I think this is a poor way to look at things. it could be argued then that we dont need any more weapon using classes because the fighter exists. Or a lot of elements just because they share a small facet design space with them.
I'd hardly call the overlap here "sharing a small facet of design space."
What makes this new race such a special snowflake that it had to have its own writeup? Its Asian flavour? The fact that they're animals that turn humanoid? It's all fluff.
And there's nothing wrong with fluff. Heck, I don't even mind the addition of the mechanics, to a point. But (IMHO) they really didn't need to be their own race.
Similarly, no, we don't need any more weapon-using classes. Not just because the fighter exists, but because the Fighter exists, the Rogue exists, the Ranger exists, the Paladin exists, the Swordmage exists, the Cleric exists, the Runepriest exists, etc, etc, etc. In other words, it's been
done.
As it stands now, the game is largely capable of covering any concept out there. At most,
at very most, all that is required is expanding existing material by adding to it, adding things that share the resources already out there, not by making more separate pools of stuff that will all require individual support that we all know isn't coming.
It just makes sense.