U.S. California officials join Chinese community to protest against rising hate crimes

SAN FRANCISCO, July 1 (Xinhua) -- California officials and community leaders gathered Friday in San Francisco's Chinatown to protest against the dramatic increase in anti-Asian hate crimes across the state.

The gathering was held after California Attorney General Rob Bonta released the 2021 Hate Crime in California Report on June 28, which found Anti-Asian bias events were up 178 percent to 247 incidents last year.

Overall reported hate crimes in California increased by 32.6 percent from 2020 to 2021, the highest level since 2001, according to the report.

"The California Department of Justice report only confirms what we've been hearing from API (Asian and Pacific Islander) communities all over San Francisco," California Assembly member Matt Haney told the gathering at the Chinese Historical Society of America Museum in San Francisco.

"And it's not just violent hate crimes that are on the rise. For every crime that's reported to the police there are hundreds of incidents of hate-based harassment and even violence that go unreported -- often targeted at women and seniors," he said.

Haney made the commitment to funding initiatives to address hate crimes in California.

Hate crimes are defined by California as a criminal act committed because of a victim's actual or perceived disability, gender, nationality, race or ethnicity or other characteristics.

"The 2021 hate crime report undeniably shows that the epidemic of hate we saw spurred on during the pandemic remains a clear and present threat," said Bonta. "In fact, reported hate crime has reached a level we haven't seen in California since the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11."

The report confirms "what so many of us already know and experience," said Vincent Pan, co-executive director of Chinese for Affirmative Action.

"The hate and bigotry against Asian Americans and other communities of color is a real and pressing problem requiring a whole of society approach that addresses the roots and manifestations of inequity," he said.