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Author Archives: Zhe Wu

Zhe Wu is a reporter who is interested in covering stories related to the Asian American community. Previously, she has covered education and local community issues in the East Bay for Oakland North, Oaklandside and Berkelyside. She speaks Cantonese, Mandarin, English and a bit of Hakka. She arrived at the Public Press in 2023 as a member of the first cohort of the California Local News Fellowship program, a multi-year, state-funded initiative to support and strengthen local news reporting in California, with a focus on underserved communities. Zhe Wu received the 2025 award for Outstanding Emerging Journalist from the Society of Professional Journalists, Northern California Chapter.
Posted inCommunity, Health, Hepatitis B: A ‘Silent Killer’, Social Services

Stigma, Insufficient Screening Keep Hepatitis B in the Shadows 

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Commonly known as a “silent killer” because it can have few symptoms, chronic hepatitis B can lead to liver damage or cancer, is not well studied and as a research area remains underfunded. Many living with it face significant social stigma, which discourages getting tested and leaves patients isolated and unwilling to open up about their experiences. 

The silence hits immigrant communities the hardest, a phenomenon advocates have spent decades trying to fix. Asian Americans are disproportionately affected by hepatitis B, especially by chronic infections. Years of community work have led to better outreach, and new efforts like universal screening are starting to build momentum.

Posted inHealth, Hepatitis B: A ‘Silent Killer’, Immigration, Social Services

Poorly Tracked Virus Is a ‘Silent Killer’ Affecting Asian Americans Most

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Hepatitis B is widely misunderstood, a problem worsened by insufficient screening and detection. Chronic hepatitis B isn’t as consistently detected as are acute cases, allowing the disease to frequently progress unchecked and do more damage. According to the World Health Organization, only 13% of those living with the virus know they have it, leaving many, especially in immigrant and marginalized communities, undiagnosed and without access to timely treatment.

Posted inCommunity, Elections, Politics

Suspicion of Tech, Big Money Grows Among Some Asian American Organizers

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Some local groups broke with Supervisor Joel Engardio after he supported Proposition K, which set in motion the closure of a portion of the Great Highway to cars.

Other Asian American leaders who share these views suspect they are not being taken seriously by the city’s moderate coalition — political groups and influential individuals who, like them, generally support tough-on-crime policies and who backed the recall of three school board members in 2022.

These Asian American community leaders feel they cannot expect political or financial backing from local heavyweights on the issues that they care most passionately about. Their constituents’ views and priorities have diverged sharply from other moderates on the Great Highway closure, and this has cost them power.

Posted inGovernment & Politics, Immigration, Law & Justice

Legal Battle for National Ruling Continues in Student Visa Case Despite Sudden Reinstatements

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Just a day before a key hearing in which a United States District judge in Oakland could have decided the fates of hundreds of students nationwide whose visas had been terminated, students, attorneys and universities across the country began reporting unexpected reinstatements of their status — even for individuals who had not filed a lawsuit. […]

Posted inEconomy & Business, Neighborhoods

Tech to Table: Second-Generation Business Owners Take Over Chinatown Restaurants

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Chelsea Hung wasted no time in making a life-changing decision: In her late 20s, she left her tech job in New York City, and headed back to San Francisco’s Chinatown to take over her parents’ restaurant, all within a month. 

Hung’s parents were planning to sell the restaurant, R&G Lounge. Her motivation was simple: She didn’t want to see the place where she grew up and celebrated so many milestones close its doors. 

After moving back in 2018, she kept the business running and in March, R&G Lounge celebrated its 40th anniversary.

Posted inCity Hall, Government & Politics, Neighborhoods

Complaint Alleges Ethics Violations by Campaign to Recall Engardio

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A complaint filed with the San Francisco Ethics Commission accuses the group campaigning to recall District 4 Supervisor Joel Engardio of failing to properly report its spending and disclose funding sources of campaign materials. The commission has not yet indicated whether it is taking any action on the complaint, according to the attorney representing the filer. 

Under local ordinance, the Ethics Commission may not publicly disclose whether it has received a complaint or is conducting an investigation, though filers are notified if their complaint is dropped or sustained. Campaign finance experts said that without further investigation, it’s unclear whether the alleged reporting failures constitute violations.

Posted inCommunity, Housing

More Tenderloin Tenants Face Eviction Amid Rent Strike

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Tenants at 781 O’Farrell St. who have been on a rent strike for more than a year face eviction by Veritas Investments, the owner of their building and once the city’s largest residential landlord.

The four tenants have vowed not to settle unless Veritas fulfills their collective demands for quality-of-life improvements in the building. 

Veritas acknowledged but did not respond to a request for comment. 

Posted inCity Hall, Government & Politics

Democratic Club Splits From Engardio Over Great Highway

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The Chinese American Democratic Club, one of the city’s oldest political associations for Chinese Americans and a vocal opponent of closing the Upper Great Highway to cars, voted on Thursday to withdraw support of Supervisor Joel Engardio.

The supervisor faces a recall attempt brought by constituents angry over his co-sponsoring last fall’s successful ballot measure to close the highway, which runs along the Pacific shoreline in his district. 

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