By Sam Chu Lin

WASHINGTON - People attending the annual national convention of the Committee of 100 (a group of prominent Chinese Americans) in the nation’s capital this past week expressed anger and frustration about the new report the group sponsored and released revealing how non-Asian Americans feel about Chinese and other Asian Americans.

The survey declares that suspicions and negative feelings for the Asian and Pacific Islander community are on the rise.

Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta said he was "shocked to learn that 46 percent of all of those who were polled believe that the country has a problem with Americans of Chinese ancestry (who they believe) will pass on (secret) information to the Chinese government."

The former San Jose congressman and first Asian American cabinet member reminded the audience "the myth of the perpetual foreigner is alive and well."

"The experiences of Japanese Americans during the second World War, the so-called oriental exclusion acts of the late 19th century and the early 20th century, and the alien land laws were all based on the belief that we as Americans of Asian Pacific ancestry are so different that we can never be fully American," he said.

With the release of this new poll, Mineta warned "no single ethnic group within our community can afford to sit on the sidelines in this fight. Very few non Asian Americans make the distinction between the dozens of ethnic groups within our community, and that comes as no surprise."

To illustrate this point, he cited as an example the tragic murder of Vincent Chin, a Detroit engineer who was killed on the eve of his wedding by men who thought he was Japanese.

Congressman Bob Matsui of Sacramento credited the Committee of 100 for playing a pivotal role in "clearing the name of Dr. Wen Ho Lee. It was only because you had the courage and were willing stand up E he is now a free person without a blemish of being a spy."

Matsui emphasized the importance for the community to work together to challenge the "perpetual stereotyping of Asian Americans."

"As someone who was incarcerated when he was six months old by his own government, with my mother and father, with the allegation of being potentially an enemy alien hanging over you, that’s something no human being should have to bear," he said in an emotion-packed talk.

"And I have to tell you that when Norman Mineta and I and our families were incarcerated in 1942, nobody stood up. There was no Committee of 100," he pointed out. "...You did something extraordinary. You stood up, and you proved to the American public, Dr. Wen Ho Lee was a loyal American citizen."

Matsui also took aim at the Cox Report, which he said concluded "Chinese espionage had in fact occurred." The Sansei lawmaker noted that Stanford University’s Center for International Security reviewed the Cox Commission Report, and concluded that there is "no credible evidence presented or incidence described of actual theft of U.S. missile technology."

However, Matsui noted that the Cox Report is still an official document of the United States, and although Dr. Lee’s name is not mentioned in the report, Matsui blamed it for creating an atmosphere that led to the indictment of the former Los Alamos scientist.

George Koo, a Committee of 100 member from Mountain View, Calif., said Rep. Christopher Cox, (R-Calif.), who headed the committee responsible for the report, is now being considered for a judicial post in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

John Tateishi, national director of the Japanese American Citizens League, declared, "If Cox doesn’t repudiate this report, we’ll make it a top priority to oppose his nomination."

Tateishi also expressed concerns about the "perpetual stereotyping of Asian Americans," as in the downing of an American spy plane on China’s Hainan Island.

He said that he is also fearful the release of the new motion picture "Pearl Harbor" on Memorial Day weekend will create another round of Asian bashing.

Disney executives have scheduled a private screening of the new movie next week in an effort to ease his concerns.

Following the screening, Tateishi plans to stage a news conference to offer his reactions "regardless whether this movie comes out looking wonderful for us or awful.

"Our press conference will talk about the contributions of Japanese Americans and what this country did to us as a result of the bombings at Pearl Harbor," he said. "People forget it hurt Japanese Americans too. It didn’t just get us into a war; it really affected the life of every Japanese Americans in the United States."

Franklin Ono, head of Asian American exhibits at the Smithsonian Institution, emphasized one important way of ridding the stereotyping of Asian Americans was to educate the public about the community. He noted "Smithsonian will open at the Arts and Industrial Building, May 18 to Sept. 30.

"The Smithsonian is the closest thing we have to a ministry of culture that other nation’s have," he commented. "People believe that what we have represents the truth about national culture and history. If we’re absent from any of the exhibits and the collections and the work that’s being done here, then we don’t exist. We’re telling the public that this is a segment of the population that is important."

At the group’s gala, Committee of 100, led by Chairman Henry Tang recognized ABC correspondent John Donvan, CBS correspondent Mike Wallace and former UC Berkeley Chancellor Chang-lin Tien, one of the group’s founding members who is at home recovering from brain surgery.

Keynote speaker Elaine Chao, Secretary of Labor and the first Asian American woman in a president’s cabinet, praised C-100 for having the "courage to get involved. Where we find ourselves today is the result of individuals and organizations that saw as their patriotic duty to the nation that they love to enter the public arena E and to make a difference for our country."

The Committee of 100 plans to hold its next national conference in the San Francisco Bay Area.


This article was previously published by Rafu Shimpo.