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Atlanta Spa Shootings Reverberate Across South Korea, Long a U.S. Ally

March 21, 2021 by Staff Reporter

SEOUL—The killings happened more than 7,000 miles away. But for many South Koreans, the Atlanta-area spa shootings hit close to home. “The Victims Were Korean Mothers,” read a headline Sunday from the country’s largest newspaper.

Of the eight people who died, six were women of Asian descent—including four who have been identified as ethnic Koreans, ranging in age from 51 years old to 74. One was a South Korean citizen.

The rampage in Georgia has reverberated across this nation of 52 million, which in the decades since the Korean War has had a deep and enduring relationship with the U.S. The two are allies and share close cultural ties.

It can often seem like every Korean knows someone with relatives or friends living in the U.S. South Korea sends more of its children to study in America than in any other foreign country.

Lee Myung-kyu, a 55-year-old office worker, said he knows many South Korean families who have dreamed of immigrating to the U.S., hoping for a better life. His own daughter wants to go to school in America. But Mr. Lee said he now has doubts.

“I keep thinking about whether something like this could happen to her,” Mr. Lee said.


Demonstrators Call for End to Anti-Asian Violence in U.S.

Protests and vigils urging an end to violence against Asian-Americans were held around the country on Saturday.

Hundreds gathered Saturday in San Francisco’s Chinatown, calling for an end to violence against Asian-Americans. Eight people, including six women of Asian descent, were killed in a shooting spree in the Atlanta area on Tuesday.

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

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Local police say the white man from Georgia charged with murder in the case said he was driven by what he called a sex addiction. Authorities say they are investigating whether the killings were racially motivated.

The attack has sparked fear at the same time police and government officials in New York and other U.S. cities have said hate crimes against Asian-Americans have risen since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, which first emerged in China.

Han Ye-rim, 32, said she has long idealized the U.S. as a diverse society. But staring at a victim list that looks much like herself, Ms. Han wonders how she would actually fare leaving Seoul.

“Learning about the Atlanta incident was a wake-up call to me,” Ms. Han said. “I’m realizing that I can be targeted for being different if I leave this country.”

What made the Atlanta rampage especially jarring was how good South Koreans, and Korean-Americans, had been feeling lately about their standing in the U.S.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin visited Korea on their first foreign trip. Barely a year ago, the South Korean film “Parasite” emerged with an unprecedented Best Picture win at the Academy Awards. BTS, the Korean pop band, had recently performed at the Grammys and topped Billboard’s album charts.

People rallied on Saturday in Atlanta.

Photo: shannon stapleton/Reuters

Meanwhile, South Koreans had rushed to the local box office to see the U.S. film “Minari,” which depicts a new Korean immigrant family in rural Arkansas and was itself just nominated for several Oscars.

“It’s really a weird kind of dichotomy,” said Abraham Kim, executive director for the Council of Korean Americans, a Washington-based nonprofit group, with celebrations of pop culture on the one hand and what he described as Asians “being targeted for violence on the other.”

South Korean media has given widespread coverage to the Atlanta shootings. In a Thursday editorial, Kyunghyang Shinmun, a left-leaning newspaper, called American society “defenseless to racist attacks.” Another outlet, the right-leaning Segye Ilbo, urged the U.S. to take “effective measures so that crimes against humanity do not take root.”

On Friday, President Biden, saying that the investigation is still under way, mourned the victims and declared that “hate can have no safe harbor in America.”

South Korean President Moon Jae-in has described the Atlanta killings as shocking.

Photo: Jewon Heon-kyun/Associated Press

South Korean President Moon Jae-in has called the Atlanta killings shocking, while the country’s foreign ministry supported the U.S. government’s efforts to stand against hatred and violence. “Such a crime is unacceptable under any circumstances,” the foreign ministry said in a Saturday statement.

Walking with a friend just blocks from the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, where the American flag continues to fly at half-staff in honor of the shooting victims, Yoon Ji-a recalled living in California during her youth. Her parents had a few brushes with racism, she said. But the events in Atlanta caught her by surprise.

“It’s scary,” said Ms. Yoon, a 20-year-old college student.

There are about 1.8 million Korean-Americans, according to the U.S. figures. The biggest Korean populations are in the metropolitan areas of Los Angeles, New York and Washington, D.C., according to Pew Research Center figures, analyzing U.S. data. Atlanta ranks seventh-largest.

Jean Lee has two children living in the U.S., though she hadn’t learned of the Atlanta-area shootings until local media began broadcasting coverage of the weekend protests and vigils across nearly two dozen American cities. Now the 48-year-old fears her children could be targeted.

“A lot of hate speech surfaced when people began calling the coronavirus the ‘Wuhan virus’ and it’s unfortunate that this issue came to light because of the shootings,” Ms. Lee said. “It feels late for Asians who have been experiencing discrimination for so long.”

Jenna Lee, a 25-year-old online shopping-mall owner, said she lived in Atlanta for two years as a teenager. In recent days, she said, she watched “Minari,” with its tale of struggling immigrants, and it prompted her to wonder whether Asian-Americans would be forever foreign and forever invisible.

“Asians are more than just people trying to assimilate into American society,” Ms. Lee said. And in her view, she said, “the shootings show how vulnerable we are to discrimination.”

Write to Timothy W. Martin at timothy.martin@wsj.com and Dasl Yoon at dasl.yoon@wsj.com

Copyright ©2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8

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Filed Under: WORLD, WSJ - WORLD Tagged With: Asian-Americans, Atlanta, Atlanta spa shootings, California, China, Coronavirus, COVID-19, Culture, Discrimination, Family, Georgia, Government, Hate Speech, Light, Los Angeles, Media, Moon, Moon Jae-in, New York, PAID, Pew Research Center, Police, Research, Sex, Society, South Korea, State, Youth

Republicans Push Biden to Take Aggressive Stance Toward China

March 15, 2021 by Staff Reporter

WASHINGTON—As President Biden devotes himself to dealing with the coronavirus pandemic, Republicans are striving to elevate China policy as a top issue, pressuring him to take an aggressive stance as Americans’ opinion toward the global rival grows more negative.

Republicans positioning themselves as leading critics of Mr. Biden, chiefly those seen as considering a 2024 presidential run, have buffeted his nominees with questions about how they would deal with China. GOP lawmakers are proposing legislation to limit visas given to Chinese nationals and to crack down on American universities’ relationships with China. Some Republicans want the president to boycott the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.

The goal, lawmakers and party strategists say, is to maintain pressure on Mr. Biden to confront China—and to make his policies a top issue for voters ahead of the 2022 midterm elections and the presidential race two years later.

“China poses the single greatest geopolitical threat to our nation over the next century,” said Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas), who ran for president in 2016 and who has tangled with several of Mr. Biden’s nominees. He tried to block the confirmation of Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo after she initially stopped short of promising to maintain the Republican Trump administration’s blacklisting of Huawei Technologies Co. Ms. Raimondo later called telecommunications equipment made by “untrusted vendors” a threat to the U.S.

Mr. Cruz said Mr. Biden’s choices for administration positions “raise serious questions as to whether this administration understands the threat.” He and other GOP lawmakers sharply questioned Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the now-confirmed United Nations ambassador, over past comments on China.

A Gallup poll released this month put China’s unfavorable view among Americans at 79%, by far the worst reading since its polling began in 1979. Only Iran and North Korea scored worse. A recent Pew Research Center survey found that 48% of Americans said the U.S. should make limiting China’s power a top priority, up from 32% in 2018.

President Biden, left, convened a virtual meeting with the Quad, a strategic partnership including Japan, India and Australia that seeks to counter Chinese expansionism, at the White House on Friday.

Photo: Jim Lo Scalzo/Bloomberg News

Mr. Biden has called China “our most serious competitor,” and he has for now kept some of the Trump administration’s policies in place, including the steep tariffs at the heart of former President Donald Trump’s trade war. Mr. Biden’s approach involves maintaining a tough posture while trying to enlist allies to counter China.

“We’ll confront China’s economic abuses; counter its aggressive, coercive action; push back on China’s attack on human rights, intellectual property and global governance,” Mr. Biden said in his first foreign policy speech. “But we are ready to work with Beijing when it’s in America’s interest to do so.”

On Friday, the president convened a virtual meeting with the Quad, a strategic partnership including Japan, India and Australia that seeks to counter Chinese expansionism. Later this week, the Biden administration is expected to deliver a blunt message for China when top officials meet with counterparts in Alaska. The administration also seeks cooperation with China on curbing climate change and nuclear proliferation.

“President Biden certainly seems more aware of the threat posed by China than candidate Biden, and that is a welcome change,” said Sen. Marco Rubio (R., Fla.). “The question is whether rhetoric will translate into proactive policy that defends America’s interests or reactionary responses that get watered down through an interagency process.”

Mr. Rubio, who ran for president in 2016, has introduced legislation that would require Chinese government-supported organizations to register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. Sen. Tom Cotton (R., Ark.), another Republican seen as likely to mount a presidential bid, is pushing a bill to limit visas given to Chinese nationals. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has endorsed legislation in his state to require universities to report gifts of $50,000 from foreign sources.

Some Republicans want President Biden to boycott the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.

Photo: wu hong/Shutterstock

Sen. Rick Scott (R., Fla.) has called for a boycott of the Beijing Olympics and criticized Mr. Biden for, among other things, rolling back a plan for the sale of TikTok’s American operations sought by Mr. Trump. “It is no secret that Communist China’s plan is world domination,” Mr. Scott said in a recent news release.

The White House says an array of China-related policies are under review.

Republicans also have criticized Mr. Biden’s decision to re-enter the World Health Organization after Mr. Trump pulled the U.S. out of it, saying China’s sway and lack of transparency hurt the Covid-19 response. “Biden puts China’s interests first…AGAIN!” read an email from the Republican National Committee, which has incorporated China policy into fundraising appeals.

Democrats dismiss the contention that they aren’t worried about China. “China is the epicenter of our attention,” said Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Robert Menendez (D., N.J.).

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.), a longtime China critic, recently instructed committee chairs to craft legislation to promote investments in American research and manufacturing, including semiconductor production, augmenting administration efforts.

SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS

How do you envision U.S. policy toward China changing under the new administration? Join the conversation below.

Paul Haenle, who worked as a China expert on the National Security Council under former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, said some of the Trump administration’s rhetoric about getting tough on China was overblown. He pointed to the trade pact Mr. Trump reached, which he said failed to secure structural changes to Chinese business practices, including intellectual property theft.

“There is significant consensus now between Democrats and Republicans that China under its current leadership has become more ambitious, more aggressive, and that China’s strategic intentions are more threatening to the interests of the U.S. and its allies,” Mr. Haenle said.

One common focus for both Democrats and Republicans has been Chinese treatment of the Uyghur ethnic group. Both the Trump and Biden administrations have deemed it genocide.

During the 2020 campaign, Mr. Biden seemed to dismiss any risk in China’s growing prominence. “They’re not bad folks, folks. But guess what? They’re not competition for us,” he said on the campaign trail in Iowa.

He has since begun using stronger rhetoric—and sought to use rising criticism of China to his advantage. A day after holding his first phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Mr. Biden made a pitch for his infrastructure plans by noting how China was making major investments in rail and electric vehicle technology.

“If we don’t get moving,” Mr. Biden said last month, “they’re going to eat our lunch.”

President-elect Joe Biden has sent signals that the U.S. will remain tough on China, from trade to technology. WSJ’s Jonathan Cheng explains the new administration’s policy approach and how China might respond. Photo: Lintao Zhang/AP

—Lindsay Wise and William Mauldin contributed to this article.

Write to Alex Leary at alex.leary@wsj.com

Corrections & Amplifications
Reporter Lindsay Wise contributed to this article. An earlier version of the article incorrectly spelled the first name Linsday. (Corrected on March 15.)

Copyright ©2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8

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Filed Under: WORLD, WSJ - WORLD Tagged With: Alaska, Australia, Barack Obama, Biden administration, Business, China, COVID-19, Democrats, Elections, Florida, Gifts, India, Iran, Japan, Joe Biden, Leadership, Moving, National, North Korea, PAID, Pew Research Center, Policy, Production, Race, Republicans, Research, Senate, State, technology, Texas, trade, United Nations, winter, World Health Organization, Xi Jinping

More in U.S. Embrace Covid Vaccines, Pew Poll Shows

March 5, 2021 by Staff Reporter

Vaccine hesitancy has been a concern among U.S. public health experts for months now. But evidence increasingly suggests that as vaccination rates increase, many unvaccinated Americans are becoming more comfortable with the idea of receiving the shot themselves.

The proportion of adults in the country who intend to get vaccinated has increased significantly over the last several months, according to a survey released Friday by the Pew Research Center. Sixty-nine percent of the public now plans to get vaccinated — or already has — up from 60 percent who said in November that they intended to pursue it.

The issue has become more partisan over time, however. The new survey finds a 27-percentage point political gap, with 83 percent of Democrats saying they plan to get the vaccine or have already received it, compared to just 56 percent of Republicans.

Despite the divides, the new survey bolsters optimism that overall, Americans are increasingly open to receiving the vaccine. About 54 million people — 16 percent of the population — had received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine as of Thursday, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

vaccinated at lower rates in part because they face obstacles like language barriers and inadequate access to digital technology, medical facilities and transportation. Mistrust in government officials and doctors also plays a role, experts say, and is fed by misinformation that is spread on social media. President Biden has made equity a major focus of his pandemic response, saying he wants pharmacies, mobile vaccination units and community clinics that help underserved communities to help increase the pace of vaccinations.

Overall, those surveyed by Pew who say they do not plan to get the vaccine cite reasons including concerns about side effects and a feeling that the vaccines were developed too quickly. Others say they are waiting for more information about how well they work.

The Pew results echo a survey released last week from the Kaiser Family Foundation that found vaccine hesitancy declining among most demographic groups. That survey also found a significant political gap, but noted that both Democrats and Republicans were significantly more likely to say they intended to get the vaccine now than in December.

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Filed Under: WORLD Tagged With: COVID-19, Family, Government, mobile, Pew Research Center, Research, Social Media, technology, Vaccination and Immunization

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