With Anti-Asian Attacks on the Rise, Democrats Need to Figure Out How to Talk About China

Roughly three months ago, Evanna Hu realized something had to change. For months, she and other Asian Americans working in the national security field had heard a startling number of anecdotes about a climate of fear and hostility toward people of Asian heritage. Approval for security clearances were "taking a lot longer" for some government employees and contractors. At the State Department, more Asian American diplomats are facing restrictions on where they can serve and what positions they can hold--a process that has grown so dispiriting that one employee told CNN, "It helps immensely to change one's last name." For Hu, the chief executive of an artificial intelligence company that does business with the Defense Department, she began noticing microaggressions and "not-so-micro aggressions" in her interactions with government officials.