Time's first list of 12 Women of the Year includes three Asian activists fighting abuse and inequality

Of the 12 individuals selected by Time Magazine for its inaugural Women of the Year list, there were three women of Asian descent Tracy Chou, Zahra Joya and Amanda Nguyen.

"The pandemic underscored the ways in which broken systems hurt women, from rising domestic violence to disproportionate job losses. When we sat down last fall to conceive a version of this project that could become an ongoing tradition, we chose to spotlight leaders who are working to create a better future for women everywhere. Our 2022 Women of the Year list features 12 individuals who have reached across communities, generations, and borders to fight for a more inclusive and equitable world." write TIME Executive Editor Naina Bajekal and Senior Editor Lucy Feldman, who oversaw the project.

The three women join a prestigious list that includes Adena Friedman, president and CEO of Nasdaq; Allyson Felix, Olympic champion and president of Saysh; Amal Clooney, human-rights lawyer and professor; Amanda Gorman, poet and author; Jennie Joseph, health advocate; Kerry Washington, Emmy-winning producer, actor, and activist; Michaela Jae Rodiguez, Golden Globe–winning actor and singer; and  Sherrilyn Ifill, president and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.

Joya is part of a disappearing breed: an Afghan fremale journalist. Afghanistan has long been an extremely dangerous place to be a female journalist. Time writes that according to Reporters Without Borders, 80% of women journalists have lost their jobs since the collapse of the Afghan government in August. Joya, who founded Rukhshana Media in 2020 with a focus on stories by and about Afghan women, was among those forced to flee the country.

She was forced to flee her country for her own safety. Now based in London, Joya continues to tell the stories of Afghanistan's women.

"I get stories from my very brave colleagues in Afghanistan," she tells her interviewer, actress Angeline Jolie.

"Even though they are in hiding, they are working. Because it is our aim to work for our future. We are asking women who protest to write their experience and share their experience. It is very painful and sad. Honestly, we don’t do simple journalism these days; we are trying to write for our freedom. We are not allowed to work as journalists anymore. We don’t have access to information. But still, we are working."

Tracy Chou was one of the outspoken women who brought attention to the gender and racial inequality that exists in Silicon Valley. She was instrumental in getting the big high-tech firms to release the data of their racial demographics of their employees and the positions they held.

In her research she also found that online abuse was rampant and urged the social media platforms to take measures to monitor the abuse.

Nguyen, an advocate for sexual abuse victims, has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. She lobbied Congress for the Sexual Assault Survivors Bill of Rights that President Obama signed.

She was also instrumental in bringing to light the rising number of attacks against Asian Americans. After several AAPI elderly were attacked in 2020, she used her extensive social media platforms to rally the Asian American community and lobbied mainstream media to cover the racist trend.

“Change comes from our innate values. We can speak up—not only because we want to, but because we have to. The opposite of love isn’t hated. It’s apathy. What I want people to understand is that we can always make the choice to be better,” Nguyen told Chanel Miller, a rape survivor who interviewed Nguyen for Time.

The inaugural Women of the Year list and gala builds on the success of TIME's 2020 Women of the Year project, which recognized 100 leaders, innovators, activists, entertainers, athletes and artists who defined a century, ranging from Amelia Earhart and Beyoncé to Eva Perón and Malala Yousafzai. That project was the result of a partnership between TIME and filmmaker Alma Har'el, known for genre-redefining creativity and a relentless dedication to gender equality behind and in front of the camera; and P&G, whose brands reach 5 billion people daily and is committed to creating a world free from gender bias with an equal voice, equal opportunity, and equal representation for all individuals.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AAPI perspective, follow me on Twitter @DioknoEd.

Stop AAPI Hate co-founders make Time magazine's most influential people

Of TIME Magazine's 100 most influential people in the world are 26 Asian or Asian American..

Asian Americans' influence and impact was unmistakeable with poet  Cathy Park Hong gracing one of seven magazine covers.that will be released worldwide.

Because of the surge in anti-Asian attacks, TIME includes the co-founders of Stop AAPI Hate: Cynthia Choi, Manjusha Kulkarni and Russell Jeung.The community based organization's collection of racist incidents made media and government to realize the enormity and how prevalent the attacks have become. Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, Stop AAPI Hate reports that over 9000 hate incidents were reported.

For TIME's full list of the 100 most influential people, click here.

“It is a great honor to be recognized for this award among this list of influential leaders,“ said Kulkarni. “This work would not be possible without the bravery and strength of our respondents and the AAPI community at large, and we want to thank them for their willingness to speak out against injustice."

Vice President Kamala Harris, China's President Xi Jinping, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with other world leaders were repeats  on the prestigious list.  

But it was a first-time honor to be included on the list. Among them were athletes the Angels' Shohei Ohtani, tennis player Naomi Osaka and Olympic gold medalist Suni Lee, Oscar-winner Chloe Zhao, Saturday Night Live's Bown Yang, actor Steven Yeun, along with other innovators, authors, researchers and activists.

Besides the 26 Asians and Asian Americans on the list, the 18th annual list of influential people includes 10 climate leaders, dozens of advocates, political leaders, 54 women and the youngest featured in the issues is 18-year-old Olympic gymnast Sunisa Lee. The oldest person in this year's list is 78-year-old President Joe Biden.

“At TIME, we see the TIME100 as far more than a list,” Edward Felsenthal, said TIME's CEO and editor in chief. “It is a community of leaders whose energy and commitment we hope inspires others to spring into action as well.”

The full list and related tributes appear in the Sept. 27 / Oct. 4 issue of TIME, available on newsstands on Friday, Sept. 17.

ABC will air a special about the selection of the Top 100 on Sept. 20, 10 p.m. The special offers an inside look at the pioneers, artists, leaders, icons, titans and innovators comprising the coveted 2021 list, along with special performances and surprises. 

EDITOR'S NOTE: For more commentary, observations, tips and references, follow me on Twitter @dioknoed

Time Magazine names AAPIs among 100 most influential women of the past century

For Women's History Month, Time Magazine has named the 100 most influential women of the past century. Among the women are 14 from Asia and Asian America.

For 72 years, the weekly magazine has been naming a "Man of the Year" and it wasn't until 1999 that the honor was changed to "Person of the Year" to include women.

As former TIME editor-in-chief Nancy Gibbs writes, this project is an exercise in looking at the ways in which women held power due to systemic inequality. “Women,” Gibbs writes, “were wielding soft power long before the concept was defined.”
The female game-changers the magazine  chose from over 600 nominations, include these Asian and Asian American women:

1922: Xiang Jingyu, One of the early members of the Chinese Communist Party, she became the first director of the Chinese Communist Women's Bureau.She was executed in 1928 by the Nationalists.

1927: Queen Soraya Tarzi. As the wife of Afghan King Amanullah Khan, Queen Soraya Tarzi was the daughter of exiled Afghan intellectuals. Her European upbringing brought unheard progressivism to Afghanistan. She went unveiled in public and encouraged the education of girls. In 1929, she and Khan went into exile.

1928: Anna May Wong was born in Los Angeles to second-generation Chinese-American parents, was limited in her silent-film career by miscegenation laws which prevented the appearance of interracial couples on screen. Nevertheless, she is considered the first Chinese American Hollywood star.

1937: Soong Mei-ling  became the second woman ever to grace the Time cover under the heading “Man and Wife of the Year” alongside her husband, Chinese Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek. She was pivotal to gathering support for China’s war against Japan speaking in front of both houses of Congress.

1945: Chien-Shiung Wu — Born in China’s Jiangsu province in 1912,  she left in 1936 to ear a PhD at the University of California, Berkeley. After teaching at Smith College in Massachusetts and at Princeton. In 1944, she joined one of the Manhattan Project’s labs operating at Columbia University where “she helped develop the method for separating nonfissionable uranium 238 from fissionable U-235—the bomb’s key fuel.”

1947: Amrit Kaur was appointed India’s first Health Minister in 1947 after a lifetime as an activist agitating for Indian independence. fought for women’s education, sufferance and for an end to child marriage. “In leaving her life of luxury, Kaur not only helped build lasting democratic institutions, she also inspired generations to fight for the marginalized,” reads Time.

1972: Patsy Takemoto Mink, a third generation Japanese American, became the first woman of color and first Asian American elected to the U.S. House to Representatives. She served as Hawaii’s representative for 12 terms. Her biggest accomplishment co-authoring  the Title IX Amendment of the Higher Education Act.

1976: Indira Gandhi was the daughter of Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first prime minister, Initially jeered, she would go on, as India’s first and only female prime minister, to centralize power and lead India into a war with Pakistan in support of Bangladesh’s 1971 bid for independence. She was assassinated in 1984.

1979: Tu Youyou — Tu, born in Ningbo in 1930, was inspired to pursue a career in medical research after surviving tuberculosis in high school. She helped establish treatment for malaria patients. For her research, Tu was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine for her discovery.

1986: Corazon Aquino, the wife of Benigno Aquino Jr., a leader of the opposition to Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos. After her husband was assassinated in 1984, Cory Aquino ran for president against Marcos in 1986. After the authorities declared Marcos the winner, Aquino called for protests and soon the People Power Revolution had swept Marcos from power and Aquino was proclaimed president.

Philippine President Corazon Aquino and Filipino American journalist Maria Ressa made the list.

1990: Aung San Suu Kyi  became an international darling in 1990. She’d fought, following her father Aung San’s death, against Myanmar’s military dictatorship. In 1990s, her National League for Democracy (NLD), won the elections but the results were invalidated by the junta.  She was placed on house arrest for 15 years. In 1991 awarded the Nobel Peace Prize but since then, her defense of the military has darkened her reputation.

1995: Sadako Ogata — As the only Japanese and first woman to lead the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Ogata oversaw responses to some of the worlds worst refugee crises, from Kurdish refugees following the Gulf War to refugees fleeing the Rwandan genocide to refugees of various Cold War conflicts around the world.

2009: Malala Yousafzai's campaign to educate young girls won her the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014.  In 2012, the Pakistani Taliban tried to assassinate Malala, whose writing about her life and desire to pursue an education angered them. But Malala survived being shot in the face to become the face of women’s empowerment not only in Pakistan but around the world. 

2018: Maria Ressa — In 2018, Time named “The Guardians” — journalists facing persecution and violent — as the Persons of the Year. Among them was Fillipino journalist Maria Ressa. Ressa’s publication, Rappler, has become one of the Philippines’ most fierce critics of President Rolando Duterte, Because of her work, Ressa has been arrested and the target of a hate campaign.

The gala to announce the 100 women scheduled for Sunday, March 9, International Women's Day, was canceled as a cautionary move against the spread of the coronavirus.

Click here for the complete list of 100 women.

Awkwafina, Henry Golding, Chanel Miller make Time's list of most influential people

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VIEWS FROM THE EDGE

Time Magazine's top 100 list, Time 100 Next, that spotlights 100 rising stars who are shaping the future of business, entertainment, sports, politics, science, health and more includes 21 people of Asian descent from actress Awkwafina to 23-year old physicist Yuen Cao.

Among the Asian Americans named in the Time 100 Next list are actress Awkwafina of The Farewell, Bowen Yang of Saturday Night Live and Chanel Miller, a woman who went public about being sexually assaulted on the Stanford campus.

About Awkwafina, Sandra Oh wrote “I cannot express how pleased I am to see her meteoric rise. I’m not surprised because she is a complete original. There are so many things I can point to: Her timing. Her beautiful, melancholic face. And her unforgettable voice.”

Bowen Yang has been described as a potential breakout star on SNL. UPROXX wrote “he’s managed to accomplish some nearly impossible feats in his short time in front of the camera. He’s given us polished impersonations of world leaders and presidential candidates, he’s perfectly encapsulated the kind of woke bro who aspires to be a SoulCycle instructor, and he’s introduced us to China’s “Trade Daddy.”

Chanel Miller has been praised for her courage for coming forward publicly about being sexually assaulted on the Stanford campus. Known only as Emily Doe during the trial of Brock Turner, her book "Know My Name" has been her coming out. Goodreads says with her book, she “reclaims her identity to tell her story of trauma, transcendence, and the power of words… But her struggles with isolation and shame during the aftermath and the trial reveal the oppression victims face in even the best-case scenarios.”

Amanda Nguyen is a survivor of rape who has turned her horrendous experience into a force for positive change. The group she founded, Rise, has passed 25 state and federal laws, protecting DNA evidence gathered from rape kits that have been credited with numerous prosecutions. She is also a 2018 Nobel Prize nominee.

Vijay Gupta uses his musical talents to help the homeless. He quit the Los Angeles Philharmonic where he worked as a violinist to teach music at homeless shelters and prisons. He is also a MacArthur Genius Fellow.

Varshini Prakash serves as executive director of the Sunrise Movement. Washington Governor Jay Inslee called her and her organization “some of the greatest sources for hope in our fight against the climate crisis.”

Alyssa Liu is a rising star in the ice skating world. At age 13, she became the youngest US Women’s Figure Skating champion in the world. Michelle Kwan said her quad lux “is pushing the technical envelope, and there’s no slowing down.”

Edward Leung was arrested last year and even though he's in jail, the 28-year-oldhas become the spiritual leader of the Hong Kong's months-long unrest. He coined the protestor's favorite chant, “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times.”

Dutee Chand  in July became the first Indian sprinter to win the 100-m at the World University Games. This year, she became the first openly gay athlete in India. Her next goal is the 2020 Olympics.

Roya Rahmani is Afghanistan's first female envoy to the U.S. in 2018. Her ambassadorial appointment was also a message to the Taliban, of which she says, "are not our representatives.” Ending the war “should be decided by the people who are most affected by this process.”

Shinjiro Koizumi, Japan's current Environmental Minister, is only 28-years old but he's poised to become the country's next Prime Minister when Shinzo Abe steps down.

Nite Yun is a Cambodian American “changing America’s relationship to Cambodia, one exquisite dish at a time,” said Samin Nosrat, a chef, author and host of Netflix’s Salt Fat Acid Heat. Her restaurant in Oakland, CA, Nyum Bai, has quickly made a name for itself a year after opening.

Blackpink is K-po'ss next big thing.

Blackpink became the first K-pop girl group to perform at Coachella. While BTS is better known, the four-woman group has 31-million fiercely loyal social media followers. The group’s goal, they say, is to make music that helps listeners gain “confidence and boldness.”

Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit's year-old Future Forward Party gained 17% of Thailand's Parliament. The billionaire scion of a car-parts empire has energized young Thais who are eagar to loosen the grip of the country's military rulers.

Mei Mei Hu is working on a cure for Alzheimer’s and other brain diseases. Her company United Neuroscience is working on a vaccine to help the immune system produce antibodies to fight off these degenerative diseases.

Henry Golding catapulted onto the world stage with Crazy Rich Asians. He is now attained leading man status, especially noteworthy for Asian males. Michelle Yeoh calls him the perfect son.

Lilly Singh has turned her YouTube fame into her own show on NBC’s late night line up. As Jimmy Fallon wrote, ” You don’t rack up millions of fans all over the world without being someone people can relate to.”

Yuen Cao, a 23-year old physicist, investigating what happens when two layers of graphene—a crystalline form of carbon, each just one atom thick—are laid atop each other. He discovered that if you twist the sheet, it forms great insulation. Twist it another way, it becomes an electricity superconductor with zero resistance.

Varun Sivaram, an energy innovator, he is chief technology officer of ReNew Power, India’s largest renewable-energy company, where he works to accelerate the expansion of renewables in a country critical to global efforts to stem climate change.

Kotchakorn Voraakhom, a landscape architect who designed Bangkok's first public park in a decade which is capable of absorbing one-million gallons of water to help control the flooding that inundates the city every year. She is in the process of designing a larger park that will include Asia's largest green roof 

Jayathma Wickramanayake, a Sri Lankan, was appointed the United Nations’ Envoy on Youth in 2017—and the U.N. announced Youth 2030, a strategy to involve young people in U.N. initiatives and strengthen the organization’s focus on their needs, including sustainable development and economic empowerment. “

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Asian Americans give impactful toasts at Time's gala

In a room full of luminaries from the fields of entertainment, sports, journalism and science, gathered together as Time's 100 Most Influential, three Asian Americans stood out when they gave their toasts: comedian Hasan Minhaj, journalist Maria Resa and actress Sandra Oh.

Time magazine's gala honoring the 100 was held Tuesday (April 23) at the Lincoln Center in New York City.

RELATED: Time names 20 Asians and AAPI named as 'most influential'

In his toast, the Hasan Minhaj paid tribute to Saudi activist Loujain al-Hathloul who also made this year’s TIME 100 list, but couldn''t attend the gala because she is in a Saudi Arabian prison. Minhaj call on Jared Kushner to use his special relationship with Mohammad bin Salman to help  help al-Hathloul,

“I was just hoping he could send a WhatsApp message,” he told TIME after his speech. “[It could say] hey, this person has been fighting for civil liberties for all people. Maybe you should let them out of prison.”

Beleaguered Filipino journalist Maria Resa took the opportunity to encourage journalist to continue to tell the truth.

“I think we’re living through a very unique moment where again it proves that information is power,” said the journalist in her toast.

“Its a completely chaotic time where technology has helped make facts disputable, eroded truth, and crippled trust.”

Resa and the online newsite that she co-founded, Rappler, has been a thorn in Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's side.

Sandra Oh gushing the Beyonce for her work on the Netflix documentary Homecoming, which is about Beeyonce's preparation for the now-legendary Coachella concert.

“It’s such an important piece of work,” Oh said of the concert documentary about her 2018 Coachella performance. “I encourage you all to see it because you’re witnessing an artist at her most potent and working on the deepest cultural level.”

Oh went . on to say, “It’s a good time to be making art. It’s an important time to be making art,” said the Killling Eve star. “I truly believe art evolves our hearts and our minds because it allows us to experience and understand another’s sorrow. It reminds us of universal truths. It connects us. Art can transform us and through us, our culture.”

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Journalists, human rights activists condemn the arrest of Filipina editor

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Filipina journalist Maria Ressa answers reporters' questions after she was released.

Journalists around the world were troubled by the arrest of Philippine journalist Maria Ressa, executive editor and founder of critical news website Rappler.

Human rights groups were joined by journalists' organizations including the Asian American Journalists Association and the Committee to Protect Journalists.

"The arrest of Maria Ressa is an outrage," said CPJ Board Chair Kathleen Carroll. "The Philippines government needs to cease its multi-pronged attack on Rappler, its talented leader, and its brave staff."

Ressa was recently featured on the 2018 TIME Magazine’s Person of the Year cover and is a world-renowned advocate for press freedom.

“I’ve been a war zone correspondent, I’ve planned coverage when one side is shooting against the other side,” the 55-year old told TIME in New York a few days before she returned to the Philippines. “That is easy compared to what we’re dealing with now.”

Rappler has been critical in its coverage of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, whose administration has alarmed human rights advocates for corruption and a brutal drug war, and under which police and soldiers have suppressed press freedom and political participation. The particular charge refers to a 2012 story covering the then-Phillippine Supreme Court chief justice’s impeachment trial.

RELATED: 

• Free press under attack in the Philippines
• Philippines investigating the role of Facebook in elections
• Asian journalists are TIME's Persons of the Year

Rupert Colville, spokesperson of UN Rights chief Michelle Bachelet, relayed in a message that the arrest “appears to be the latest element in a pattern of intimidation of a media outlet that has fiercely guarded its independence and its right to conduct in-depth investigations and to criticize the authorities.”

Ressa was arrested on Feb. 13 and stayed the night at the National Bureau of Investigation after the Pasay City Regional Trial Court refused to process her bail. After posting bail the next day, she was released.

The board of directors of the CPJ passed the following resolution in support of Ressa, who posted bond and was released the next day.

"Freedom of the press is an essential pillar of democracy and human rights. The arrest in the Philippines of Maria Ressa, founder and executive editor of the news website Rappler, is an alarming development and spark memories of the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos. The first thing the Filipino strongman did was to seize the newspapers and television stations and arrested journalists.

"CPJ's board strongly condemns her arrest and calls on the government to immediately release Ressa, drop all charges against her and Rappler, restore official press credentials to Rappler's reporters, and cease its campaign of harassment."

The Asian American Journalists Association governing board released the following statement:

"The Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) is closely monitoring the judicial proceedings in the Philippines against long-time journalist and award-winning reporter Maria Ressa. Ressa is the CEO and founder of Rappler.com, 2018 Time Person of the Year and recent awardee of the Press Freedom Award by the Committee to Protect Journalists.

"AAJA calls on the government of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte to provide fair, honest and due process to Maria Ressa after her early-December arrest linked to allegations of tax evasion, which she has denied.

"The support of press freedom in the U.S. and around the world, in addition to the support and respectful treatment of journalists who hold governments accountable for their actions, are inherent to AAJA's core principles and mission."

Ressa, a veteran editor and former CNN journalist, was arrested on charges of cyber libel for a story published in 2012 about local businessman Wilfredo Keng. The move is the latest in a series of attempts by the government to silence the critical news outlet, according to CPJ research.

CPJ honored Ressa with the 2018 Gwen Ifill Press Freedom Award at its annual International Press Freedom Award ceremony in New York City in November. CPJ board member Sheila Coronel presented the award.

Amnesty International (AI) Philippines condemned Ressa’s arrest, calling it “brazenly politically motivated” and urged Philippine authorities to end the harassment, drop the charges, and repeal the “repressive law.”

“In a country where justice takes years to obtain, we see the charges against Maria Ressa railroaded, and the law being used to relentlessly intimidate and harass journalists for doing their jobs as truth-tellers,” AI said.

Human Rights Watch said the political attacks on Rappler demand a global response. “Governments concerned about the thousands killed in the ‘drug war’ and the media’s ability to report on this and other abuses need to publicly demand Ressa’s release and the dropping of all charges.”
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Time magazine: List of 100 Top influencers include 18 Asians and Asian Americans

The covers for Time Magazine's issue of April 19, 2018.

THERE WERE 18 Asians and Asian/Americans on Time magazine's list of the 100 Most Influential people for 2018.

We're not surprised that award-winning actor and social commentator Kumail Nanjiani, Olympic gold medal winner Chloe Kim or Crazy Rich Asians author Kevin Kwan made the list, but what about scientist Jian-Wei Pan or social activist Sinta Nuriyah and others who are not well known outside of their respective fields?

While some of the picks can be argued, i.e.. how many people follow cricket that Viral Kohl makes the list? Time's picks include the expected politicians like the leaders of South Korea, Japan and China, but also some leaders in tech like Bhvish Aggarwal and Satya Nadella; and social movement activist Janet Mock.

It's important to note that they were not necessarily the "most famous" individuals, nor is it a list of the "good" people in the world.

Only a half-dozen of the influencers are Asian/Americans. Seems like there should have been more, but the list fluctuates, year-to-year. For instance, restaurateur Roy Choi and Crazy Rich Asians actress Constance Wu made it last year, and arguments could be made they should have been included this year as well.

"The TIME 100, always a reflection of its moment, looks quite different than in the past," Time Editor-in-Chief Edward Felsenthal wrote. 

Forty-five of the people on the list are women, the most ever included. "While we remain much too far from gender parity in global leadership, there are more women than ever on this year’s TIME 100—proof that there are ways of changing the world beyond traditional power structures," Felsenthal wrote. 

It should be noted that a last-minute ferocious drive to include the Korean pop group BTS on the list by the boy band's fans failed to sway Time's editors.

Besides the aforementioned Nanjiani, Kim and Kwan, the Asians and Asian/Americans on the list include:

Bhavish Aggarwal, co-founder of Oka, the Indian version of Uber or Lyft.

Jian-Wei Pan, scientist who achieve quantum communication for more secure modes of communication.

Deepika Padukone, Indian actress and model, "she's here to represent the world," said Vin Diesel.

Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, enough said.

Sadiq Khan, London mayor of Pakistani descent.

Xi Jinping, President of China, enough said.

Shinzo Abe, Prime Minister of Japan, enough said.

Shikh Hasina, Prime Minister of Bangladesh.

Moon Jae-In, President of South Korea, enough said.

Kim Jong Un, President of North Korea, enough said.

Janet Mock, TV host who is biracial and transexual.

Sinta Nuriyah, widow of former Indonesian president who advocates for tolerance and diversity.

Masayoshi Son, Softbank CEO, visionary investor.

Viral Kohli, up-and-coming cricket player from India,

Pony Ma, founder of Tencent, China's social media giant.

(EDITOR'S NOTE: We excluded people from the Middle East and Russia even though, geographically, they can be called Asian, that is not what they consider themselves to be.)

For Time's complete list, click here.
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