takes office to

Daughter of the Moon Goddess

By Sue Lynn Tan Harper Voyager, 2022 As daughter of the moon goddess Chang’e, Xingyin has grown up in solitude, unaware that she’s actually being hidden from the Celestial Emperor, who had exiled Xingyin’s mother for (allegedly) stealing his immortality elixir. But when Xingyin’s magic flares up and her existence is almost discovered, she’s forced to flee, leaving her mother behind and setting out on a quest to free her.

Alone in the immortal realm’s Celestial Kingdom and without her powers, Xingyin (an immortal, herself) disguises her identity and seizes the opportunity to learn alongside the emperor’s son, Liwei. But as she masters everything from archery to magic—as expected—feelings begin to develop between the two.

The first in a duology, “Daughter” is a

prepare for possible food supply emergencies. “I think the problem is severe enough,” he said, and added he had asked his key advisers to brace for “emergency situations, especially when it comes to food supply.”

He also inherits decades-old Muslim and communist insurgencies, crime, gaping inequality and political divisions inflamed by his election.

Congress proclaimed his landslide victory, as well as that of his running mate Sara Duterte, the daughter of the outgoing president, in the vice-presidential race.

“I ask you all to pray for me, wish me well. I want to do well because when the president does well, the country does well,” he said after his congressional proclamation.

Marcos Jr. received more than 31 million votes and Sara Duterte more than 32 million of the more than 55 million votes cast in the May 9 election—massive victories that will provide them robust political capital as they face tremendous challenges as well as doubts arising from their fathers’ reputations. It was the first majority presidential victory in the Philippines in decades.

Outgoing President Duterte presided over a brutal antidrugs campaign that left thousands of mostly poor suspects dead in an unprecedented scale of killings the International Criminal Court was investigating as a possible crime against humanity. The probe was suspended in November, but the ICC chief prosecutor has asked that it be resumed immediately.

Marcos Jr. and Sara Duterte have faced calls to help prosecute her father and cooperate with the international court.

Marcos Jr., a former governor, congressman and senator, has refused to acknowledge massive human rights abuses and corruption that marked his father’s reputation.

During the campaign, he and Sara Duterte avoided controversial issues and focused on a vague call for national

story that weaves Chinese mythology with romance and adventure. Xingyin is smart and resourceful and her love for her mother is palpable as she does what she has to in order to get back to the moon—though not without the means to free her mother from exile.

Everything Xingyin does is in the name of helping Chang’e, which is an interesting dynamic when it comes to stories about parent-child relationships. For many children of immigrants, we often see and hear about our parents making sacrifices and taking risks to create a better life for us, so it was a nice change of pace to see Xingyin in the position to do this for her mother.

Having grown up isolated on the moon, once she makes it to the Celestial Kingdom, Xingyin finds herself making connections— and not just with Liwei, but with others. It’s touching to see as she realizes the strength of her friendships, the impact they have on her, and vice versa. One of my favorite moments is when her friends pull through to support Xingyin when she needs them the most— showing readers the true power of love (any kind of love).  Samantha can be reached at info@nwasianweekly.com.

their interfaith marriage. In Rajasthan state in 2017, a Hindu man brutally killed a Muslim laborer and shared a video of the victim being hacked to death and then set on fire.

Police said both accused were arrested within hours of Lal’s death, but in a bid to calm frayed nerves in parts of the city, authorities suspended internet services in Rajasthan state and banned large gatherings.

Authorities also rushed additional police into the city to counter any religious unrest.

India’s home ministry has dispatched a team of its anti-terror agency to Rajasthan to investigate whether the killing had any links to terrorist groups. So far, the state police have not charged the two arrested men with terrorism.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot ensured a speedy investigation into Lal’s killing. He said the criminals will be punished and urged people not to share the video on social media because of its highly inflammatory content.

“I again appeal to all to maintain peace,” Gehlot said in a tweet. 

unity.

His father was toppled by a largely peaceful pro-democracy uprising in 1986, and died in 1989 while in exile in Hawaii without admitting any wrongdoing, including accusations that he, his family and cronies amassed an estimated $5 billion to $10 billion while in office.

A Hawaii court later found him liable for human rights violations and awarded $2 billion to more than 9,000 Filipinos who filed a lawsuit against him for torture, incarceration, extrajudicial killings and disappearances.

Imelda Marcos and her children were allowed to return to the Philippines in 1991 and worked on a stunning political comeback, helped by a well-funded social media campaign to refurbish the family name.

Marcos Jr.’s alliance with Sara Duterte, whose father remains popular despite his human rights record, and a powerful name recall as a member of one of the country’s most well-known political dynasties, helped him capture the presidency. Many Filipinos too remained poor and grew disenchanted with post-Marcos administrations, Manilabased analyst Richard Heydarian said.

“These allowed the Marcoses to present themselves as the alternative,” Heydarian said. “An unregulated social media landscape allowed their disinformation network to rebrand the dark days of martial law as supposedly the golden age of the Philippines.”

Along metropolitan Manila’s main avenue, democracy shrines and monuments erected after Marcos’ 1986 downfall stand prominently. The anniversary of his ouster is celebrated each year as a special national holiday, and a presidential commission that has worked for decades to recover ill-gotten wealth of the Marcoses still exists.

Marcos Jr. has not explained how he will deal with such stark reminders of the past. 

JULY 9 – JULY 15, 2022

YOUR VOICE

■ ASTROLOGY

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Predictions and advice for the week of July 9–July 15, 2022

By Sun Lee Chang Dragon—Are things progressing faster than you expected? In some ways, it might be better than having it drawn out.

Monkey—Before you rush into a new project, think about what you hope to achieve or gain from the experience.

Ox—While you are usually quite tolerant, there are limits to just how much you are willing to accept.

Snake—Can’t keep it in any longer? If you decide to share, then do so tactfully instead of blurting it out.

Rooster—There is nothing wrong with standing up for yourself. You deserve to be treated with respect and consideration.

Tiger—If you are starting to feel the strain, take a break. You will be much more effective afterwards.

Horse—Do you have something that’s been pending for a while? Make it a priority to get it off your list.

Dog—While you are generally reluctant to give up, there are instances where it would be advisable to step back.

Rabbit—Your hesitation is natural. That said, it shouldn’t stop you from taking a necessary action.

Goat—It doesn’t take much to lend someone a helping hand. You will be surprised by the effect that it has.

Pig—You have the recipe for success. However, what that means for you could change as you pursue it.

Rat—There is reason to be optimistic, but don’t get ahead of yourself while the details are still being ironed out.

WHAT’S YOUR ANIMAL SIGN? RAT 1912, 1924, 1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008, 2020 OX 1913, 1925, 1937, 1949, 1961, 1973, 1985, 1997, 2009, 2021 TIGER 1914, 1926, 1938, 1950, 1962, 1974, 1986, 1998, 2010, 2022 RABBIT 1915, 1927, 1939, 1951, 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999, 2011 DRAGON 1916, 1928, 1940, 1952, 1964, 1976, 1988, 2000, 2012 SNAKE 1917, 1929, 1941, 1953, 1965, 1977, 1989, 2001, 2013 HORSE 1918, 1930, 1942, 1954, 1966, 1978, 1990, 2002, 2014 GOAT 1919, 1931, 1943, 1955, 1967, 1979, 1991, 2003, 2015 MONKEY 1920, 1932, 1944, 1956, 1968, 1980, 1992, 2004, 2016 ROOSTER 1921, 1933, 1945, 1957, 1969, 1981, 1993, 2005, 2017 DOG 1922, 1934, 1946, 1958, 1970, 1982, 1994, 2006, 2018 PIG 1923, 1935, 1947, 1959, 1971, 1983, 1995, 2007, 2019

*The year ends on the first new moon of the following year. For those born in January and February, please take care when determining your sign.

BAIDU from 5 other technology. It says its autonomous vehicles could, if successful, make driving cheaper, easier and safer.

“We believe the top goal of autonomous driving is to reduce human-caused traffic accidents,” said Wei Dong, vice president of Baidu’s Intelligent Driving Group.

Autonomous driving is one of an array of emerging technologies from artificial intelligence to renewable energy that China companies are pouring billions of dollars into trying to create, urged on by the ruling Communist Party.

Beijing wants to join the United States, Europe and Japan in the ranks of technology powers to build its prosperity and global influence. That holds out the possibility of new inventions but also fuels tension with Washington and its allies, which see China as a strategic challenger.

Baidu’s Apollo autonomous driving platform was launched in 2017 and the Apollo Go self-driving taxi service three years later.

Taxi service with a driver at the wheel to take over in an emergency started in 2020 and has expanded to Beijing, Shanghai and eight other cities. Apollo Go says it provided 213,000 rides in the final quarter of last year, making it the world’s busiest self-driving taxi service.

For rides with no driver and a supervisor in the passenger seat, Apollo Go started in a 23-square-mile area of Yizhuang, an industrial district on Beijing’s southeastern outskirts with wide streets and few cyclists or pedestrians.

“It’s very convenient,” said Zhao Hui,

43, who uses Baidu taxis in Yizhuang.

“It might feel a little safer” than a human driver, Zhao said. “Sometimes there are small objects, maybe some that people don’t notice. They can spot them and stop.”

Other developers include Deeproute.ai and AutoX in Shenzhen. Pony.ai, founded in 2016 and backed by venture capital, is road-testing autonomous cars and semitrailer trucks.

Industry plans are “very aggressive to deliver the robo-taxi to the consumer,” said Owen Chen of S&P Global Mobility.

Automaker Geely, owner of Volvo Car, Geely, Lotus and Polestar, has announced plans for satellite-linked autonomous vehicles. Network equipment maker Huawei Technologies Ltd. is working on self-driving mining and industrial vehicles.

The ruling party is promoting automation to shore up economic growth by making its shrinking, aging workforce more productive. China’s working-age population has fallen by 5% since its 2011 peak and is forecast to slide further.

“People are very expensive,” said Wei. “Once this public service no longer needs people, the cost can drop rapidly.”

As for whether China can lead the global industry, “it’s a race at the moment,” said Pete Kelly, managing director of the automotive division of GlobalData Plc. “But they could easily do this, because of the way decisions are made and deployments happen in China,” Kelly said.

McKinsey & Co. in 2019 estimated China’s potential market for self-driving taxis, buses, trucks and other equipment and software in the trillions of dollars.

The earliest products are unlikely to earn

PENG SHUAI from 11 “So then they started going through our bags. I guess they were looking for flags. They were looking for anything that might be used in any other form of protest.”

The men were allowed to remain at the grass-court Grand Slam and keep wearing the shirts but were asked not to approach any other spectators to talk about Peng, Leith said.

“That’s a bit strange. Why aren’t we allowed to talk to people?” said Leith, the head of income and engagement

back their development costs but might be “loss leaders” to sell other services, said Kelly.

Baidu says it already is selling navigation and other technology to automakers. It projects total sales of 10 billion yuan ($1.5 billion) based on agreements made so far, chairman Robin Li said in a May 26 conference call with reporters.

The company says it spent a total of 24.9 billion yuan ($3.9 billion) on research and development last year but doesn’t disclose how much of that went into autonomous vehicles. Baidu reported a profit of 10.2 billion yuan ($1.7 billion) last year on 124.5 billion yuan ($19.5 billion) in revenue.

Baidu and its most advanced rivals have reached the industry’s Level 4 out of five possible levels of technology. That means their systems can operate without a driver but must be pre-loaded with a detailed map. That limits the area where they can operate.

Lower levels of technology range from cruise control, a feature available for decades, up to Level 3, which allows handsfree highway driving. Self-driving robot carts already are widely used in factories, warehouses and other tightly controlled settings.

Once self-driving taxis are on the road, operators must gather information about pedestrians and local conditions based on daily driving, a time-intensive process that will slow the technology’s rollout.

For a maneuver such as a U-turn, the Apollo system tracks as many as 200 vehicles, pedestrians and other potential obstacles as much as 110 yards away, according to Baidu.

at Free Tibet.

Wimbledon organizers said the activists were welcome to stay on site.

All England Club CEO Sally Bolton said on Day 1 of the tournament that a spectator with a shirt mentioning Peng would be allowed to attend.

“We do have ground entry rules, and those ground entry rules are really focused on everyone’s quiet enjoyment of the tennis,” Bolton said. “So that’s not about what people are wearing; it’s about the way people behave.”

Peng disappeared from public view last year after

Wei said Baidu would be happy to have foreign partners adapt its technology to their markets but has no export plans yet while it focuses on Chinese cities.

Intersections still are a challenge, Wei said. Pedestrians in China are used to drivers gradually making their way through crowds in a crosswalk while turning on a green light, but a robot car can’t do that.

“Our car always will yield to people and might wind up not getting through the light,” Wei said.

Baidu has launched its own self-driving car brand, JIDU, which unveiled a concept car in June. Li said the company will target the market for family vehicles priced above 200,000 yuan ($30,000).

The company also has deals with three Chinese electric vehicle brands to produce cars with computers, radar and light-based sensors built in instead of bolted onto the roof. Baidu says it aims for a sticker price of 480,000 yuan ($72,000) for its latest generation of taxis.

To encourage others to use Apollo, Baidu has made the platform open-source and says it has signed up 210 industry partners and 80,000 developers who might create products based on it.

Apollo Go says it plans to expand selfdriving taxi service to 65 cities by 2025 and 100 by 2030.

Compared with a human driver, “the difference isn’t big,” said Zhang Zhihua, 29, an interior designer who uses driverless Baidu taxis in Yizhuang. “If you aren’t looking at the front and if you are playing on your mobile phone, then it feels exactly the same.” 

accusing former Communist Party official Zhang Gaoli of sexual assault. Her accusation was quickly scrubbed from the internet, and discussion of it remains heavily censored.

Peng won two Grand Slam women’s doubles titles in her career, including at Wimbledon in 2013.

The women’s professional tennis tour canceled its tournaments in China because of the situation surrounding Peng.

Last year, Leith was arrested in Greece for disrupting the Olympic flame ceremony. The flame was headed for China ahead of this year’s Winter Olympics in Beijing. 

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MUSEUM from 11 linguistic elements, and the July 1 ceremony was conducted entirely in the national language of Mandarin, rather than Hong Kong’s native Cantonese.

The building of the Palace Museum in Hong Kong was

KING RAO from 9 provoking journey that illuminates the caste system and its relationship to capitalism, the emergence of personal computers and the internet, and the encroaching climate

is falsely accusing the male boss that she was carrying on with,” she continued.

Zhou’s online post said Wang had asked another Alibaba employee who was his deputy to talk with her after she reported him to the police. The employee offered her 600,000 yuan ($90,000) to settle the matter privately, the post said.

Wang did not respond to a request for comment made via his wife, who has emerged as his spokesperson, posting many statements online in her husband’s defense.

Police investigated two men in the case. Wang was detained for 15 days, but prosecutors did not approve an arrest on formal charges, saying the actions did not constitute a crime.

Zhou and her lawyers asked police to review the case last year and charge Wang with rape but have yet to get a response.

A court convicted the other man, Zhang Guo, a representative of a supermarket chain that was in talks with

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controversial because of the lack of public consultation, and came as a surprise to many Hong Kong citizens.

Daisy Wang, the museum’s deputy director, said the current exhibition was a “once in a lifetime opportunity to look at some of the rarest early works of painting and calligraphy in Chinese art history.”

The collection was built during the Ming and Qing dynasties and many of its finest works now reside on the self-governing island of Taiwan, where they were taken after the Communists seized power on the mainland in 1949. 

catastrophe. Geographically it stretches from South India to Puget Sound’s uninhabited Blake Island—said to be the birthplace of Chief Sealth—where Athena grows up with her father in exile.

“In a region that has come to be best known for its human

residents’ transformation of the world—for companies like Amazon, Microsoft and the rest,” Vara writes in a recent essay in The Wall Street Journal, “Blake Island has, remarkably, managed to mostly keep us away.” 

Alibaba, of forcible indecency, saying he had molested Zhou twice — once while she was drunk at a dinner and the next day in her hotel room.

Zhou has appealed his 18-month sentence, seeking a longer one, her lawyer Du Peng said.

In her post, Zhou raised questions about the police account of what happened that night.

She wrote that her former manager had stolen her ID card to get the hotel to make him a key for her room, asking the staff to list him as a fellow traveler. She also said that police had concluded she could not express herself clearly when the front desk called to get her consent for giving him a key.

“He voluntarily cancelled his taxi on the app, carried my stolen ID card, went back to the hotel and added himself to my room, sexually violated me,” she told the AP, elaborating on her post.

“All these things show that not only did he intentionally try to rape, but also he committed a criminal act.”

A police statement last August said

that Wang had the key made with Zhou’s consent and that he had her ID card, without saying how he had gotten it.

Police in Jinan city, where the assault took place, did not respond to a request for comment.

The wives of both accused men have taken to the internet to deny Zhou’s accusations. They have insisted that Zhou seduced their husbands.

Wang’s wife, after the sentencing of Zhang, wrote that “this entire thing was all voluntary on Zhou’s part, self-directed and self acted, a small essay full of lies to frame and harm Zhang and Wang.”

While many online commentators have supported Zhou and applauded her courage in speaking up, others used the wives’ denials to label Zhou as sexually promiscuous.

Zhou has written of how abandoned she felt after the company initially apologized but later fired her.

She said she developed a mood disorder after going public, and that both she and her husband attempted suicide.

Police kept them for a month in a hotel

afterward, to make sure they didn’t try again, she said.

They also told her not to give media interviews.

“I hope I can get a fair result, one where the victim isn’t in despair at the justice system,” she said. 

SOLUTION from SUDOKU on page 6.

JULY 9 – JULY 15, 2022

YOUR VOICE

played during his retirement. When Sata himself retired after working 34 years in Human Resources at Boeing, he found himself attending pickleball playing sessions at a local Buddhist church, eventually falling in love with the sport.

Shortly after, he applied for a Seattle Parks and Recreation Get Moving summer grant, hoping to improve the quality of the playing equipment at his church.

“That’s what my original draft for the grant was about— just getting new equipment. But it soon grew to be much more because the grant could only be used for activities that were open to anyone, not just people at the church.

So, I chose several sites around the city that could be used for pickleball and began calling the group Beacon Hill Pickleball and received a grant for equipment to promote the sport in central and southeast Seattle.”

Now, Sata hosts pickleball regularly at Beacon Hill Playfield, Brighton Playfield, and Mt. Baker Park in Seattle.

The events are open to all and are especially beginnerfriendly, sticking true to pickleball’s promise of accessibility.

“If anyone new is coming, I tell them to come early so that myself or others can spend around a half an hour getting them oriented with the basics of pickleball. Some of our pickleball events are beginners only. More advanced players are encouraged to come later so that the beginners are comfortable learning.”

“Essentially, we want to make sure that the sport is open to everybody. I try to push a strong sense of court etiquette in pickleball. For example, some people want to stay on the court longer if they win and only play against other winners.

So, I just tell them they have to either shorten their games to seven points or sit out after they finish their game and

Photo provided by Gordon Sata

PICKLEBALL from 1

Gordon Sata (second from right) with friends on a pickleball court in Beacon Hill in June.

wait for another four people to come in.”

Because of its inclusivity, people of all walks of life attend Beacon Hill Pickleball’s events. Attendees include men, women, retirees, teens, and people of various ethnic backgrounds including Latinos, Chinese Americans, and Japanese Americans. Diversity, Sata comments, is something that he is constantly trying to improve for Beacon Hill Pickleball.

“My favorite part of pickleball is the connection I feel with others that also share the same love of the sport. For instance, I was just at my local grocery store wearing a pickleball shirt when a man approached me and asked me if I played pickleball. We began talking about the sport, and I invited his family to our beginner’s session at Beacon Hill.”

“It made me so happy that someone would come up to me just to talk about pickleball and instantly build human

For more information about upcoming pickleball events in Seattle, contact Gordon Sata at beaconhillpickleball@ gmail.com.

Juliet can be reached at info@nwasianweekly.com.

Courtesy: Victor Kai Wang Family Victor Kai Wang and wife Diana, and sons, Will and Alvin, during the Cultural Revolution when the family was reunited and allowed to stay at the same reeducation camp. According to VIctor’s sons, the bicycle was their only material possession.

goes back 94 generations to 605 BC and includes a Zhou dynasty royal) and Victor’s “right wing” banker father, Victor and Diana were designated for what was called “re-education,” as part of the Cultural Revolution.

When the couple and their 1-year-old son, Will, were sent to a labor camp in the countryside, they lived in a makeshift home converted from a chicken hut. Will notes in the documentary that his mother was labeled a “516 revolutionary” and incarcerated. She was released from prison only to give birth to Alvin. This caused Diana severe PTSD and led eventually to the breakup of her marriage with Victor a decade later.

While in the camps, Victor was officially banned from creating art—yet he persevered, using rice sacks as canvas to paint when he was not working on the farm. Diana recalls in the documentary that Victor never saw their circumstances as a “mistreatment.” Instead, he used the opportunity to learn how to be a good farmer so he could “express the farmer’s life.”

Victor has always taken a pragmatic and optimistic approach to life and his responsibilities. In 1980, after the Cultural Revolution, Diana’s uncle and cousin helped sponsor the entire family to immigrate to

15

connection through the sport. That’s why I keep hosting these events. The pickleball community is so friendly and wonderful.”

Indeed, pickleball is not about competition for Sata. In his games, he doesn’t count points. Instead, he counts rallies, or the number of times the ball is hit by the players without going out of bounds.

“The community is the important part of pickleball, so I’m not excited by tournament play,” he says. “It’s no fun when points are scored right after one or two hits. The rally is when everyone gets excited—you know, when the ball can get hit six or seven times between the two sides of the court.”

“Also, I’m not trying to smash on the players that attend Beacon Hill Pickleball games. I want to give them a shot and hope others will get better through friendly playing.

That’s how I learned the game.”

Currently, Sata is working on growing the number of pickleball players in Seattle by possibly expanding the number of courts Beacon Hill Pickleball hosts its events on. He hopes that pickleball will continue to bring people together and keep the Seattle community active.

“Pickleball has kept me healthy and happy, and I want the Seattle community to feel the same. That’s what I want to accomplish by hosting these events.” 

WANG from 9 Victor’s “why” is his passion for art, and its preciousness as a tool for expression.

“My father knew at a very early age… that he wanted to be an artist,” Will shared.

“He followed his passion all the way up to last year, when he was 87,” at which point, Victor had a stroke. He is on the mend now, and finally retired, living with Will, in Boston.

Victor is like the Song literati painters of old, gentlemen scholars (文人) who, because of the vagaries of government, often faced exile. Since age 7, Victor followed his passion. His father, a bank president later persecuted to death as a “right wing” during the Cultural Revolution, found Victor the best teachers in Western and Chinese art. At 15, Victor got into the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts (GAFA) by lying about his age. And, no doubt, by talent.

In the same company as China’s greatest contemporary artists, Victor lived, breathed, and taught art. He married a talented ballerina, Diana, a half-American, half-Chinese who helped found the ballet schools in Shanghai and Guangdong. Life was good.

Victor worked hard—remarkably hard.

“He was essentially a representation of dedication to his craft,” Alvin W. Graylin, Victor’s younger son, recalled. In a documentary about Victor’s life, “Themes and Variations,” made by Will, Alvin described walking by his dad’s office at GAFA. “He was always studying, always reading. You could see the shadow of him through the curtains.” Western art was not readily available in China at the time, so Victor painstakingly recreated the great art works of Europe so that he and his students could benefit. There were not many school books, so he made his own study guides, and translated English books into Chinese.

Then came the Cultural Revolution.

Scholars were under pressure to adhere to Chairman Mao’s ideals. Often, their livelihoods were taken away. Diana found herself going from being a prominent ballerina who helped start Shanghai Ballet, one of the first in China trained by the Russians, to having her ballet school shut down. Due to the Wang (汪) family’s long history in China (their family tree

asianweekly northwest

Seattle, and Victor had to reorient himself again in a new land. He worked hard to support the family, dishwashing or painting storefront signs and windows, to afford a one-bedroom apartment and keep food on the table.

Like the Song painters, the reeducation camps were one form of exile. Coming to the United States was another form—but one that Victor and Diana chose to give their sons a better life. When Diana’s PTSD flared up again shortly after arriving in the U.S. and she had to be hospitalized, Victor took on the responsibility of raising the boys on his own. Victor had some success in a color correction job at Yuen Lui studio.

He got along with the owner and was able to use the cast aside photo paper, which he employed to devise a brand new technique, one based on his academic, traditional Chinese and Western training, but with new materials and a new visual aesthetic.

He called it Marking Color.

The Weekly asked Will and Alvin what qualifies a person—their father—as a great artist. For Will, “It's the lifelong pursuit and expressions driven by that sense of purpose for something greater than self, that beauty from the inside.” For Alvin, “A great artist is somebody who can bring a new form, a new medium, to life. And use that form to express himself and impact the viewer in a

way that they haven’t seen before.”

Victor was never commercial. While he briefly had a gallery and sold his art, he rejected that path because he did not want to be bound to anyone else’s view of what he should paint—and he did not want to spend his time copying himself instead of innovating. When Alvin graduated college, Victor, a master calligrapher, gave him a painting of the word “Success” which, to Victor, has nothing to do with money and everything to do with beauty—inside you and around you. It is only recently that Victor is warming again—with the encouragement of his sons—to share his art in public. In the spirit of a traditional Chinese artist, he had always done so within the family, or by donating, but rarely by selling. You can see his work at the current Wing Luke “Reorient” exhibition, and hopefully, in the near future, through other in-person or digital means.

A great artist makes use of his heart and mind. His art makes you think, and also feel. From traditional Chinese landscapes to Western portraits, to abstraction in Marking Color, to a new method of photo and digital art he has been experimenting with that he calls “New Song”—Victor’s art incorporates all of this—and beauty.

In the documentary, Victor and Will sit on a bench on a Washington beach.

They view a solitary tree, which inspired Victor’s painting, “Bow and Extend.”

“Bow to the force of nature but don’t break,” Victor tells his son. “Continue to grow and extend.” Victor remarks on how the tree, like himself, “endures” in spite of the winds of change. “Most important is beauty,” says 汪凯. “If you want to make a beautiful painting, your heart must be beautiful inside. The painting outside shows the beauty. [But] this beauty comes not only from nature, but also from the human heart.”  Some of Victor Kai Wang’s work can be viewed at pinemoongallery.com/aboutus or at Wing Luke Museum’s “Reorient” exhibition (wingluke.org/exhibit-reorient).

Will Wang Graylin’s documentary about Victor is at vimeo.com/manage/videos/172977552.

Kai can be reached at info@nwasianweekly.com.

16

asianweekly northwest

40 YEARS

JULY 9 – JULY 15, 2022

JCCCW HISTORY

JCCCW building

at the center, said Matsukawa.

But the war changed everything…

During World War II, Japanese Americans were incarcerated and put in camps, and the school buildings were taken over by the U.S. military and turned into Army Air Force training centers.

When the war was over, the buildings were returned. But the Japanese Americans who came home from camps lost everything.

They found themselves homeless and jobless. No one would rent them apartments or give them jobs. JCCCW served as temporary, emergency housing after the war.

It housed 32 families (130 people)

Lori Matsukawa with Ambassador to the U.S. Koji Tomita.

JCCCW’s current location was once the home of a Japanese language school. Few in the Asian community know that the Japanese language school had been flourishing before the 20th century. According to Matsukawa, to accommodate the growing student population, the original school built in 1902 had moved out of Pioneer Square and the board built three more Japanese language schools as each had outgrown each other. The first one was built in 1913, the second in 1917, and the third in 1929.

Up until the war, the schools were booming. As many as 1,500 students enrolled in these Japanese language schools. The students went to daily classes right after their regular day school. It was only after the war the schools had changed to Saturday classes only. Run by the Japanese Language School board and Japanese Community Service, the schools evolved into community meeting places and more. The first and second generations, Issei and Nisei, would also use the schools to greet visitors from Japan. Even Japanese brides would like to visit the schools to meet other Japanese people and look at Japanese books

from 1945-1959. They also made themselves a kitchen so they could cook. Only in 1960 did all the families move out.

Community members had been collecting things over the years, and some old community treasures were stored in the building over the years, wrote Karen Yoshitomi, JCCCW executive director. Hence, a museum was born after 2008.

Aside from being a community gathering site, shops were opened, including a barber shop and karate and judo schools.

In 2003, the Nikkei Heritage Association of Washington (NHAW) was formed with the desire to establish a cultural and community center, said Yoshitomi.

Matsukawa and the two other founders, the late Rep. Kip Tokuda and Judge Ron Mamiya, were searching for a suitable location for JCCCW. Later, they approached the language school board and the Japanese Community Service about merging over with the school board. With the merger in 2008, NHAW named itself as the Japanese Cultural & Community Center of Washington. Matsukawa remembered what the old guards

Lori Matsukawa showing her new medal

said, “If you guys mess up, we will take it back.” Yoshitomi clarified that the Northwest Nikkei Museum is a JCCCW program.

But the heart of the language school remains…fostering Japanese culture and language not only among Japanese Americans, but non-Japanese, and building bridges between the two through their love of Japanese ethos.

For the past two decades, JCCCW has been growing. The pandemic pushed the center to expand online Japanese classes and increased enrollment outside Seattle.

Matuskawa said the classes are not only for kids, but adults, too. As of now, over 200 students have enrolled, and there is a waiting list. A decade ago, it only had half of the number of students for in-person classes.

MATSUKAWA’S ROLE “Raising visibility,” was Matsukawa’s role in developing JCCCW. She has been instrumental in organizing the Tomodachi fundraising event, honoring people who have made a difference in the Japanese community, related to Japanese heritage, culture, and products.

As for her Emperor’s award, Matsukawa said she was shocked.

It’s her desire to bring people of Japan to learn more about the stories of Japanese Americans and be proud of their accomplishments.

“I wish my grandparents and parents were still alive. They would be amazed, so pleased that Japanese Americans are appreciated by Japan. It’s so easy when you are gone from the motherland, you can sometimes feel that you have been forgotten. Now, Japan is learning about Japanese Americans, what they’ve been through, how they preserved, and how they succeeded.”

The timing of the award ceremony couldn’t be more perfect to showcase the achievements of Japanese Americans—a parade of new political stars at the event including Secretary of State Steve Hobbs, Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell, deputy mayors Monisha Harrell and Kendee Yamaguchi, and Port of Seattle Commissioner Toshiko Hasegawa. All were elected and appointed in 2021.

The Consul General of Japan Hisao Inagaki and his team organized the event with multiple goals fulfilled simultaneously. I have been to quite a few of these award ceremonies and the ambassador was never present. Koji announced this year is the 65th anniversary of the Seattle-Kobe Sister City re-

Culture Day in November at JCCCW

Karen Yoshitomi leading a tour through Culture Day Exhibit

Photos by Assunta Ng

HOW JCCCW BEGAN JCCCW’s history is a reflection of the local Japanese community’s history in bright and dark times.

Although the idea was brought up in the early 2000s, the roots of JCCCW have actually been long laid at the turn of the 20th century.

When the idea of JCCCW was brought up in the 2000s, several community members were concerned, including me, that it would compete with Wing Luke Asian Museum’s capital campaign, as it was planning to move into a much bigger venue on South King Street (currently the museum’s location).

We were blinded then by assumptions and insufficient information.

What made the JCCCW concept work is due to the vision and resourcefulness of its leadership, and the Japanese community’s commitment and determination. As I told Matsukawa last year, “I am so glad that I was wrong.”

The Wing and JCCCW are two separate organizations with different goals and objectives, appealing to specific audiences. Empowering our community and future generations, the two institutions are preserving the untold history of Asian Americans, which have been mostly left out of the American public school textbooks.

Photo from JCCCW

MATSUKAWA from 1

Event attendees enjoyed a bento box

lationship. A trip for the Seattle delegation to Kobe will be planned for fall. Koji also met with Gov. Jay Inslee during his trip.

Talk about killing several birds

with one stone…This event did it all.  Assunta can be reached at assunta@nwasianweekly.com.