Table of Contents

Overview

The Human and Scientific Costs of Racial Profiling Must be Heard

Congressional Staffer Roundtable on Research Integrity

Bicameral Letter Urging DOJ Probe into Racial Profiling

Links and References

Overview

Watch the video here. (1:42:15)

On June 30, 2021, Representative Jamie Raskin, Chair of the Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, and Representative Judy Chu, Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, held a Democratic Member Roundtable titled “Researching while Chinese American: Ethnic Profiling, Chinese American Scientists and a New American Brain Drain.”

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has long targeted Chinese Americans in extensive investigations into foreign espionage, leading to multiple false arrests of innocent Chinese American scientists.  These efforts ramped up in federal agencies under the Trump Administration’s China Initiative, causing numerous scientists to lose their jobs despite not unveiling chargeable criminal conduct. 

This roundtable examined the federal government’s alleged racial profiling of Chinese American scientists, and addressed how the continued harassment harms the broader U.S. scientific community.

Opening Remarks by Representative Jamie Raskin: 

 “That is not acceptable in the United States of America, which was founded on principles of equality and justice.  We reject guilt by association, we reject notions of collective guilt or ethnic or racial guilt.  The United States is a welcoming place, it is open to people of all backgrounds and to creative ideas, and to scientific research and inquiry.  That is how we established ourselves as a world leader in innovation and technology, by allowing for free-flowing thoughts and theories.  By targeting people who are ethnically Chinese, without evidence, we are hampering our ability to be that world leader and we are harming an entire community.”  

Opening Remarks by Rep. Judy Chu:  

 “We need to make sure we don’t repeat the mistakes of the Cold War. That means not spreading unfounded suspicions that paint all Chinese people as threats and which put innocent Chinese Americans at risk.” 

Witnesses and Their Testimonies

• Sherry Chen, a renowned hydrologist who was falsely accused of espionage in 2014, described the long-lasting effects of her mistaken arrest:  “Until now, my life is still in limbo. My reputation is still under a cloud. The ordeal has taken away precious time in my professional career, and I can never recover the years I have lost. This injustice has now entered its tenth year and sadly there is still no end in sight. I keep fighting not only for myself but to do my part to make sure no one should ever be harmed because of their race or country origin.” Her written testimony: https://bit.ly/3S46zmo 

• The Honorable Steven Chu, former Secretary of Energy and current Stanford professor, characterized the impact of racial profiling on Chinese American scientists:  “Many of my Chinese-American faculty colleagues feel that they are under increased and unjustified scrutiny by the U.S. government. The Department of Justice’s ‘China Initiative’ and statements by U.S. funding agencies is [sic] creating an atmosphere of fear and intimidation.”  His written testimony: https://bit.ly/3S4pTA8 

• Dr. Randy Katz, the Vice Chancellor for Research at the University of California, Berkeley, expressed how this targeting has affected the greater scientific community:  “These investigations and related actions – such as the increased interrogation of Chinese-American researchers by Customs and Border Patrol officers at airports – have resulted in a chilling effect on our Chinese-American research community in particular, and America’s international collaborations and our continued ability to attract the world’s best and brightest. My university has seen a precipitous decline in graduate students, postdoctoral scholars, and visiting students from China that began even before the Covid-19 pandemic. This will have ramifications for America’s research enterprise for many years to come.”  His written testimony: https://bit.ly/3Y9GoLo 

• Dr. Xiaoxing Xi, a professor of physics at Temple University and naturalized citizen who was falsely arrested for alleged spying in 2015, explained:  “People have asked me, ‘How can the Department of Justice avoid wrongly accusing innocent people like they did in your case?’ My answer is that they can’t unless they stop considering Chinese professors, scientists, and students as nontraditional collectors, or spies, for China. For example, in all the criminal cases involving university professors under the China Initiative, the DOJ has shown no evidence, zero, that those charged have stolen intellectual property. Yet, they are being prosecuted for felony crimes.” His written testimony: https://bit.ly/48kZUKe 

Statements from concerned advocates and experts including

Maryland Senator Susan C. Lee, who contextualized the current racial profiling in the broader history of discrimination against Asian-Americans. 

American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, which explained how actions taken by the Department of Justice and research grantmaking agencies has a chilling effect on international scientific collaboration. 

Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC, which submitted a number of recommendations of how to address racial profiling. 

Asian American Scholar Forum

, which noted that Asian American professors chose to stay in the United States because they “believe, in democracy, freedom of speech, rule of law, and the research environment of freedom and exploration without fear.” 

Asian Pacific American (APA) Justice, which explained that “whether it is with malice or implicit bias or both, the checks and balance system has failed not only individuals but also an entire group of people who are targeted for their race, ethnicity, and national origin.” 

The Committee of 100, which submitted the research of Andrew Chongseh Kim and white paper on Prosecuting Chinese “Spies:” An Empirical Analysis of the Economic Espionage Act. 

Defending Rights & Dissent, which raised concerns about the FBI’s rhetoric around the “alleged threat from Chinese Americans in academia.” 

Patrick Eddington, of Defending Rights & Dissent, who expressed that freedom of association and open scientific exchange are “absolutely essential to advance human progress on a range of issues.” 

Stefan Maier, who stressed the importance of “academic freedom and a healthy, global scientific

collaboration” to addressing “global challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change.”

Tennessee Chinese American Alliance, called for attention to the recent trial of Dr. Anming Hu (United States v. Hu; Case No. 3:20-CR-00021) at Knoxville, Tennessee. Testimonies from the trial have alarmingly revealed the FBI’s violation of Dr. Hu’s civil rights and misconduct during the investigation. [download and link to PDF at https://bit.ly/48Gia0G.] 

The Human and Scientific Costs of Racial Profiling Must be Heard

On February 1, 2021, concerns about racial profiling culminated in a request by an alliance of prominent scientific and civil rights leaders and organizations nationwide for a congressional hearing spearheaded by Susan Lee, Maryland state senator, and Terry Lierman, Co-Chair of the University of Maryland.

For a good part of 2021, scholars, think tanks, media, professional and community organizations began to collect data, conducted surveys, analyzed case studies, and reported on their findings, most of them do not support the government’s rhetoric on the China Initiative and instead point to its damaging impact on individuals and communities, open science, and international exchange.

The alliance wrote to Jamie Raskin, Chair of the House Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties and called for an oversight hearing to address the profiling of scientists and scholars of Chinese or Asian descent based on the misguided perception that simply being of Chinese or Asian descent or having ties to China make them prone to espionage.

The alliance requested the committee look into the broad sweep of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s counterintelligence efforts and the National Institute of Health’s related actions against scientists of Chinese or Asian descent which have resulted in the loss of their jobs, reputations and devastation of their lives and families, even though they were later proven innocent.

Maryland State Senate Majority Whip Susan Lee, whose district includes NIH, stated, “While we strongly support efforts to safeguard America’s interests and prosecute wrongdoers, it would be a grave injustice to target, stereotype, or place under suspicion an entire ethnic group. Many of these patriotic scientists have spent a lifetime of work dedicated to advancing medical breakthroughs which have made America one the global leaders in science and technology. They are a part of the solution to the United States’ global challenges, not a threat.”

“The overzealous, broad, unchecked, and overreaching activities fueled by a xenophobic and toxic political climate have not only led to mistakes in investigations or prosecutions and civil rights violations, but also have crippled America’s ability to develop medical innovations that can enhance the quality of and save lives, especially during this Covid-19 pandemic. We need the committee to shine light on any discriminatory policies being employed by those agencies to ensure there is fairness, transparency and accountability,” said Terry Lierman.

For decades, international scientific collaborations and exchanges between the United States and foreign academic and research institutions have been strongly encouraged and supported by the NIH and other academic entities, but now, they are being criminalized. 

“Science - like America itself - thrives on freedom, openness, and inclusiveness - there is no room for discrimination against men and women from China or anywhere else based on nationality," former White House science advisor Dr. Neal F. Lane said.

"The PRC Government's rising nationalism and use of its economic clout to influence U.S. universities and society are real and growing, but any U.S. Government response that assumes all students, scientists, and scholars of Chinese descent are potential intelligence risks is unfair and unwise profiling that has no place in our democracy," said Dr. Wallace Loh, former President of the University of Maryland, College Park.

To date, Congress has held numerous hearings focused only on the espionage threat, but it has not addressed the civil rights violations of Chinese Americans who have been wrongly targeted or the long term consequences and damages to the American research enterprise and minority communities if this pattern of racial profiling continues.

“The Department of Justice launched the ‘China Initiative’ to counter perceived ‘national security threats.’ But the past two years have shown an over-emphasis on national security and an underemphasis on bias. I join others in calling for the end of the ‘China Initiative’,” said Professor Margaret Lewis of Seton Hall University Law School.

“We are deeply concerned with the racial profiling and unjust prosecutions of Asian Americans and immigrants by the government,” said John C. Yang, Advancing Justice – AAJC’s President and Executive Director. “This latest wave of xenophobia has instilled fear within our communities as many Chinese Americans and immigrants are once again caught in our country’s long history of suspicion and racial discrimination against Asian Americans. We urge Congress to engage in oversight on this issue by holding a public hearing on this issue.”

“Xenophobic targeting and persecution of Chinese Americans is causing irreparable damage not only to the impacted persons and their families, but also creates fear, suspicion, and hate towards the Asian American community. It must stop. It is grossly unjust and unfair to target an entire ethnic group from specific countries,” said Dr. Steven Pei and Dr. Jeremy Wu, Co-Leaders of the APA Justice Task Force.

Full Package of Call for Congressional Hearing

2021/02/01 Calling for a Congressional Hearing on Racial Profiling of Asian American and Chinese Scientists 

• Cover and Table of Content

• Press Release

• Letter to Rep. Jamie Raskin, Chair of the House Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties with Signatories

• Articles, Letters and Statements from Professional Associations, Organizations and Societies

Congressional Staffer Roundtable on Research Integrity

On May 5, 2021, a Congressional Staffer Roundtable on Research Integrity was organized by the majority and the minority of the Committees on Science, Space, and Technology; Commerce, Science, and Transportation; and Armed Services (House and Senate).

Speakers for the event included:

• Dr. Sudip Parikh, Chief Executive Officer, American Association for the Advancement of Science

• Mr. Tobin Smith, Vice President for Science Policy & Global Affairs, Association of American Universities

• Dr. Maria Zuber, Co-Chair, NASEM National Science, Technology, and Security Roundtable; Vice President for Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

• Mr. Alexander Bustamante, Senior Vice President, Chief Compliance and Audit Officer, University of California System

• Mr. Frank Wu, President, Queen’s College, City University of New York

Frank Wu’s remarks emphasized three “Cs” that should be promoted and one “C” to be avoided:

• Consistency of rules and enforcement priorities (among agencies and over time)

• Clarity of policies

• Communications to promote compliance (including anti-bias aspects)

And not

• Criminalization

Bicameral Coalition Letter Urging DOJ Probe into Racial Profiling

On July 29, 2021, Rep. Ted Lieu delivered a bicameral coalition letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland calling for an investigation into the Department of Justice's "repeated, wrongful targeting of individuals of Asian descent for alleged espionage." 

​​"Over the years, multiple people who happened to be of Asian descent have been falsely accused by the Department of Justice of espionage," including the false accusations of spying alleged against Wen Ho Lee, Sherry Chen, Xiaoxing Xi,  Anming Hu, and many others.

"The common thread in every one of these cases was a defendant with an Asian surname — and an innocent life that was turned upside down."

"No person should be viewed by our government as more suspicious because of the individual’s race. We thus request an update on the mandated implicit bias training and request an investigation to determine whether the Department of Justice has a written or unwritten policy, program, pattern or practice of using race (or other civil rights classifications such as religion, gender and national origin) in targeting people for arrest, surveillance, security clearance denials or other adverse actions. We also specifically request whether, under the 'China Initiative,' there is a written or unwritten policy, program, pattern or practice to target people based on their race, ethnicity or national origin."

Jump to:

Overview

The Human and Scientific Costs of Racial Profiling Must be Heard

Congressional Staffer Roundtable on Research Integrity

Bicameral Letter Urging DOJ Probe into Racial Profiling