California Democratic Rep. Judy Chu said Wednesday that rhetoric about the competition between China and the United States contributes to anti-Asian American hate and could get people killed.
Chu spoke at the launch event for the Vincent Chin Institute, a new organization dedicated to combatting anti-Asian hate and promoting education about Asian American issues. She said that even remarking about the economic competition between Washington and Asian countries is highly dangerous.
TODAY, CAPAC Leaders @RepJudyChu, @RepGraceMeng & @RepMarkTakano joined with @HelenZiaReal & advocates to launch the @vincentchinlgcy. The Vincent Chin Institute is turning a horrific tragedy into a lasting legacy of fighting against all forms of hate, including anti-Asian hate. pic.twitter.com/8m8amrvhXO
— CAPAC (@CAPAC) April 26, 2023
“Already, Asian Americans have been suffering three years of anti-Asian hate due to Trump calling COVID-19 ‘China virus’ and ‘kung flu,” Chu said. “But now, the rhetoric and tension about the U.S.-China relationship comes on top of that, potentially escalating that violence. Today, the focus has shifted to extremists engaging in racial profiling of Chinese Americans.”
Vincent Chin was a Chinese American man who was killed by two white autoworkers in Detroit in 1982. The workers blamed Japanese immigrants for a decline in America’s auto industry and job layoffs. They mistook Chin for a Japanese American and beat him to death with a baseball bat. Chu referenced the incident in her remarks.
“Today, over 40 years later, what we learned is that the rhetoric used around economic competition with Asian countries can result in harm and even murder of Asian Americans here at home,” Chu continued.
Chu also accused her House colleagues of racism, claiming she was subjected to anti-Asian hate from “extremist right-wing Republicans” who say she is a “spy for China.”
The California Democrat is the first Chinese American to be elected to the House and chairs the Congressional Asian Pacific Americans Caucus.
Her ties to the Chinese Communist Party have been exposed in recent months by reporting from the Daily Caller News Foundation. Chu worked with a non-profit that shared staff with Chinese intelligence front groups,
She was also named the honorary chairwoman of another alleged Chinese intelligence front group and was listed as a co-chair of another similar organization. (RELATED: EDITORIAL BOARD: Here’s Everything The LA Times Got Wrong In Their Hit Piece About Us (Pretty Much All Of It))
Democrats, including Chu herself, denied the reporting and claimed that attacks on Chu for her links to the Chinese Communist Party were “racist.”