“The geographic distance between East Coast and West Coast is 3,000 miles, but there is no distance between the Chinese communities on both coasts,” Wilma Chan, the California Assembly majority leader said yesterday. Ms. Chan, who came to New York for her 2004 California senatorial campaign made this statement when she met her supporters at the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association (CCBA) of New York. Although New York voters are not able to vote for her, to Ms. Chan the joint efforts of Chinese communities on both coasts, and its capacity to improve Chinese peoples’ interests in politics, is more valuable.

In fact, Ms. Chan’s New York trip is not the first time Chinese communities on both coasts support a Chinese candidate. Ten years ago, Chinese political candidates came to New York to seek support. But this cooperation has grown in recent years as Chinese immigrants become more aware of the importance of political involvement. More importantly, the candidates supported by Chinese communities on both coasts have a better chance of getting elected and assume higher positions. Rep. David Wu (D.-Ore.) and Washington Governor Gary Locke, both of whom campaigned in New York, are examples.

“The trend is more and more obvious now,” said York Chan (unrelated of Ms. Chan), the executive counselor of the CCBA said. Mr. Chan has helped Rep. Wu and Gov. Locke in their campaigns. He said that although East Coast Chinese voters are unable to vote for West Coast candidates, they could call their relatives or friends who live on the West Coast to vote. “Also in the case of fundraising, the communities on both coasts could help each other,” said Mr. Chan, whose organization donated funds to Ms. Chan’s campaign committee. “Decades ago, when I just came to America, Chinese immigrants didn’t have social position. Our situation changed only when more and more Chinese people were elected to government in recent years,” said Mr. Chan. “So we support Chinese candidates no matter which area he or she is from. We think this is helpful to the whole community.”

“Support from both coasts could enlarge the influence of local candidates to the whole nation. It also could show the whole society the power of the Chinese community,” Don Lee, a CCBA member who has helped candidates from the West Coast for ten years. “And the candidates we support are all elites in our society. They may be local candidates now, but it’s possible they could get into the federal level later and represent the whole community."

Ms. Chan, who was born and grew up in Boston’s Chinatown, also emphasizes the importance of cooperation within the Chinese community. In 1990, when Ms. Chan stepped in the political field, Asian politicians in California could be counted on one hand. Now there are more than 100 Asian elected officials working in various levels of the government, most of whom are from Chinese immigrant families. On the East Coast, the first Asian City Council member John Liu was inaugurated in 2001. Ms. Chan attributed the achievement to the network of the Chinese community. “More important,” Ms. Chan said, “the network between Chinese communities all over the country shows the young generation that there are people in the government who represent them. It also gives them the confidence to get involved with politics.”

The effect of this network on young people was seen last year. During the summer, among the 16 Chinese interns in Ms. Chan's office, eight were high school students from the East Coast. The other eight were college students from all over the country. Last fall, Ms. Chan's office did a voter registration drive at University of California at Berkeley. They registered 2,000 new voters among Asian students. “Young people are the hope of the country,” Ms. Chan said. “I wish some day there will be an Asian president of the United States.”