Hillary Clinton Apologizes to Asian American Press After Media Blunder

New America Media, News Report, Eugenia Chien, Posted: Mar 27, 2007

Editor's Note:After several Chinese American reporters were turned away at a February fundraiser, Sen. Hillary Clinton held a special meeting with Asian American media.

SAN FRANCISCO – Senator Hillary Clinton amended her rocky start with the Bay Area Chinese media this week by holding a roundtable discussion with Asian-American media on March 25 at The Fairmont Hotel.

Clinton expressed “deep regret” for the “misunderstanding over press credentials” at a Feb. 23 fundraiser to which several Chinese media reporters were denied access. Before the meeting, the senator met privately with editors and reporters from the Chinese media who were excluded from the fundraiser.

“The Asian Pacific Islander community is important to me personally,” she said at the roundtable meeting. The Asian-American media “will always have someone to get information from” in the Clinton campaign, the senator said.


At the February fundraiser, reporters from the Sing Tao Daily, World Journal and China Press, all Chinese-American publications, were told that the event was open to local press only, not to “foreign press.” However, several Chinese media reporters who arrived earlier were allowed access to the fundraiser that day.

More than 40 editors and reporters from Asian-American media outlets attended the Sunday morning roundtable, including the Sing Tao Daily, World Journal, Ming Pao Daily, Korea Times, Viet Tribune and Filipinas Magazine. Clinton was accompanied by state assemblywoman Fiona Ma, who has endorsed Clinton’s campaign, and Ginger Lew, a former counsel at the Department of Commerce. Lew accompanied the Clintons to Beijing in 1995.

In her opening remarks, Clinton expressed support for comprehensive immigration reform, family unification, the DREAM Act, and addressing healthcare and education disparities. During the question and answer session, international policy and issues close to the immigrant community dominated the discussion.

On the topic of North Korea’s nuclear program, Clinton said that she disagreed with the Bush administration’s moves that would “further isolate North Korea.” “We need to mix carrots with sticks,” she said. The United States needs to make clear the consequences of pursuing nuclear programs while gaining an understanding with North Korea’s neighboring countries of the threat of North Korean nuclear development.

Joyce Chen, an editor at the Chinese-language Sing Tao Daily, asked Clinton about her criticism of America’s dependence on Chinese investors and the U.S. trade deficit. Clinton wrote earlier this month in a letter to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke that China has been “buying our debt and in essence becoming our banker.”


Clinton said that the United States needs to do better in dealing with its trade deficit, not only with China but also with Japan and Europe. “But I want the Chinese government to also understand that if they are going to be a leader in the world, which I think they are, they have to play by the same rules as the rest of us,” she said.

As the standard of living improves for the Chinese, Clinton said, “I’m hopeful that democracy will spread in China.” She referred to her 1998 visit to China with former President Bill Clinton and emphasized the “honest, open” dialogue that they had in China about HIV/AIDS.

Clinton also addressed the issue of Filipino WWII veterans, who are seeking redress from the U.S. government for failing to provide them with full benefits. She said she supports legislation for Filipino veterans to receive compensation from the U.S. government. “This is the year we will right that wrong,” she told Greg Macabenta, publisher of Filipinas Magazine.

Clinton drew on the experiences of her travel to countries including China and Vietnam to emphasize that there needs to be more people-to-people relationships, not just government-to-government relations.

“This meeting means that Asian-American groups are coming up in the mainstream political arena. It is the beginning of our time,” said Youngkee Ju, a reporter from The Korea Daily who attended the roundtable.

Hillary Clinton’s apology proves that Chinese-Americans need to pay more attention to politics and to be more proactive so that they can be treated equally by other races in America, said Yu-ru Chen, editor-in-chief of the Chinese-language World Journal.

Clinton’s initiative to apologize publicly to the Chinese media and shake hands with each reporter was an important gesture to the Chinese media, Chen said.

“Her actions emphasized that she understands the importance of the Asian-American community to the United States.”


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