#240 3/4 Meeting; "China Initiative"; Alien Land Laws; US-China STA Extended; Climate Bill

In This Issue #240

·       2023/03/04 APA Justice Monthly Meeting

·       Relaunching "China Initiative" Stopped

·       Alien Land Laws: Reports by USDA Equity Commission and Advancing Justice | Atlanta

·       US-China Science and Technology Agreement Extended Another 6 Month

·       Justice Is Global and Rollout of US-China Climate Cooperation Bill

·       News and Activities for the Communities

2023/03/04 APA Justice Monthly Meeting

The March APA Justice monthly meeting was held via Zoom on Monday, March 4, 2024.  Invited speakers for the meeting were: 

·       Arati Prabhakar, Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and Assistant to the President for Science and Technology

·       Nisha Ramachandran, Executive Director, Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC)

·       Joanna YangQing Derman, Director, Anti-Profiling, Civil Rights & National Security Program, Advancing Justice | AAJC

·       Gisela Perez Kusakawa, Executive Director, Asian American Scholar Forum (AASF)

·       X. Edward Guo, President, Asian American Academy of Science and Engineering (AAASE); Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Professor of Medical Sciences, Columbia University

·       Cindy Tsai, Interim President and Executive Director, Committee of 100

·       Thông Phan, Senior Policy Associate, Advancing Justice – Atlanta

·       Steven Kivelson, Professor of Physics, Stanford University; Peter Michelson, Former Senior Associate Dean of Natural Sciences and Professor of Physics, Stanford University

Kei Koizumi, Principal Deputy Director for OSTP, led the Q&A discussion. Cole Donovan, Assistant Director for Research Security and Infrastructure at OSTP, also attended the meeting.A summary for the meeting is being prepared at this time.  The virtual monthly meeting is by invitation only. It is closed to the press. If you wish to join, either one time or for future meetings, please contact one of the co-organizers of APA Justice - Steven Pei 白先慎, Vincent Wang 王文奎, and Jeremy Wu 胡善庆 - or send a message to contact@apajustice.org.

AAU Letter to OSTP Director Arati PrabhakarOn February 14, 2024, the White House OSTP announced the release of two memoranda aimed at supporting a secure and fair research ecosystem in the United States:  

1.     On Policy Regarding Use of Common Disclosure Forms, OSTP outlines guidelines on the use of common disclosure forms for federal agencies to use when evaluating proposals. These will help the government identify conflicts of commitment and potential duplication with the work of foreign governments.

2.     On Guidelines for Federal Research Agencies Regarding Foreign Talent Recruitment Programs, the OSTP guidance provides a definition of foreign talent recruitment programs, guidelines for federal employees regarding foreign talent recruitment programs, and guidelines for individuals involved in malign foreign talent recruitment programs in federal projects.

During the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology hearing on February 15, 2024, a letter from the Association of American Universities (AAU) to OSTP Director Arati Prabhakar was submitted for record: https://bit.ly/49qi2CV.  AAU, along with several other higher education associations and research organizations, expressed concerns about the delay on the release of final research security program requirements or an update to the research community on the status of finalizing the requirements.

Relaunching "China Initiative" Stopped

During the March 4 monthly meeting, Nisha Ramachandran, Executive Director, Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC), reported that the language to relaunch the "China Initiative" was removed from the Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies (CJS) Appropriations Act (H.R. 5893) which funds the Departments of Commerce, Justice and other science-related programs.In January, CAPAC Chair Judy Chu joined Vice Chair Grace Meng and Executive Member Senator Mazie Hirono in leading a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson, Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries on the matter.On March 6, 2024, CAPAC released a press statement on the formal stoppage of reinstating the China Initiative, a Trump-era program created in 2018 that purported to combat espionage but in effect targeted and profiled those of Chinese descent.  Read the CAPAC press statement: https://bit.ly/43g5zzyOn March 7, 2024, The Asian American Scholar Forum (AASF) issued a statement, citing that “[i]t is a win for Asian American scholars, especially, to see the removal of the ‘China Initiative’ language."  AASF and partnering organizations previously led nearly 50 organizations in opposing the reinstatement, detailing the “chilling effect” a return of the Initiative would have on Asian Americans scholars.  Read the AASF statement: https://bit.ly/3wSMxDnEarlier on February 22, 2024, the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB) published a position statement opposing the in-instatement of the "China Initiative."  Read the ASBMB position statement: https://bit.ly/3TfeDS6

Nature Reports on Why the US Border Remains "A Place of Terror" for Chinese Researchers

According to a comprehensive report by Nature on February 26, 2024, the US border remains "a place of terror" for Chinese researchers.  Two years after the end of the controversial "China Initiative," academics describe being treated like spies, a loss of talent, and a chilling atmosphere that is stifling science.The report cited a Survey of Chinese Espionage in the United States Since 2000 conducted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies in 2023 that identified 224 allegations of Chinese espionage against the United States since 2000, as well as the tracking of the 162 defendants in known China Initiative cases compiled by MIT Technology Review. The report covers the experiences and testimonials of

·       An unnamed engineer of Chinese descent, who was detained and interrogated, said border agents "are treating us like spies,”

·       Gang Chen, Professor of Mechanical Engineer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT),

·       Jenny Lee, Professor of Educational Policy Studies and Practice at the University of Arizona,

·       George Karniadakis, Professor of Applied Mathematics and Engineering at Brown University,

·       Gabriela S. Schlau-Cohen Professor of Chemistry at MIT,

·       Yu Xie, Professor of Sociology at Princeton University,

·       Kai Li, Professor of Computer Science at Princeton University and Vice President of Asian American Scholar Forum (AASF),

·       Steven Chu, Professor of Physics at Stanford University and former US Secretary of Energy,

·       Yiguang Ju, Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Princeton University,

·       Gisela Perez Kusakawa, Executive Director of AASF.

Read the Nature report: https://go.nature.com/49Tv5Nn

Republic Sentinel: Reports on Government Institutional Racism: A National Security Threat

According to The Republic Sentinel on February 26, 2024, House and Senate GOP efforts to revive a racist Trump era program, known as the "China Initiative," targeting people of Chinese heritage are morally repugnant and endanger our national security.It would be over two months after the release of the MIT Technology Review report before the Biden administration would allegedly end the "China Initiative."  The author uses the word "allegedly" because absent an independent audit of FBI cases and Department of Justice's National Security Division (NSD) records, the public has no way of knowing whether NSD and FBI have, in fact, stopped systematically targeting Chinese American STEM specialists for surveillance, including travel surveillance between the U.S. and China. In May 2022, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) released a report that stated outright that Chinese government intelligence services did not prioritize the targeting of Chinese Americans for espionage or technology theft purposes.The language suggests that the assessment in question was completed prior to February 2022, when the end of the "China Initiative" was announced.

What we do not know is

1.     how much earlier than February 2022, and

2.     how wide the distribution of the assessment was within the U.S. government.

Both of these questions matter because they go to the heart of whether such an assessment existed before November 2018 (the start of the "China Initiative"), between then and the end of the Trump administration in January 2021, or whether the assessment was only conducted and circulated in the year prior to the alleged end of the "China Initiative."If this assessment was on the books during the Trump administration, it means DoJ officials deliberately ignored an intelligence assessment stating that Chinese intelligence was not systematically targeting Chinese Americans for recruitment--and that any presumption that they were had no factual basis.Read the Republic Sentinel report: https://bit.ly/3uV8zVd

Chinese Chipmaker Cleared in US Criminal Trade Secrets Case

According to Bloomberg and other media reports, a Chinese chipmaker was cleared of economic espionage and other criminal charges in a setback for a US Justice Department crackdown on intellectual property theft by China under the now-defunct "China Initiative" (Case 3:18-cr-00465).More than five years after the Commerce Department blacklisted Fujian Jinhua Integrated Circuit Co. as a threat to national security, US District Judge Maxine M. Chesney in San Francisco found the company not guilty following a non-jury trial. Her ruling may temper the Biden administration’s pursuit of aggressive prosecutions to protect American technology.Chesney concluded that US prosecutors failed to prove that the Chinese state-sponsored company misappropriated proprietary data from Micron Technology, America’s largest memory-chip maker, that allegedly passed through Taiwan’s United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC) in a manufacturing deal with Fujian Jinhua.Read the Bloomberg report:  https://bit.ly/3Tf3MHL 

Alien Land Laws: Reports by USDA Equity Commission and Advancing Justice | Atlanta

On February 22, 2024, the USDA Equity Commission submitted its final report to Secretary of Agriculture in response to Presidential Executive Order 13985 On Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government.On Page 52 of the report, The Equity Commission recommends that USDA should support policies that lead to pathways to access citizenship and family reunification, particularly about the Right to Access Agricultural Land. The report said, "Historical racism and discrimination have led to exclusionary laws that restrict immigrants from owning U.S. properties. The 1879 Oregon constitution specified that 'no Chinaman may own property.'  In 1913, in response to anti-immigrant forces, California passed the Alien Land Law to ban Asian immigrants from purchasing properties including farmlands. Subsequent laws extended the ban to include U.S. born children of immigrants and restrict land leases. Fifteen more states followed with similar alien land laws. It wasn’t until after World War II that the U.S. Supreme Court struck down these laws as unconstitutional. "Today, fueled by anti-immigration sentiments, several states are considering alien land legislation to prohibit foreign nationals from certain Asian, Central American, and Middle Eastern countries from purchasing agricultural lands, under the guise of national security protection. Thirteen states have already passed legislations to prohibit Chinese foreign nationals from owning agricultural land or lands within certain distance of a U.S. military installation. Since their arrival, immigrants of color have been perceived as perpetual foreigners. These state proposals would put specifically some communities, specifically Chinese, under unfair, discriminatory scrutiny and suspicion again." 

Yvonne Lee, who retired from the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, serves on the USDA Equity Commission. Read the USDA Equity Commission report: https://bit.ly/4ceyXKE

Modern-Day Alien Land Laws' Resurgence Throughout The South

According to Advancing Justice | Atlanta, over the years, Georgia has benefited from welcoming businesses and newcomers from around the world. However, in 2023, the Peach State joined 32 other states that introduced 81 bills to restrict land ownership of target persons and entities from certain non- U.S. countries. All of these bills target people from China, though a number also targeted individuals from other nations such as Iran, Russia, North Korea, Cuba, Syria, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela. Given these law’s historical connection to racist and xenophobic property restriction laws of the early 20th century, we refer to these restrictive laws as “alien land laws.”Not only do they reprise racist laws of the past, but they contribute to the current anti-Asian fervor stemming from COVID-19 and geopolitical tensions. From a legal standpoint, they violate the Federal Fair Housing Act of 1968 and Equal Protection Clause under the 14th Amendment. Georgia remains one of a few states in the South that still has the opportunity to decide against implementing a discriminatory and harmful land law that could lead to unintended legal and economic consequences. The Advancing Justice | Atlanta report examines the history of anti-Chinese legislation in the U.S., and compares provisions across states to present a case for policymakers and stakeholders on why the policy has no place in Georgia.During the APA Justice Monthly Meeting on March 4, 2024, Thông Phan, Senior Policy Associate, Advancing Justice - Atlanta, gave an update on Georgia State Senate Bill 420 and Georgia State House Bill 1093. Read the report: https://bit.ly/3Ik2iW8

US-China Science and Technology Agreement Extended 6 Months

According to Voice of America on March 7, 2024, the United States and China agreed to extend a science and technology agreement (STA) for another six months.  “The short-term six-month extension keeps the agreement in force while we continue negotiations,” a State Department spokesperson said.The STA was originally signed in 1979 by then-U.S. President Jimmy Carter and then-PRC leader Deng Xiaoping.The agreement has been renewed about every five years since its inception, with the most recent 5-year extension occurring in 2018. Last August, it received a 6-month extension as officials from the two countries undertook negotiations to amend and strengthen the terms.Read the Voice of America report: https://bit.ly/3Pm3SuD

Justice Is Global and Rollout of US-China Climate Cooperation Bill

During the APA Justice Monthly Meeting on February 5, 2024, Sandy Shan, Executive Director of Justice is Global, introduced its mission of organizing everyday people to advocate for policy changes promoting an equitable and sustainable future.  It has focused on challenging narratives that blame China for economic and social issues in the US, recognizing the connection between such narratives and anti-Asian racism.Sandy used a 4-slide presentation in her talk: https://bit.ly/4byMnRe.  She was joined and supported by her colleague Valentina Dallona.Sandy focuses on building narratives around US-China cooperation, particularly regarding climate change. Through deep canvassing, they engage communities susceptible to anti-China rhetoric, shifting conversations towards cooperation. They conducted successful discussions in rural Wisconsin, leading to increased support for US-China cooperation on climate issues. Sandy emphasizes the urgency of climate action and the vital role of cooperation between the US and China. She highlights the historic contributions of AAPI communities to scientific collaboration, framing US-China cooperation as crucial for protecting AAPI communities and fostering innovation. She outlines proposed legislation focusing on climate finance, trade, and technology sharing with China. Sandy invites support for their efforts, including messaging, garnering organizational and congressional support, and hosting community events. They provide links for individuals interested in getting involved and express readiness to collaborate.Read the summary of the February 2024 APA Justice monthly meeting at: https://bit.ly/3TzGVqr.  Watch Sandy's talk and the February monthly meeting: https://bit.ly/49okkmc (57:00)

News and Activities for the Communities

1.  APA Justice Community Calendar

Upcoming Events:2024/03/24 Committee of Concerned Scientists Annual Meeting 2024/03/25 Committee of 100: Asian American Career Ceiling Challenges in Broadcast News2024/04/07 Rep. Gene Wu's Town Hall Meeting2024/04/08 APA Justice Monthly Meeting2024/04/19 Committee of 100 Annual Conference and Gala2024/05/02 AAGEN 2024 Executive Leadership Workshop2024/05/05 Rep. Gene Wu's Town Hall Meeting Visit https://bit.ly/45KGyga for event details.