Asian American senators slam Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill”
Asian American senators condemned President Donald Trump’s tax and spending package Tuesday after it cleared the Senate in a 50-50 vote, with Vice President J.D. Vance providing the decisive ballot.
The Rebel Yellow - Issue #90
Asian American senators slam Trump’s massive tax and spending bill that narrowly cleared the Senate this week, warning it could strip health care from millions while boosting the rich. Also inside: American pride hits a record low, anti-South Asian hate surges in Canada, a NYC school official is accused of harassing Asian students, and China arrests dozens of “boys’ love” writers.
Asian American senators slam Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” after senate passage
Asian American senators condemned President Donald Trump’s tax and spending package Tuesday after it cleared the Senate in a 50-50 vote, with Vice President J.D. Vance providing the decisive ballot.
What it’s about
The legislation cleared the upper chamber after nearly 48 consecutive hours of reading, debating and voting, with three Republicans breaking ranks to oppose the measure alongside all Democrats. GOP senators Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Susan Collins of Maine and Rand Paul of Kentucky voted against their party, with Paul warning that “there will be a day that conservatives will rue the fact that some of them actually voted for this.”
The bill contains $4.5 trillion in tax reductions and approximately $1 trillion in spending cuts targeting Medicaid and other health programs, along with changes to food assistance. Budget analysts project about 12 million people will lose health care coverage if the bill becomes law, while adding nearly $3.3 trillion to federal deficits over 10 years. The measure also allocates $350 billion for border enforcement and deportations, with some costs covered by new immigrant fees.
What they’re saying
New Jersey Sen. Andy Kim criticized his colleagues across the aisle, saying they “failed a simple test of courage, choosing to bend a knee to Donald Trump instead of defending millions of hardworking families they swore an oath to represent.” Kim proposed amendments targeting healthcare protections and SALT deduction relief, noting that more than 454,000 New Jersey families would see higher insurance costs under the Republican proposal.
Hawaii Sen. Mazie Hirono labeled the bill “a big ugly betrayal of the American people,” declaring that “while billionaires will gain, this bill is 1,000 pages of pain for hardworking families in Hawaii and across our country.” Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth also criticized the plan, saying lawmakers “would rather hurt middle-class families and our neighbors who are most in need than make the wealthy pay their fair share.” Duckworth projected that more than half a million Illinoisans would lose health coverage under the legislation.
Broader implications
Budget office analysis shows households in the lowest income bracket would lose an average of $1,600 annually from benefit reductions, while those in the highest bracket would gain an average of $12,000. Commenting on the matter, former Vice President Kamala Harris said the Senate Republicans’ vote would result in 17 million people losing healthcare, rural hospital shutdowns and food assistance cuts for three million Americans including veterans and seniors, all to fund tax breaks for billionaires.
The bill now moves to the House, where Speaker Mike Johnson acknowledged dissatisfaction with Senate modifications but committed to meeting Trump’s July 4 target date.
American pride is at an all-time low, Gallup poll finds
National pride in the U.S. has fallen to a record low, with only 58% of Americans describing themselves as “extremely” or “very” proud to be American, according to new findings from Gallup. The poll, conducted June 2 through 19 and released June 30, marks the lowest combined total since Gallup began tracking the sentiment in 2001.
Erosion in national pride
The decline is driven by a drop in respondents who say they are “very proud,” which fell from 26% last year to 17% in 2025. The share who say they are “extremely proud” held steady at 41%. The total is five percentage points lower than the previous low of 63%, recorded in 2020.
Gallup’s first reading in January 2001 showed 87% of Americans felt extremely or very proud. That number spiked to 90% after the September 11 attacks and remained above 80% through the early 2010s. By 2017, it had fallen to 75%, then dropped each year that followed, including during periods of both Republican and Democratic leadership.
Party line divergence
Sharp differences in pride levels continue to reflect political affiliation, with 92% of Republicans saying they are proud to be American, compared to 53% of independents and just 36% of Democrats — the lowest Gallup has recorded for that group. The partisan gap has widened over the past decade, largely due to declining pride among Democrats.
Correlation with age
Just 41% of Generation Z adults say they are proud to be American. Millennials report 58%, Generation X 71%, baby boomers 75% and the Silent Generation 83%. According to Gallup senior editor Jeffrey Jones, the long-term shift is generational but not limited to younger adults. “Even among the older generations, we see that they’re less patriotic than the ones before them, and they’ve become less patriotic over time. That’s primarily driven by Democrats,” he said.
Common discontent
Disillusionment with national institutions appears to be growing alongside declining patriotic sentiment. In a separate CNN/SSRS poll released in January, fewer than one in 10 Democrats or Republicans described themselves as “proud” of U.S. politics. Most respondents across the political spectrum said they felt “disappointed” or “frustrated.” While the survey focused on government rather than identity, the emotional tone aligns with the broader erosion of pride measured by Gallup.
Pride as a tracked indicator
Gallup plans to continue tracking national pride as part of its annual polling. With the 2026 midterms on the horizon and generational attitudes diverging from traditional expressions of national identity, future surveys may show whether pride continues to fall — or levels off at a new norm.
Anti-South Asian hate skyrockets in Canada
Anti-South Asian hate has surged at an alarming rate in Canada, with incidents both online and offline increasing sharply in recent years, a new report from the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) shows.
Shocking numbers: Police-reported hate crimes against South Asians in Canada rose by more than 227% between 2019 and 2023, while posts containing anti-South Asian slurs on X increased by over 1,350% from 2023 to 2024, according to the report. In less than two months before the federal election on April 28, more than 2,300 anti-South Asian posts from Canadian extremist accounts generated over 1.2 million engagements. A significant spike followed the April 17 leaders’ debate, where much of the hate targeted former New Democratic Party leader Jagmeet Singh. Diagolon, a white supremacist group, has reportedly played a central role in spreading hate, using slogans like “They have to go back” and “Yeet the Jeets” to harass and incite violence against South Asians.
Driving the news: Researchers link the surge in anti-South Asian hate to growing economic anxieties, particularly around housing and job shortages, with immigrants often scapegoated as the cause. Prime Minister Mark Carney’s recent pledge to cap immigration — including limiting temporary residents to no more than 5% of the country’s population by 2027 — has been widely seen as a response to these tensions. Steven Rai, a domestic extremism analyst at ISD, explained that extremists are increasingly targeting visible minority groups. “They’re looking at who are the most visible ethnic minorities in Canada, and we see a huge South Asian population there,” Rai told CTV News.
“Great Replacement” conspiracy: Part of the rhetoric stoking hate against South Asians reportedly stems from the “Great Replacement” conspiracy theory, which falsely asserts that increased immigration will drive away white populations. As of 2021, those with South Asian ancestry made up the largest racialized group in Canada, totaling 2,571,400 or 7.1% of the overall population. In a November 2024 article for Tahe Conversation, Reena Kukreja, a professor in global development studies at Queen’s University in Ontario, noted that “the far-right online narrative both in Canada and across Southern Europe is increasingly using the Great Replacement Theory to stir up racial hate against migrants, especially against racialized male migrants.”
NYC high school’s “sexual harassment prevention” liaison accused of harassing Asian students
An assistant principal at Queens High School for the Sciences at York College has been removed following accusations of harassment from 13 Asian female students, according to a New York Post investigation.
The allegations
Hector L. Diaz, 54, held dual roles as “sexual harassment prevention” and “Respect for All” liaison at the specialized high school, where Asians comprise 81% of all students. The Post learned that female students had reported Diaz for using racial stereotypes and making unwelcome physical contact. According to student accounts, Diaz commented that “all the Asian Francis girls [referring to Francis Lewis HS] would die to be on drill team.” In another incident, he allegedly told a student that her paarents “would deport” her if they discovered her relationship. Diaz also allegedly made remarks about the students’ appearance, suggesting they were dressed for “the club” and touched them inappropriately by rubbing their backs and grabbing their arms.
Senior Kiki Zou, 17, compiled her fellow students’ complaints in an April 17 email to Principal Ana De Jesus, writing that Diaz’s “lack of professionalism and inappropriate behavior has impacted my friends, peers and close-knit community of students.” The complainants described feeling “threatened and scared” during encounters where Diaz reportedly blocked doorways and made remarks such as “You’re lucky I like you girls.”
What authorities are doing: The Special Commissioner of Investigation has reportedly opened nine cases involving Diaz since 2023 — with seven filed in 2025 — but forwarded all complaints to the Department of Education’s (DOE) internal offices. In a May 2 email, De Jesus notified families that Diaz “is no longer part of our community.” A DOE spokesperson described the reported behavior as “absolutely unacceptable,” saying “thorough investigations are ongoing and appropriate action will be taken upon completion.”
Starbucks killer? China’s largest coffee chain makes U.S. debut
Luckin Coffee, China’s largest coffee chain that overtook Starbucks in its home market, opened its first two U.S. locations in Manhattan on Monday.
Where they are: Luckin opened stores at 755 Broadway in Greenwich Village near New York University and 800 6th Avenue in NoMad, with promotional offers including $1.99 first drinks through its mobile app and free tote bags for its first 100 in-store customers. The Xiamen-based company announced its arrival on Instagram with the caption, “Drip level: International. The rumors are true, NYC. You’re luckin now.” The coffee chain focuses on young customers through mobile ordering and quick-service operations, serving drinks like fruit-infused espressos, matcha lattes, and food items such as chocolate chip cookie and sausage, egg and cheese croissant. New York City has banned cashless-only businesses since late 2020.
About the company: Established in 2017 by Jenny Zhiya Qian, Luckin operates over 24,000 locations in China, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore through a mobile-first business model similar to ride-sharing apps. The company offers drinks about 30% cheaper than Starbucks in China through its digital ordering system, allowing it to surpass the U.S. company in China store count by 2019. After facing an accounting scandal that led to a 2020 Nasdaq delisting, $180 million SEC penalty and $175 million shareholder settlement, Luckin rebuilt its business and achieved 87% revenue growth in 2023 while doubling its store network and overtaking Starbucks’ China sales.
Competition brewing: Luckin has adopted pricing comparable to Starbucks in the U.S., with a 16-ounce drip coffee priced at $3.45 versus Starbucks’ $3.65. Its advantage? It draws on its base of 120 million app users compared to Starbucks’ 34 million loyalty program members. This expansion puts pressure on Starbucks’ 17,000 American locations as the Seattle-based company implements its “Back to Starbucks” turnaround strategy amid falling sales.
Chinese police are arresting “boys’ love” writers
Chinese authorities have arrested dozens of gay romance writers in recent weeks, escalating the country’s crackdown against the “boys’ love” genre amid efforts to improve its falling birth rates.
The latest: Police in the northwestern province of Gansu reportedly apprehended as many as 50 individuals who have posted gay stories on Haitang Literature City, a Taiwan-hosted website, in recent weeks. Other estimates say at least 100 have been affected. The writers, most of whom are young women, now face obscenity charges for allegedly producing and distributing illegal content. China’s regulations classify material with more than 5,000 views as criminal distribution, while earnings above approximately $34,500 can trigger life sentences.
What they’re saying: Among those recently caught is a graduate student who earned less than $400 from her novel spanning 75 chapters. Her lawyer, Mr. Wu, told The New York Times, “The police asked her during the interrogation, ‘Did you know that writing this could be a crime?’ She answered that she didn’t know until the police contacted her.” Another summoned in May expressed the same shock, writing in a Weibo post, “I’d never expected this day to come, to be hit in the face with every word I’ve written in the past.”
The big picture: “Boys’ love,” also known as “danmei,” centers on male romantic relationships and draws a predominantly female readership. The genre has grown from Japanese manga origins in the 1990s into a major cultural force in China, with adaptation rights for some works selling for millions of dollars. Government officials, however, increasingly see it as conflicting with efforts to boost China’s falling birth rates. “The Chinese government wants to promote traditional family values and liking danmei novels is seen as a factor in making women less willing to have children,” Liang Ge, who teaches digital sociology at University College London, told the BBC.
Scientists launch controversial project to create the world’s first artificial human DNA
Researchers at five British universities have launched the Synthetic Human Genome Project (SynHG) with an initial grant of approximately $12.6 million from Wellcome, the U.K.’s largest biomedical research charity. Unveiled on Thursday, the five-year effort is led by molecular biologist Jason W. Chin at the Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge and aims to assemble an entire human chromosome, base by base, inside the lab.
Writing a genome
Instead of tweaking existing DNA with tools such as CRISPR, SynHG will attempt to “write” long stretches of code before inserting them into cultured human skin cells to study how chromosome architecture drives health and disease. The project builds on Chin’s earlier success constructing a fully synthetic E. coli genome.
The laboratory playbook blends generative-AI sequence design with high-throughput robotic assembly, allowing scientists to plan and assemble millions of DNA bases. Patrick Yizhi Cai of the University of Manchester, who oversees these methods, says the approach “leverag[es] cutting-edge generative AI and advanced robotic assembly technologies to revolutionize synthetic mammalian chromosome engineering.”
Why experts are cautious
Geneticist Robin Lovell-Badge of London’s Francis Crick Institute emphasized the importance of understanding not only the scientific potential but also the societal values and risks involved. He warned that as research progresses, there is the possibility of creating synthetic cells that could, if used in humans, lead to tumors or produce novel infectious particles if not carefully designed. Lovell-Badge recommended that any engineered cells should include safeguards, such as inducible genetic kill switches, to ensure they can be eliminated from the body or targeted by the immune system if needed.
Sarah Norcross, director of the Progress Educational Trust, echoed the need for transparency and public engagement, highlighting that synthesizing human genomes is controversial and requires researchers and the public to be in active communication. Norcross welcomed the project’s built-in social science program, which surveys communities across Asia-Pacific, Africa, Europe and the Americas as the science unfolds and is led by social scientist Joy Yueyue Zhang, as a way to ensure that public interests and concerns are considered from the outset.
Road ahead
Over the next five years, the consortium will iterate design–build–test cycles, aiming first for an error-free synthetic chromosome representing roughly 2% of human DNA. Alongside the laboratory milestones, the team plans to release an open-access toolkit covering both the technical and governance lessons learned.
Vietnam’s high school English exam stumps even native speakers
Vietnam’s 2025 national high school English exam has drawn criticism for its difficulty after even native speakers and educators struggled with it. Part of the country’s reformed curriculum, the optional graduation test emphasized real-world language use but featured complex phrasing and obscure vocabulary that many said exceeded international standards.
“Overwhelmed”: Van Lam, an IELTS 7.5 scorer at a gifted high school, told Thanh Nien he was “overwhelmed just reading the first few lines.” “The reading passages were so long and full of difficult words,” complained student Nguyen Thanh Thuy. “Finishing this in 50 minutes felt harder than an IELTS exam.”
Native speakers weigh in: “I couldn’t finish the exam,” said British teacher Nathan Brooks who tried the test after hearing student complaints. “For a high school student in a country where English is a foreign language, the test is too difficult and stressful.” Debra Mann, founder of TEFL Freedom, described the questions as dense and difficult to interpret. One Reddit user wrote: “I’m a native English speaker, and this hurt my head!”
Questionable questions: Critics pointed to complex questions, including one asking students to interpret the term “greenwashing,” a word common in environmental discourse but rarely taught in standard classrooms. U.S. educator Joshua Ryan said most students wouldn’t know the term and that Vietnam’s reliance on memorization leaves them unprepared. He said the test demands reasoning and should focus more on communication, not just reading and grammar drills.
Beijing teen becomes the highest drafted Chinese player in NHL history
Haoxi “Simon” Wang, a 17-year-old defenseman from Beijing, became the highest drafted Chinese-born player in NHL history when the San Jose Sharks selected him 33rd overall in Los Angeles on June 28.
Historic selection
Wang was picked with the first selection of the second round, becoming only the third China-born player to be drafted, following Andong Song, who went 172nd in 2015, and Kevin He, selected 109th in 2024.
“It’s an unreal moment for my family, for hockey in China … I hope I’ve inspired a lot of kids back home,” Wang said at the draft. He also expressed hope that his record would be broken soon, with future Chinese players reaching the first round or even the top 10.
Rapid rise
Born July 27, 2007, Wang started skating at age 4 in Beijing. At 12, he moved to Toronto to further his hockey development. He recorded 22 points in 38 games with King Rebellion in the Ontario Junior Hockey League before joining the Oshawa Generals in the Ontario Hockey League in December. With Oshawa, he registered two assists in 32 regular-season games and added three more during a 21-game playoff run.
Standing at 6-foot-6 and weighing about 220 pounds, Wang has drawn praise from scouts for his skating and two-way potential. NHL Central Scouting ranked him 34th among North American skaters.
What’s next
Although Wang was drafted by the Sharks, he will continue with the Oshawa Generals before joining Boston University in the 2026-27 season. NHL teams often draft prospects who plan to play college hockey, allowing them to continue developing while the team retains their rights. The Sharks plan to monitor his development and prepare him for an eventual NHL debut.
Henry Golding: James Bond role is “every actor’s kind of nightmare”
At the Los Angeles premiere of “The Old Guard 2” on June 25, British Malaysian actor Henry Golding spoke with People about the pressures of taking on the role of James Bond. “I think that’s every actor’s kind of nightmare,” Golding said, describing the immense cultural expectations attached to playing 007. While he acknowledged the honor and excitement of joining the franchise, he made it clear that the role’s legacy could feel overwhelming.
Golding suggested that expanding the Bond universe could offer more creative freedom. “Why can’t they bring out more agents or more 00s? I think that would be so much more fun because there just isn’t the restraints and the expectation,” he said. He added that the pressure can be intimidating, joking, “Maybe I’m just a pussy. I don’t know. But I think I would love it so much more if there wasn’t that overhanging cultural pressure.”
The 38-year-old “Crazy Rich Asians” star also addressed Bond’s ethnic identity in a separate interview with RadioTimes last month. “I think sometimes it is good to pay justice to the source material, and how Ian Fleming saw this idea of Bond,” he said, adding that he doesn’t think there should be “pressure to change the ethnicity” of the character. He expressed openness to playing a different agent, such as 008, referencing it as a “lucky Chinese number.”
Andrew Schulz cast as Hong Kong-born Dan Hibiki in live-action “Street Fighter” film
American comedian and podcaster Andrew Schulz has been tapped to play Hong Kong–born martial artist Dan Hibiki in Legendary Entertainment’s upcoming live-action “Street Fighter” movie. First introduced in Capcom’s 1995 fighter “Street Fighter Alpha,” Dan is canonically born in Hong Kong to Japanese parents and is known for his overconfident attitude and intentionally weak Saikyo-ryu style.
The outspoken New Yorker, who is of Scottish, German and Irish descent, is cast alongside an ensemble that already includes Andrew Koji as Ryu, Noah Centineo as Ken, Jason Momoa as Blanka, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson as Balrog, Callina Liang as Chun-Li and Roman Reigns, a Samoan wrestler, as Akuma.
A Reddit thread criticizing Schulz’s casting quickly gained traction, with the original poster writing, “Well... Asian whitewashing is happening yet again...” The user continued, “We know Dan is Asian, is it too much to ask for an Asian guy to play him in a live action movie? Live action is not like video games and cartoons, the audience is gonna expect the Asian guy to actually look like an Asian.”
In a separate thread, another user wrote, “Dan is of Asian descent. Therefore, it makes no sense to cast a white guy for the role, especially after the backlash Hollywood had for casting white actors in Asian roles during the past decade.” A reply in that discussion added, “They’re casting Roman Reigns, a Samoan, to play the Japanese man Akuma. I don’t think they give a fuck.”
Production is slated to start in Australia in August although the studio has not set a release date.
Tokyo Joshi Pro: Japanese women’s wrestling promotion set for 1st U.S. tour in Texas
Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling, a top women’s wrestling promotion in Japan known for its mix of athletic matches, idol-inspired performances and comedy, will hold its first solo U.S. tour this July. The tour will include two shows at POST Houston on July 10 and 11, followed by an event at The OC in Forney near Dallas on July 13. Each event will feature a full lineup of matches, exclusive merchandise and post-show meet-and-greet opportunities with the wrestlers.
The historic tour, presented by NextShark and Queri, will bring popular wrestlers such as Maki Itoh, Miyu Yamashita and Yuka Sakazaki to American audiences for the first time. Organizers say the tour will combine in-ring competition with live performances and character-driven storytelling. Tickets start at $40 in Houston and $30 in Dallas. TJPW, founded in 2012, builds on Japan’s long-running tradition of women’s wrestling that stretches back to the postwar era and rose to mainstream popularity in the 1980s.