Distinguished U of Houston Alum being cruxified by repugnant insurrectionists as a spy for China. Dominic Ng (pronounced Ing) earned his BA and MBA from the University of Houston in the late 1970s. For the past 30+ years, he has been the CEO of the East/West Bank, the largest bank incorporated in Southern California. In July 2022, the Biden administration appointed Ng as a U.S. member of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Business Advisory Council (ABAC) on April 25; he will also serve as the Chair during the United States’ APEC host year in 2023. And the character assassination begins. The Daily Caller, a right wing extremist site, proceeded to accuse Ng of being a spy for China, pointing to his meetings with Chinese officials; based on this, six House GOPers, headed by Lance Gooden (Tx-5), who had previously refused to certify the 2020 presidential election, requested the FBI to investigate Ng of being a Chinese spy. East/West Bank immediately responded to this convenient character assassination, issuing this statement. “The suggestions in recent media accounts that Mr. Dominic Ng is or in the past was a foreign agent are not true. The information in these reports is false and comes at a dangerous time when hate crimes against Asian Americans are rising. In the course of his work as a global executive, the bank said, Ng regularly interacts with government officials to forge the partnerships needed for international business and to represent American economic interests abroad. As a financial executive working to facilitate trade between the United States and China, the world’s largest economies, Ng occasionally meets with Chinese officials – as do other American business leaders, without controversy. These meetings are a standard operating procedure for American business leaders whose businesses have operations in China or transact with Chinese-based companies. American executives met with senior Chinese officials under the Trump administration, and chief executives from American companies including UPS, Pfizer, Carnival, Cargill, Prologis, Hyatt, and Goldman Sachs met with President Xi Jinping at the 2018 Global CEO Council in Beijing. In today’s economy, such meetings suggest nothing about a person’s loyalty to their country. “Ng is the subject of unfounded allegations at a time when anti-Asian sentiment is rising, These types of claims cast suspicion on the Asian American community, which has seen an increase in hate crimes in recent years.
Rep Jud Chu, House lawmaker from So Calif., along with other House Dems, defended the appointment of Dominic Ng and expressed outrage at the insurrectionists' attempts to undermine it based on the allegations of right-wing outlets “with extensive histories of spreading misinformation. last week, on Fox News TV, the insurrectionist questioned the loyalty of Congresswoman Judy Chu, but not the other House Dems who had also voted for Dominic Ng's appointment. Chu immediately responded in a statement. “It is based on false information spread by an extreme, right-wing website. Furthermore, it is racist. I very much doubt that he would be spreading these lies were I not of Chinese American descent.” Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle condemned the remarks. “Let me say we should not question anybody’s loyalty to the United States. I think that is out of bounds. It’s beyond the pale,” Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.), the chairman of the China select committee, told CBS’s “Face The Nation” on Sunday. “Absolutely, we shouldn’t question anybody’s loyalty,” he added. In a separate statement, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said the Texas Republican’s “slanderous accusations” against Chu was “dangerous, unconscionable and xenophobic.” Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Torrance), who represents California’s 36th District, also fired back, saying that he served in the military to defend Gooden’s “right to say stupid, racist s—.” “Attacking the loyalty of Asian Americans like @RepJudyChu is a racist trope that has harmed Asian Americans throughout US history,” Lieu said on Twitter. “Stop harming Americans of Asian descent.” https://www.latimes.com/california/...rep-chu-house-democrats-blast-racist-rhetoric https://thehill.com/homenews/house/...doubles-down-on-attack-on-judy-chus-heritage/ There are 2 Republican Asian lawmakers from So Calif, Michelle Steel and Young Kim. Altho these 2 know about Chu & Ng distinguished careers / accomplishments, but they voted against Ng's appointment, and have been silent on the insurrectionists' racist attack on Judy Chu.
Prominent Asian Americans Are Fighting Disloyalty Claims From The Repugnant Right East West Bank’s CEO Dominic Ng may lead one of the larger banks in the country, but for most of his career he stayed out of the national limelight and — very deliberately — out of national politics. “I never got involved,” Ng said in an interview from the bank’s Pasadena headquarters. “I just thought that it was beyond my scope.” But after four years of a Trump White House and its racist rhetoric, Ng decided to step up. A longtime registered Republican, Ng generously supported Biden's presidential bid. And when the Biden administration came calling last year to ask him to advise U.S. officials for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, Ng said yes. It’s a plum assignment for Ng, who sees his bank as a financial and cultural bridge between the U.S. and Asia. With the U.S. hosting the APEC summit this year, Ng has assumed the chairmanship of APEC's business advisory council. The role puts Ng front and center, along with the bank he helped build from its modest beginnings in L.A.’s Chinatown into an institution holding more than $60 billion in assets. Last month, six Republican House members, led by Texas Rep. Lance Gooden, called for an FBI investigation into Ng for possible violations of the Espionage Act. The upcoming APEC summit in San Francisco “will expose Mr. Ng and potentially our nation’s secrets to numerous [Chinese Communist Party] officials and possible intelligence operatives,” the representatives wrote in a Feb. 15 letter to the FBI. Their demand came after the conservative outlet The Daily Caller conveniently claimed that Ng, who's originally from Hong Kong, led organizations that are allegedly front groups for Chinese intelligence. The allegations have been met with fierce pushback from Democrats and civic and business leaders who have known Ng for decades. 'Disheartening to see' Ng, a U.S. citizen for 35 years who is well-known in L.A. / Houston philanthropic circles for his support of the arts and Asian American initiatives, called the allegations baseless. “It was disheartening to see [that after] many years that I've been actively engaged in American society that there will still be people out there who are questioning my loyalty,” Ng said in his first English-language interview about the allegations. It wasn’t just Ng whose loyalty was challenged. When Democratic Rep. Judy Chu led House Democrats in defending Ng, who is a constituent in her San Gabriel Valley district, Gooden came after her as well. On Jesse Watters Primetime on Fox News, the host asked Gooden if he thought Chu should be investigated. “I think everyone that’s standing up for the Chinese Communist Party should be looked into. Yes. I question her either loyalty or competence,” Gooden said. Gooden, who has not responded to LAist’s requests for comment, asserted on Fox News that Chu should not have security clearance or access to classified briefings "until this is figured out." Chu and Ng are boldfaced names on a growing list of Chinese Americans targeted by right-wing media and politicians. The Daily Caller has also tried to pin Communist ties on a former mayor of Alhambra; the chief executive of an L.A.-based plastics company; and a leader in the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association of Los Angeles. Chu, the first Chinese American woman elected to Congress, demanded an apology from Gooden. In an op-ed piece in MSNBC, she wrote she and Ng were having their loyalty challenged because they are of Chinese descent. She told LAist the allegations against them are "downright dangerous" and have put targets on their backs. “I am being even more careful in terms of where I go and more aware of my surroundings,” Chu said.
Chinese 'influence campaigns' These attacks on high-profile Chinese Americans come amid rising economic and geopolitical tensions between the U.S. and China, only heightened of late by flashpoints such as the Ukraine war, TikTok, the status of Taiwan, and the Chinese surveillance balloon. The allegations against Ng are more analog in nature. The Daily Caller claimed Ng was a leader in two overseas Chinese organizations that are allegedly front groups for the Communist Party’s United Front Work Department. The Chinese agency tries to advance China’s foreign policy interests abroad through influence campaigns, according to the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, which reports to Congress on the national security implications of U.S-China trade and economic relations. Ng counters that he never belonged to one of the groups, the China Overseas Friendship Association, having declined an offer to join because he didn’t have the time. Ng said he did once belong to the other group cited, the China Overseas Exchange Association, as a member, not a leader. He described joining after he became chair of the U.S.-based Committee of 100 — a group of Chinese American industry leaders whose mission is to promote civic participation by Chinese Americans and advance “constructive dialogue” on U.S. and China. As chair of the Committee of 100, Ng said he led delegations to China that needed to be coordinated through the Chinese government’s Overseas Chinese Affairs Office. He understood the China Overseas Exchange Association to be connected to that office and agreed to take on an “honorary position” in the association after he was invited in 2013, he said. “Not only have I never attended any meetings, I never paid dues,” Ng said. “I never received any remuneration. So I basically have no participation.” Ng said he withdrew from the China Overseas Exchange Association after his tenure as chair of the Committee of 100 ended in 2014. He remains a member of the Committee of 100. The Biden administration has stayed largely silent on the allegations against Ng. The White House did not respond to a request for comment. The FBI would not comment on whether it has opened an investigation into Ng. A State Department spokesperson noted in an email that members of APEC’s business advisory council are not government employees and do not have access to national security information. The spokesperson added that Ng “has done significant work in his brief time” with APEC and “we look forward to his continued leadership this year.” Swell of support The defense of Ng by influential friends across Southern California has been more full-throated. Organizations including the L.A. Area Chamber of Commerce issued statements in support of Ng, while well-known leaders in L.A. lined up to sing his praises. “There could not be a more loyal American than Dominic Ng,” said former Commerce Secretary Mickey Kantor, whose decades-long friendship with the banker was built on shared interests in economic and foreign policy. “They’re accusing him of working for China against the U.S., and it is just disgusting,” said Elise Buik, president of the United Way of Greater LA. “I hope that others will be outraged as they learn the story of who Dominic is as a person and a CEO.”
From Shanghai to Hong Kong to Deloitte & Touche in Houston Ng’s family story began in Shanghai, which his parents fled for Hong Kong after the Communists took control of China in 1949. His mother became a tailor, specializing in Catholic school uniforms and helped Ng’s father land a job as a school bus driver. The couple strived to send their children to university overseas. Ng, the youngest of six, came to the U.S. in 1977 to study at the University of Houston, where he tutored other students in math and science. But his eagerness to immerse himself in American culture drew him to communications courses, where he studied radio and television and religiously watched the Mary Tyler Moore Show and All In The Family. When his oldest brother chastised Ng for devoting himself to an area of study that would get him nowhere (“Like, what are you going to do as a weatherman in Corpus Christi?”), Ng dutifully switched to studying accounting. Ng was recruited by Deloitte & Touche, and after several years of working in the firm’s Houston office, he was transferred to L.A. where he was to manage the account for defense manufacturer Northrop Grumman. But because he was not a U.S. citizen at the time, he could not get the security clearance to take over the account — a situation Ng said he accepted and stressed is very different from the right-wing protests over his APEC appointment. Ng moved over to the banking side of Deloitte & Touche and was asked by a Singapore-based client to lead their investment arm in the U.S. One of the acquisitions Ng oversaw was East West Bank in 1991. The next year, the shareholders asked the then 32-year-old Ng to step in as the bank’s CEO — a role he’s held for more than 30 years. As a young CEO, Ng quickly recognized the need to engage with the local community. One of his most enduring civic engagements has been with the United Way of Greater Los Angeles. In 2000, he served as the first Asian American chair of its annual fundraising campaign. He also chaired a United Way education summit, and helped develop a quality of life index to evaluate which areas of L.A. County needed more investment. “That's Dominic,” Buik said. “He doesn't do anything for the ceremony or the title. When he commits to something, he commits.” Forever foreigners Ng’s active role in the United Way was among the reasons Chu recommended that he be commerce secretary in a Biden cabinet, which does not have any Asian American secretaries. Chu’s endorsement of Ng was cited in the congressional letter calling for an FBI investigation, which doubled as a broadside against Chu. The letter alleged Chu — and Ng — had served as an “honorary president” of the All-America Chinese Youth Federation. The Daily Caller claims the federation has members linked to Chinese intelligence. Chu and Ng say they were never members. Chu said this is the first time her patriotism has been challenged like this in 37 years as an elected official. "No matter how long we've lived in this country, we're considered foreigners in our own land," said Chu, the L.A.-born daughter of a Chinese American World War II veteran. Chu sees echoes of the past in the attacks she's facing. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 banned Chinese laborers from entering the U.S. while those already in the country were not allowed to naturalized. Sixty years later during WWII, the U.S. government incarcerated more than 125,000 people of Japanese descent, two-thirds of whom were citizens. “This decision was justified by accusations of espionage by Japanese Americans,” Chu said. “But to this day, not a single case was ever found.” Today it’s China — not Japan — that’s in the crosshairs of the U.S. government. And it’s bringing people of Chinese heritage — everyone from scientists to community leaders — under scrutiny. “Asian Americans are seen as extensions of Asia, regardless of nationality, regardless of nativity and most importantly, regardless of how they self-identify,” said Jane Hong, an immigration history professor at Occidental College. “As long as the specter of China remains politically effective in terms of rallying a particular base, particularly a Republican base, you're going to continue to see these kinds of red-baiting attempts,” Hong said.
House China panel leaders denounce heritage-based attack on Rep. Judy Chu The leaders of a new House select committee on China defended Democratic Rep. Judy Chu on Sunday, saying it was abhorrent and unacceptable for a GOP lawmaker to question her loyalty to the United States based on her Chinese heritage. "One of my colleagues, unfortunately, attacked Judy Chu, the first Chinese American congresswoman in the United States Congress, saying that somehow she's not loyal to the United States. I find that offensive as an Asian American myself," said Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, the ranking Democrat on the panel, about the comments last week from Rep. Lance Gooden, R-Texas. Wisconsin Rep. Mike Gallagher, the Republican chair of the China panel who appeared Sunday with Krishnamoorthi on the CBS News broadcast "Face the Nation," said Gooden was out of line. "We should not question anybody's loyalty to the United States," Gallagher said. "That is out of bounds. It's beyond the pale." On Sunday, Gallagher said his bipartisan committee, which is officially called the "Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party" was named as such to "to constantly make that distinction between the party and the people."
Ng has been a lifelong registered Republican, still is. he has attended many Republican fund-rasing events in So Calif, rubbing elbows w Asian American GOP politicians, including Young Kim and Michelle Steele, both of whom won election in 2022 in swing districts, by a narrow margin, unseating a Dem. Biden won by a much bigger margin in their respective districts in the midst of GOP Gooden's racist attack on Ng, Kim and Steele were silent. But fellow Calif Congress woman, Judy Chu, a Dem, condemned Gooden's convenient character assasination. it has been reported that both Steele and Kim had voted for insurrectionist / election deniers / anti-abortion Gym Jordan and then Mike Johnson for speaker. https://www.latimes.com/politics/st...fornia-republicans-put-tribe-ahead-of-country they are up for re-election in 2024, in view of these developments, their prospects in their respective swing district are on shaky grounds
last week, Gov good hair went to China and had an one-on-one w Xi, discussing climate policy and technology, as well as fentanyl exports. yet, no convenient character assasination / disingenuous righteous indignation from right extremist sites / news outlets, nor racist law makers such as Lance Gooden of Texas. imagine if Dominic Ng had gone to China and had an one-on-one meeting with Xi.
for about a month, WH has announced that Biden will hold meeting / discussion w Xi next Wed, in San Francisco. Janet Yellen will also meet w her counterpart, Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, there on Friday. yet, no convenient character assasination / disingenuous righteous indignation from right extremist sites / news outlets, nor racist law makers such as Lance Gooden of Texas.
that meeting in Woodside, CA started this moring. U.S. CEOs line up to woo China’s Xi at APEC Executives from Microsoft, Citigroup, Exxon Mobil and other large multinationals are converging on San Francisco /. Woodside this week for an audience with Chinese President Xi Jinping and other Asian leaders as long-frosty U.S.-China relations show only tentative signs of warming. For many corporations, the agenda is simple: They’re ready to get back to business. yet, no convenient character assasination / disingenuous righteous indignation from right extremist sites / news outlets, nor racist law makers such as Lance Gooden of Texas.
when he was POTUS, Trump wined and dined Xi at Mar A Lago ; it did not triggered any convenient character assasination / disingenuous righteous indignation from right extremist sites / news outlets, nor racist law makers such as Lance Gooden of Texas.
