Asians Under Investigation 2 ChiAms Indicted in Missiles Scheme
SANTA ANA, Calif. –– Chao Tung Wu and Yi Qing Chen, two naturalized U.S. citizens born in China, are the first to be indicted under a 2004 anti-terrorism statute.
The two are accused of trying to smuggle three shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles into the United States for use abroad. No participating foreign countries were identified.
The two were originally detained in August for distributing methamphetamine and ecstasy, and importing millions of counterfeit cigarettes.
Gerson Horn, Wu’s attorney, said the missile smuggling was all a speculative scheme suggested by undercover agents. He said the agents “initiated the negotiations and persisted in the negotiations but it never bore fruit … with either one of them.”
“Today’s indictment shows a willingness of the smugglers to acquire practically anything for importation, no matter how dangerous or destructive,” U.S. Attorney Debra Wong Yang said in a statement.
3 Chinese Immigrants Face Single Count
LOS ANGELES –– In what is becoming a pattern, the federal government’s case against three Chinese immigrants first accused of a broad plot to steal secrets involving U.S. warship technology yielded a single, dressed-down count of failing to register as foreign agents.
“There’s one case after another where senior officials allege serious activities … and then the case just falls apart and you end with minor-looking charges,” said Paul Moore, a former China chief analyst for the FBI.
Chi Mak, 65, his wife and brother remained in custody on the sole charge of acting as agents of a foreign government.
Last month, all three suspects were accused in an FBI affidavit of stealing government property, aiding and abetting, transportation of stolen goods and conspiracy.
AAPIP Hosts New Butler-Koshland Fellow Kajiyama
Fourth-generation Japanese American Sandy Kajiyama is the most recent recipient of the Butler-Koshland Fellowship, a prestigious award that honors Lewis Butler and Dan Koshland, who are two highly esteemed leaders and mentors in nonprofit organizations and philanthropy in San Francisco.
Lewis Butler, who has served as a director of the Peace Corps in Malaysia, selected Kajiyama and Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy, recognizing its unique role of fostering hands-on collaboration in which mentor and mentee get to learn from one another. Kajiyama will use her vision of promoting community-based giving to devote the next year to supporting the efforts of AAPIP.
“Even in small amounts, donating money is a powerful way for APAs to give back to their communities,” Kajiyama said.
Foreign Policy Challenge
EVENT: Japan’s Foreign Policy Challenges in East Asia
BACKGROUND: Honorable Makoto Yamanaka, Consul General of Japan in San Francisco will lead the discussion.
INTERESTING: Examining new foreign policy options for Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, one of Japan’s most powerful modern leaders.
DETAILS: Free, Nov. 30, 5:45 p.m., USF Lone Mountain Campus, Room 100, for reservations, call (415) 422-6828.
Mirikitani Receives Minerva Award
SAN FRANCISCO –– Janice Mirikitani, who works with her husband, the Reverend Cecil Williams, in building multiracial programs at Glide Memorial Church, was awarded one of the 2005 Minerva Awards.
Created in 2004 by California First Lady Maria Shriver, the Minerva Awards are named for the Roman Goddess of Wisdom and Justice portrayed on the California State Seal who symbolizes the dual nature of women as warrior and peacemaker. The award includes a $10,000 grant from Target.
Mirikitani has written and edited dozens of landmark books, journals and anthologies along with four books of poetry. She was San Francisco poet laureate for two years and has choreographed more than 35 productions at Glide’s Dance Ensemble.
A third-generation Japanese American, who was born in Stockton just before World War II, Mirikitani and her family were interned in camps. As a child, she experienced 11 years of sexual abuse by various family members and was battered as a young woman. She draws on these experiences in her artwork.
The Minerva Award also went to former Olympian Anita De Frantz, who heads the Los Angeles Amateur Athletic Foundation; Sister Jennie Lechtenberg, CEO of PUENTE Learning Center; and, for lifetime achievement, former U.S. First Lady Betty Ford.
Abercrombie & Fitch to Pull T-shirts
LOS ANGELES –– A national boycott by teenage girls has forced retailer Abercrombie & Fitch to stop selling some of its T-shirts emblazoned with messages such as “Who needs brains when you have these?”
Two years ago, Abercrombie & Fitch pulled its glossy catalogs that featured nude men and women after protests, and in 2002, it discontinued a line of T-shirts that Asian Americans claimed was racially insensitive.
Oxnard Naval Officer Killed in Iraq
OXNARD, Calif. –– Just before shipping off to Iraq for the second time, Allan Espiritu spent the summer teaching his young daughters to ride their bicycles.
Espiritu, 28, a Naval petty officer second class, was killed by an improvised explosive device near Ramadi, Iraq.
“His faith and love of God were primary in his life,” said his father, Alvin Espiritu, 58.
Espiritu was survived by his daughters Alissa, 8, Melanie, 7, and stepdaughter Alexy, 7.
“He was very involved with the kids’ schoolwork” and always made time to attend the ceremonies when they won school awards, said his wife, Erika Espiritu, 25.
In January 2003, Espiritu was sent to Iraq as a sniper. He served there for 9-1/2 months. When his second tour of duty began this year, he passed over safer duties for front line work with a Marine bomb squad.