Lily’s Career through the 80’s and 90’s

California Governor Pat Brown encouraged Lily to run for the 30^th Congressional District State Representative in 1988. She ran against the incumbent Matthew Gilbert “Marty” Martínez, a former furniture store owner whose political experience included serving on boards, state assemblyman, and Monterey Park City Council. 

Again, Lily focused her campaign on increasing voter registration by holding voter registration drives which carried over into other states. States as far as Texas and New York organized voter registration drives in conjunction with Lily’s campaign. These events brought Democrats and Republicans together under the nonpartisan goal of getting out the vote and raising awareness of U.S. voting procedures. Lily focused on campaigning to groups with an inclusive approach, reaching out to senior citizens, women, Asian Americans, and Latinos using special messages on signs and mailers. 

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Martinez was already a well-established politician.  Just six years prior, he began his career by defeating a two-decade long incumbent. Lily, on the other hand, was new; she was untested outside of City Council and perpetually viewed as a foreigner. 

Lily’s main issue with Martinez was not his policies but rather his character. She centered her attacks on Martinez’s ineptness, saying that voters had told her that Martinez just “votes okay.”

Ultimately, Lily lost the election. Martinez received 32,978 votes, or 73.7%, while Lily received 11,768, or 26.3% of the votes.

Since Martinez was the incumbent, it would have required a significantly higher amount of support through financial and community gains for her to beat him. Her inability to pull union endorsement also hurt her bid. Even with the endorsement from Governor Brown, it was still an uphill battle that Lily was not able to overcome. 

She also attributes her loss to her status as a relatively unknown newcomer to that level of politics. Some still viewed her as a perpetual foreigner. Lily had asked Martinez to debate twice, but he refused both times. She points to the racial makeup of the 30^th Congressional District, which is mostly Hispanic. In 1991, the district’s demographics were 85% minorities, 60% Hispanic, and 20% Asian. Hispanics made up 34% of the registered voters. 

Nonetheless, her campaign was not carried out in vain. People considered her campaign a “test run” that laid the groundwork for Hilda Solis to later beat Martinez in 2000, taking his seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, which jump started her political career. In 2008, President Obama appointed her to be the U.S. Secretary of Labor. Solis is currently the Chair of the LA County Board of Supervisors.

Work with the Democratic Party

After her Congressional run, Lily’s longtime friend, Sen. Art Torres, introduced her to the Chairman of the Democratic National Convention (DNC). She became a delegate of the DNC and chaired the Platform Committee’s Peace and Security Task Force. There, she was able to work with other notable Democrats, such as Senator Chuck Schumer (NY).  

Lily chaired the Asian Pacific Leadership Council for the 2000 DNC held in LA. 

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Lily also sponsored a mock DNC to encourage people to get involved and participate in U.S. politics.  

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Lily worked closely with Sen. Dianne Feinstein, when Lily was mayor and Sen. Feinstein was Mayor of San Francisco. San Francisco is a sister city of Shanghai, so Sen. Feinstein invited Lily to travel to Shanghai with her. Though Lily didn’t go, they formed a close relationship ever since. Lily sponsored fundraising events for Sen. Feinstein’s re-election campaigns. 

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Lily observed how other communities advocated for their interests—especially Jewish Americans, who built strong and effective coalitions. Out of the 25 people on the task force, six were Jewish. In contrast, Lily was the only Asian American. Because of the voting power of the block, the Jewish Americans were able to ensure that policies they favored consistently made it through. 

“Even Trump doesn’t dare act against the Jewish people,” she commented today. “He even tries to fight anti-Semitism!” Israel’s influence within the U.S. was too strong for Trump to alienate. Lily wanted the API community to achieve the same respect. 

Asian-Jewish Coalition

Lily hoped to create a united front of API that was as powerful as the Jewish Americans, so she asked the Jewish community to create an Asian-Jewish coalition; they agreed to it. Lily expected the Asians would learn more from the Jewish. When attacks came toward the Jewish people, Lily stood with their community.

In 1985, the leader of the Nation of Islam, Louis Farrakhan, made a series of controversial remarks regarding Jewish people and Judaism. A well-documented anti-Semitic, he called Jewish people the “bloodsuckers of the poor.” 

Lily spoke in a major press conference alongside Jewish American leaders and the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), denouncing Farrakhan’s anti-Semitic remarks. In October of that year, the B’nai B’rith Anti-Defamation League honored her for her advocacy on behalf of Jewish Americans.

The Jewish community exemplified the idea of hyphenated identity. While celebrating Jewish traditions and culture, the community also embraced their American identity. The more patriotic they were for the U.S., the more Israel was considered an ally.

Lily considered how differently Israel and China, and Jewish and Chinese Americans, were perceived in the U.S. China is often viewed as a threat—and by extension, some Americans are often suspicious of Chinese Americans’ loyalties whenever they express pride in their family’s homeland. 

Balancing Act

U.S.-China relations are a complex global political matter. This forces Chinese Americans to navigate an impossible balancing act throughout their lives.

In George Koo’s article “Why U.S.-China Relations Matter to All Chinese Americans,” he wrote, “Virtually all Americans trace their ethnic roots to somewhere else in the world and is a source of pride and identification of one’s being.” He continued to say, “Loyalty of Americans is not suspect just because they take pride in the achievement of their country of origin. This presumption should also apply to Chinese Americans…We need to promote a reality-based bilateral relations to overcome the demonizing and protect our civil and political rights.” 

In efforts to improve U.S.-China relations, Lily attended the 1995 Fourth Annual World Conference on Women as a member of the U.S. delegation in Beijing, China. She sought out the Chinese delegation to help ensure their success in the negotiations and representations. Before the Conference, in Bali, Indonesia, the China delegation asked to teach them Western dining etiquette, even asking her to write a book about it. When pictures of the U.S. delegation were being taken, the photographer asked Lily to move out of the frame, assuming she was from a foreign delegation. She had to explain her membership in the U.S. delegation for the photographer to include her in the photo. 

The status of China and the Chinese American community are often deeply connected. When China is weak, Chinese Americans are neglected. When China is thriving, Americans are suspicious of Chinese Americans’ loyalty. This leaves Chinese Americans stuck between a rock and a hard place; damned if they do, damned if they don’t. 

Renowned architect, I.M. Pei was bombarded with endless questions and calls from reporters seeking his reaction to the Tiananmen Square events in 1989. Rather than try to represent the entire community himself, he organized a forum featuring other prominent Chinese American figures to represent the community instead. The forum included Yo-Yo Ma, Oscar Tang, and Shirley Young. This led to the creation of the Committee of 100 (C100) in 1990, with Lily as a founding board member. 

The goal of C100 is to promote peace and dialogue between the U.S. and China, with the overarching goal to elevate the status of Chinese Americans in the U.S. The organization also seeks to promote full participation of all Chinese Americans in American politics.

When business, government and non-government organizations sought assistance in better understanding the U.S. and China’s relationship, Lily tried to help. From the mid-90s onward, on behalf of the California State World Trade Commission, Lily was a regular figure seen on high-level trade delegations throughout China and Southeast Asia.

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In 1998, Lily was appointed by the U.S. State Department to the Board of Governors of the East West Center in Hawaii, to help promote better relations and understanding between people of the U.S., Asia, and the Pacific. Among the work Lily performed for the Center was leading a delegation that visited her hometown of Tianjin to promote economic development in East Asia. 

Buddhist Temple

Around the time of Farrakhan’s anti-Semitic comments, organized resistance formed against the building of the Buddhist Sect Fo Guang Shan’s Hsi Lai （西来寺佛光山） temple in Los Angeles. It was to be built on 15 acres of land in Hacienda Heights. Before its construction, many residents projected their fears and unfamiliarity of Buddhism as they voiced concerns about increased traffic, noise, and strange behavior. 

Los Angeles already abounded with churches, temples, synagogues, and mosques as well; many different cultures and faiths have thrived here. Lily thought that once residents gained more understanding about Buddhism, the hostility would cease. 

She gathered community members together to create an effective campaign, advocating for the temple. They protested and lobbied for a building permit along with Master Hsing Yun （星云）, founder of the sect. After countless community hearings and six public hearings, the Hsi Lai Temple finally broke ground in 1986 in Hacienda Heights. The building was completed in November of 1988 and became one of the largest Buddhist temples in the Western hemisphere. Master Hsing Yun held an appreciation event for Lily before the official groundbreaking the day before.

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Master Hsing Yun was a good friend of Lily’s father. She only found out when her father sent a letter over praising her accomplishments, finally earning his acceptance.

Master Hsing Yun has seven universities across different countries, from the U.S. to Taiwan, Hong Kong, Australia. He virtually educates English-speaking audiences about Buddhism. 

Decades later, the temple is a beloved part of the community. Residents who were once wary of the temple now appreciate the role the temple plays for the community.