Rose Pak is a political activist in San Francisco, California, noted for her advocacy for the Chinatown community.[1] Pak serves as a consultant for the San Francisco Chinese Chamber of Commerce and organizer of the Chinese New Year Parade in San Francisco.[1]
In 2011, Pak was instrumental in obtaining consensus to nominate Edwin M. Lee as the first Asian American mayor of San Francisco. Pak said, "This was finally our moment to make the first Chinese mayor of a major city," Ms. Pak said. "How could you let that slip by?" She later said, "Now you know why they say I play politics like a blood sport."[2]
Pak has been critical of the Falun Gong movement in San Francisco and, in 2004, banned the group from participating in San Francisco's annual Chinese New Year's Parade.[1] The group and others, including San Francisco Supervisor Chris Daly, subsequently alleged that Pak has connections to the Chinese Communist Party.[3] Pak has consistently denied any ties with Beijing.[1] In an August 2011 interview with the New Tang Dynasty Television and Epoch Times, former San Francisco Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin made similar allegations, saying that Rose Pak was "the real leader of San Francisco", and that she represented outside governmental interests that "include the People's Republic of China".[4][5]