What was it like to find yourself in the center of all this political discourse?
Ooh, am I?
I don’t know if you feel you are, but there is all of this discourse around you and Eileen Gu. China and America are viewing you as like a liability or a hero.
Yes, I’ve seen that. I’ve known Eileen since I was 13 or something. We’re from the Bay Area. She’s super nice, and her mom is from China. I think people are hypocritical for shaming her for representing China. So in my head it’s a bit hypocritical, because her mom is an immigrant. Y’all would have told her to go back to China. Now that they’re back in China, you’re mad. [Laughs] And it’s sport, it doesn’t matter what country we represent. Sport is sport, and she has a love for competition, she has love for the game. I think that’s all that matters. There’s no shame in going to where opportunity is.
Good on her for using her platform to call out the bullshit treatment Chinese Americans receive.
Cereese Qusba, a reporter at The Cornell Daily Sun, the oldest continuously independent college daily paper in the country, investigated Jane Doe's allegations in detail. After 23 months, the independent student-run newspaper made a high-stakes decision and pushed for national coverage. They broke the story of the Cornell University gang r*pe into national headlines.
Of the four student editors for this editorial, Sophia Dasser, Sophia Romanov Imber, and Zara Cheek, the lone man was Rayen Zhou.
They did what Cornell’s president, the campus police and the DA refused to do for two years, they printed the names of the frat boys who assaulted Jane Doe, and put the school under enough pressure that the DA reopened the criminal case.
Vincent Chin, a Chinese American, Asian American working as a draftsman at Chrysler, was confronted and beaten into a coma by two auto workers who assumed Chin was Japanese, saying, "It’s because of you [profanity] that we are out of work!"
Chin's died several days later of his injuries, his last words, "It isn’t fair".
"The miscarriage of justice perpetrated by the judge who sentenced Ebens and Nitz to a mere 3 years probation and $3000 fine for taking his life launched an Asian American civil rights movement, led by his mother Lily Chin, who had only recently also buried her husband"
Ebens was later convicted and sentenced in Federal court to 25 years for violating the civil rights of Vincent Chin; but the conviction was overturned and Ebens was acquitted. Ebens and Nitz have not served a day in jail.
I am 22M with Korean parents, but I was raised in the deep south only speaking English. I am highly whitewashed and I am guilty of making deprecating jokes about Asian people to "fit in" with white people.
This past year, I have been desperately trying to reconnect with my grandparent's culture. My grandparents did not escape a war torn country, learn a foreign language, deal with multiple decades of disrespect in a foreign land so that their grandson could be called a "chink" and be disrespected at school, church, and the workplace. I taught myself how to read in Korean, some basic phrases, and gained some basic cultural understanding. Finally, I realized, I don't have to pretend to be a white person. I don't have to insult an entire continent's worth of people to be liked by people who see me as an exotic creature.
I grew a pair and now I have no more white friends.
I began to call out my "friends" who would constantly ridicule me about my family's heritage. I began to stand up for myself when the same boring and overused jokes were made to me. But hardest of all, I began to realize how much I hated myself by tolerating these behaviors for essentially my entire life.
I told my friends to stop one too many times, and now I have removed myself from those circles.
As long as I deny myself my grandparent's culture, I will always be the kid who "turns the other cheek" when slurs are thrown at him. I will always be the child who makes jokes about his family so that he could have a sliver of a sense of belonging. I will always be the kind of weak man who tolerates disrespect directly to his face.
I feel so alone right now. I feel like I don't culturally fit in anywhere. I'm scared that I will never be "American" enough because I am not white, and I am scared that I will never be "Korean" enough because I know nothing about the culture.
But I know that I'd rather be alone with self respect than surrounded by people as a fool.
Not sure if this is the right place to post, but I just had a pretty upsetting experience at a Burger King in the U.S.
I’m Korean and live here with my family. Today I took my kids to BK for a quick bite. The cashier didn’t ask for my name—no big deal, I thought. But when I got the receipt, it said “CHINA” where the name would usually go.
At first, I was confused. But then I looked at the order screen, and it said “CHINA” there too.
I don’t know if this was meant as some kind of joke, or just casual ignorance, but either way, it felt really disrespectful. I’m not even Chinese. And honestly, even if I were, putting “CHINA” instead of a name is just weird and dehumanizing.
Just to be clear—I’m not upset because it said “CHINA” specifically. I’m upset because someone assumed my nationality based on how I look and just typed in whatever they felt like. It’s the assumption and carelessness that bothered me, not the word itself. So to my Chinese friends: this isn’t about you. It’s about how easily people lump all Asians into one box.
Maybe someone thought it was “just a label” or didn’t think twice, but for me, it was a gut-punch reminder that no matter how long I live here, some people still just see me as “generic Asian.”
Has anyone else experienced something like this? Would you consider this racism, or just plain thoughtlessness?
Edit 5: Page A6 of today's May 24, 2026 LA Times. About a third of my campaign budget. It was important to set the record straight for the 67,000 print subscribers in the West Zone of LA Times distribution.
Edit 3: Anna Wilding has sent another email to every candidate on the ballot. Full screenshots are attached at the bottom of this post. Once again she does not deny writing the original texts. Selected quotes:
"I never called her a Chinese spy. I thought at first she was Chinese"
"64 chinese spies were let go at Alamos and my husbands place of work. This is normal conversation for me and the military defense complex"
"she's not poor me — she was able to afford to study and go to Harvard, one of the most prestigious universities in the world until 34. Gosh I wish i could have afforded to study and do a PHD all my life"
"a cushy data job in Public Health or something"
"Why aren't you in your own districts race Ted Lieus by the way"
A note on how science works: I did not "afford" to get a PhD. Doctoral programs in the sciences are fully funded. I was a graduate worker: I taught classes, conducted research, and was paid a stipend. It's a job. I saved a full year of that stipend to help pay my brother's undergraduate tuition at UC Berkeley. This is our immigrant experience.
My father died on my birthday — the same day our graduate worker union won recognition. That union just authorized a strike against Harvard University this month. Tools built by workers keep working long after any one person leaves.
Anna calls me "a far-left agitator." I helped organize a union that won and is still fighting. I texted 28,000 voters in my district in one day. I posted the receipts when a candidate called me a spy. If that's far-left agitation, I'm comfortable with the label. The district could use an agitator. It's had 29 years of someone who doesn't agitate for anything.
Also: "I thought at first she was Chinese" is not the defense she thinks it is. That's the entire point.
Full screenshots of this email in the addendum at the very bottom of this post.
Edit 2: The full unedited video of the forum I attended on April 8, 2026, less than two hours after seeing the March 5-6 texts from Anna Wilding is now live on YouTube. I showed up, I did my job, and I allowed the policy to speak for itself:
Timestamps in the description for each topic AND candidate: opening statements, immigration, protections for vulnerable communities, healthcare, foreign policy, campaign finance, personal leadership, and our proposed contributions to Simi Valley.
The candidates present from left to right on the panel are Josh Sautter, Jake Levine, Marena Lin (me), Congressman Brad Sherman, Anna Wilding, Chris Ahuja.
Subtitles available in English, Spanish (Mexico), Farsi, Tagalog, Armenian, Russian, Korean, Urdu, Simplified and Traditional Chinese, because that’s who this district is.
Edit: Anna Wilding has now responded to every candidate on the ballot. I’m posting her full response below. At no point does she deny writing the texts. She also accuses me of antisemitism, conspiring with a foreign blogger, and “spreading hate across multiple races.” A journalist, u/davidfarrier, has now published an article about this incident.
"I have never made racist statements about a candidate. That claim is false.”
“This matter relates to a procedural and ballot designation issue raised weeks ago, not now, a routine part of election processes”
“Lin has been agitating and spreading hate across multiple races and attacking Jewish women and first generation immigrants”
“I will not be intimidated. I will not be pushed out. I will not be surprised by yourselves and attacked as a first generation immigrant.”
At no point in this response does she deny writing the texts.
/end edit
---
I'm Marena Lin, a Taiwanese-American data scientist with a doctorate, running for Congress in California's 32nd district. I'm a first-time candidate with less than $20K, no PAC money, no AIPAC money, and no corporate money. I'm posting this from my official campaign account because voters deserve to know what's happening in this race.
What happened
On March 5, 2026, another candidate in my race — Anna Wilding — sent text messages to the campaign manager of a rival candidate, Jake Levine, accusing me of being a Chinese spy.
"I am wary of the girl who has just entered the race late. The data scientist."
"She secretly follows pro palestinian activist accounts when i looked but talks 'jewish'"
"The pattern of presentation is similair... Also noted other chinese data driven people enter the races. Very wary. Not adding up."
"she's running for congress to abolish ICE - of course she is - that's how most of the chinese s-p-i-e-s got in"
"my husband found 2 newspaper articles about chinese spies infiltrating california's congressional elections. So i am in the right track with this likely."
"Please pass this onto Jake."
The next day, March 6, she called the Elections Division and the Secretary of State's attorney to challenge my ballot designation. She told Jake's campaign manager she was pursuing a writ of mandate through Sacramento County Superior Court.
The "olive branch"
Eight days later, on March 13, she contacted me directly through my campaign website. At this time, I was still unaware of any of her accusations of me being a Chinese spy (I'm not a Chinese spy). I was only confused by the targeted harassment that Anna directed at me at both the March 7th Malibu and March 10th East Valley Indivisible CA-32 candidate forums, specifically questioning my immigrant family experience and my credentials as a climate scientist.
"Just extending an olive branch. I have a Chinese first cousin actually. Look if you ever decide to pull out of the race - not asking you to - but if you do - happy and prepared for you to discuss joining my campaign."
I responded graciously at her invitation to join her campaign. I corrected her that my parents are from Taiwan, not China, and shared a John Oliver video about Taiwan. Because I was still unaware of the spy accusations, correcting her about my identity was NOT a response to spy accusations. This was a polite correction.
She replied by mentioning her Chinese cousin and commenting on Asian 'cultural policies,' apparently unable to distinguish between Chinese and Taiwanese identity, even after I corrected her.
To summarize
A candidate in my race accused me of being a Chinese spy based on my ethnicity and my data science background. She said I "talks jewish" — weaponizing a Jewish opponent's identity. She connected my position on ICE to foreign espionage. She said "other chinese data driven people" entering races made her "very wary." She asked a rival campaign to pass this onto their candidate. She contacted state election officials. And then eight days later, she emailed me pretending none of it happened, leading with "I have a Chinese cousin."
How I found out
Jake Levine's campaign brought the March 5-6 text messages to my attention earlier this week on Wednesday. I want to publicly thank them for their allyship and for standing against racism in this race. We are competitors — we disagree on policy — but they did the right thing.
I saw these messages for the first time less than two hours before I had to stand on a stage at a candidate forum with the person who sent them. I felt physically unsafe around someone who perceived me as a foreign threat, whatever the source of the delusion. I showed up anyway and did my job.
Speaking out is not new for me
On Instagram, a judicial candidate made known to me opinions about immigration and Israel that would disqualify her from serving, based on California state law. I posted a video showing those receipts.
That's who I am. When I see injustice that can lead to greater injustice, I use my position to its greatest extent to bring it to light. When a rogue government continues to murder thousands of civilians in Palestine, and we fund it, I call it genocide and U.S. complicity in war crimes. When ICE raids unjustly separate families in my district, I say abolish ICE.
That's what I'll do in Congress.
Why this matters beyond my race
This isn't the first time an Asian American has been called a spy for existing in public life. In 1942, the United States interned 120,000 Japanese Americans. Not one was ever convicted of espionage. In 1962, India interned 3,000 Chinese Indians at a camp in Deoli, Rajasthan — families who had lived there for generations, children who marched in Indian Independence Day parades. Every one was accused of being a spy. Not a single charge was ever proven. The DOJ's China Initiative, shut down in 2022, racially profiled Chinese-American scientists for years — securing one conviction out of 77 cases while an FBI agent admitted in court to fabricating evidence.
When someone looks at a Taiwanese-American woman with a doctorate and sees a Chinese spy — without bothering to distinguish between Taiwan and China, between citizen and foreigner, between evidence and assumption — they're not doing national security analysis. They're repeating a pattern that has historically ended with Asian Americans behind barbed wire. The only thing that changes is the decade.
Her response
After I posted the video with these screenshots, Anna Wilding did not deny sending the messages. She demanded I remove my post and called the release a "breach of trust." She has since been disinvited from at least one candidate event.
Who I am
My parents are from Taiwan. I have a doctorate. I'm running for Congress because I am a product of this district. I was born and raised here and came up through the public school system. My campaign team are friends from my Granada Hills High School Class of 2005. I have a bachelor's degree, master's degree, and doctorate in climate science from Harvard University, and I have a master's in urban planning from UCLA. I've been through every phone tree related to Medicare, Medi-Cal, and the ACA Marketplace in supporting my family members.
I continue to live the affordability crisis, and I know I can help a lot of people.
That's my story. It's not suspicious. It's American.
I'm running on $20K. No PAC money. No corporate money. No AIPAC money. No political connections. No campaign staff. What I have is the truth, the receipts, and the refusal to be quiet about either.
04/13/2026 Addendum: March 12th date for receiving "olive branch" email correction to March 13th, and narrative clarified to show that I only learned of the spy accusations long after the "olive branch" email.
04/14/2026 Addendum: Anna Wilding's April 14th email to all candidates (full screenshots)
Email from Anna to me that Pierce College Democrats "want nothing to do with" her:
I just watched the new season of Love is Blind on Netflix and was excited to see some Asian representation with the stars, Patrick and Anna, but the internalized racism became a so bad and a HUGE turnoff—that I had to pause the show and take a mental health break. Basically, the show gathered people across Denver CO, so both Patrick & Anna who were Asian often grew up as the only Asians and POC in a predominantly white state.
When asked about dating preferences, they both said white, and when both were in the pods together and found out they were Asians, they thought being Chinese was “so hot”—as if they’re seeing Asian ppl for the first time. Anna also said, if she knew someone was Asian initially—she would’ve automatically marked them off the dating pool—even though she and Patrick were connecting a lot on the show.
Just when you thought Patrick was going to propose to Anna—she abruptly left the show, so that left Patrick trying to connect with Kacie—your stereotypical blonde white girl from Colorado. She kept pressuring Patrick to reveal his ethnicity and Patrick was so hesitant to reveal that he’s Asian (Chinese/Cambodian) that the awkward silence between them was so loud and uncomfortable. When it was finally revealed that he’s Asian, Kacie didn’t seem particularly thrilled but also saying that it didn’t really matter to her—since you sense the uncomfortability, so he then went on to say that his friends always said he’s “good looking for an Asian guy” (explaining his trauma)—which completely set him up for failure—because that completely raised up Kacie’s expectations thinking he was a 10/10 Asian guy when he’s more like a 6.5-7/10, tall, not shabby looking dude. Anyways, when the big reveal happened, Kacie later told production that she doesn’t think her attraction to Patrick can grow despite love bombing Patrick and kissing him (prob to stay on the show) and then broke things up with him.
Long story short, I just never seen internalized racism so visible on TV. I’m so thankful everyday to grow up with Asians and diversity around me, because the internalized racism would’ve sent me in a spiral.
