California's Asian American population gave more than $200 million to Indian Ocean tsunami relief efforts, or about one-sixth of the $1.2 billion contributed by all Americans, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

A recent multilingual CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll found that 70 percent of the state's Asian Americans contributed to the relief efforts, even though only 8 percent of the respondents knew people who were directly affected by the disaster. The poll, which was conducted in English, Cantonese, Mandarin, Vietnamese, Korean, and Bahasa Indonesian by New California Media, also revealed that the average contribution by the state's Asian Americans was roughly $125, and that the response was similar regardless of national background. Indian Americans topped the list of donors, with 80 percent saying they had given to relief efforts, while two-thirds of Chinese Americans and Vietnamese Americans also said they had donated.

According to David Lee, executive director of Chinese America Voters Education Committee, many Asians have been reluctant in the past to be identified under the larger umbrella group of Asian Americans. But a Pan Asian identity is becoming more evident, not only among second- and third-generation Asian Americans but also among recent immigrants. "There's a growing sense that there's a larger agenda," said Lee. "Whatever happens in Asia has a direct impact [on Asian Americans in California]."