Business owners and residents urge Board to keep "Chinatown" name; speakers object to naming central subway station after Rose Pak

During the public-comment period and special public testimony, numerous Chinatown merchants, residents and volunteers addressed the board to oppose naming the Central Subway station after Rose Pak.

Speakers said most newcomers and visitors recognize a geographic name such as "Chinatown Station" and that naming the station after an individual would confuse nonresidents. Several speakers submitted recorded statements from merchants who said they prefer the name "Chinatown Station" and do not support naming the station after Rose Pak. Volunteers who gathered signatures reported collecting hundreds of signatures from merchants opposing the naming and turned petitions over to the clerk.

One speaker referenced a November report from Stanford's Hoover Institution on the Chinese Communist Party's influence in U.S. institutions and said certain Chinese-language media outlets were identified in that report as aligned with Beijing. The speaker said that, given those findings, the board should be cautious about recognizing individuals with alleged ties to the consulate or to pro-Beijing outlets.

Another volunteer said reporters from World Journal had misreported the volunteer petition work and suggested the paper's coverage may reflect outside influence; volunteers asked the board to exercise "high vigilance." Several speakers said merchants they polled did not know who Rose Pak was and preferred the geographic station name.

Speakers asked the board to decline the naming or to at least pause action; the board did not take an immediate vote on naming at the meeting but received the public petitions and comments.