Newsletter - #49 House Hearing On Discrimination And Violence Against Asian Americans Today #49 House Hearing On Discrimination And Violence Against Asian Americans Today Back View PDF March 18, 2021 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter

Newsletter - #224 Henry Kissinger; 12/12 Section 702 Briefing; WH Commission/WH Fellows; DETERRENT Act #224 Henry Kissinger; 12/12 Section 702 Briefing; WH Commission/WH Fellows; DETERRENT Act In This Issue #224 · Invited Report: Dr. Kissinger's Passing and the Debate over His One-China Policy · 12/12 Community Briefing on Section 702 of FISA · President's Advisory Commission Renewed; White House Fellows Program Opens · CAPAC Chair Urges Opposition to DETERRENT Act on House Floor · News and Activities for the Communities Invited Report: Dr. Kissinger's Passing and the Debate over His One-China Policy Author: Juan Zhang , Editor, US-China Perception Monitor/ 中美印象, Carter Center, Juan.Zhang@cartercenter.org On November 29, 2023, Dr. Henry Kissinger , former U.S. Secretary of State, passed away at the age of 100. Dr. Kissinger advised 12 U.S. presidents on foreign policy, from President Kennedy to President Biden . The foreign policies he shaped influenced the lives of billions of people worldwide.This is especially true when it comes to China. In the early 1970s, Dr. Kissinger, with a strategic vision and great wisdom, opened the door for China to engage with the United States. China has since changed profoundly. The one-China policy and strategic ambiguity toward cross-strait was at the heart of the China policy that Dr. Kissinger and his aides crafted. This policy has helped maintain peace in East Asia for decades, laying the foundation for the region's prosperity.In light of growing competition in US-China relations, the policy of strategic ambiguity has become a point of tension. China hawks explicitly call for arming and defending Taiwan. Even President Biden has “misspoken” four times in recent months that the U.S. will come to Taiwan’s defense if China uses force. Under those noises, some experts and former diplomats have started to voice their support for policies that will and have maintained cross-strait peace. In a recent in-depth interview with the US-China Perception Monitor of the Carter Center, Ambassador Winston Lord , the close aide who accompanied Dr. Kissinger on visiting China in 1970s, shared his view on this question: The bipartisan Taiwan policy of nine American Presidents is one of the greatest diplomatic achievements in recent history, and "strategic ambiguity" is an essential part of that policy. …… To switch to "strategic clarity" would destroy a half-century of "One China" policy, upend our relationship with Beijing, and give Taiwan leaders the green light to take provocative actions, assuring that we would come to their defense in case of conflict, no matter what the origins.(Read the full piece: https://uscnpm.org/2023/11/30/ambassador-winston-lord/ ) Furthermore, three top-notch experts on China/Taiwan published a joint article on Foreign Affairs . In their piece, Bonnie S. Glaser , Jessica Chen Weiss , and Thomas J. Christensen argue that the United States cannot rely solely on deterrence to China. It should use a combination of assurance and deterrence. While strengthening deterrence, the United States should assure China that it will not support Taiwan's independence. At the same time, China must continue to explore peaceful unification means. Those points reflect fundamental elements of the strategic ambiguity policy that Dr. Kissinger, Ambassador Lord, and others established decades ago. (Read the full piece: https://www.foreignaffairs.com/taiwan/taiwan-china-true-sources-deterrence ) Community Briefing on Section 702 of FISA WHAT: Webinar - Community Briefing on Section 702 of FISA: Sweeping Reforms to Warrantless Surveillance Initiative WHEN: December 12, 2023, 2-3 pm ET/11-12 noon PT HOSTS: Asian American Scholar Forum (AASF), Advancing Justice | AAJC, APA Justice, Brennan Center for Justice, Chinese for Affirmative Action (CAA) MODERATOR: Eri Andriola , Associate Director of Policy & Litigation, AASF SPEAKERS: · Noah Chauvin, Counsel, Liberty & National Security, Brennan Center for Justice · Joanna YangQing Derman, Director of Anti-Profiling, Civil Rights, and National Security, Advancing Justice | AAJC · Gisela Perez Kusakawa, Executive Director, AASF · Andy Wong, Managing Director of Advocacy, CAA DESCRIPTION: The briefing will feature civil rights, national security, and policy experts, who will break down what Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) is and how it impacts Asian American communities. Panelists will discuss the key reform bills at play, including the Government Surveillance Reform Act (GSRA) and the Protecting Liberty and Ending Warrantless Surveillance Act (PLEWSA), and how the Asian American community and advocates can get involved on this issue. REGISTRATION: https://bit.ly/41ejxkG Breaking News: NBC News reported on December 6, 2023, that lawmakers have reached an agreement to temporarily extend the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). The agreement to reauthorize FISA through April 2024 is part of bipartisan and bicameral negotiations over a path forward for the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Read the NBC News report: https://nbcnews.to/3Nho4Nv Earlier on December 5, 2023, a post on X, previously Tweeter, by Punchbowl News reported that House Speaker Mike Johnson nixed (more permanent) reauthorization of Section 702 in the NDAA. Read the X post: https://bit.ly/47Mdvdj President's Advisory Commission Renewed; White House Fellows Program Opens On September 29, 2023, President Joe Biden signed Executive Order 14109 to renew the President's Advisory Commission through September 2025. The action also amends Executive Order 14031 to provide commissioners with new authorities to more effectively communicate their work with the public. Established in May 2021, and co-chaired by Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra and U.S. Trade Representative Ambassador Katherine Tai , the 25-member Commission of AA and NHPI leaders advises the President on ways the public, private and non-profit sectors can work together to advance equity, justice, and opportunity for AA and NHPI communities. Read the White House announcement: https://bit.ly/3T8P2un White House Fellows Program Opens Applications for the Class of 2024-2025 White House Fellows Program is now open through 3:00 p.m. ET on Friday, January 5, 2024. You can apply here now: https://bit.ly/3OGlwb1 . Individual registration is required. On December 7, 2023, starting at 8 pm ET, the White House Initiative on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders (WHIAANHPI) will host an online event for the public to learn how to apply, explore selection criteria, and ask for advice directly from Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander alumni panelists. Register for "An Introduction to the White House Fellows Program" here: https://bit.ly/3RbsAxZ Meet The AANHPI Team at The White House From left to right: · Krystal Ka‘ai , Executive Director, White House Initiative on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders · Neera Tanden , Senior Advisor to the President and White House Staff Secretary · Erika L. Moritsugu , Deputy Assistant to the President and AA and NHPI Senior Liaison · Philip Kim , Senior Advisor, White House Office of Public Engagement They were introduced by Hannah Y. Kim , Asia-Pacific policy adviser to the White House Chief of Staff, in a video celebrating the Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month during the APA Justice monthly meeting on May 1, 2023. A summary for the monthly meeting has been posted at https://bit.ly/3RwbRa0 . Other speakers at the meeting were · Nisha Ramachandran, Executive Director, Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, nisha.ramachandran@mail.house.gov · John Yang 杨重远, President and Executive Director, Advancing Justice | AAJC · Gisela Kusakawa, Executive Director, Asian American Scholar Forum (AASF), gpkusakawa@aasforum.org · Brenna Isman , Director of Academy Studies, National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA) · Paula Williams Madison, Former Print and TV Journalist, Retired NBCUniversal executive CAPAC Chair Urges Opposition to DETERRENT Act on House Floor According to a press release by the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) on December 6, 2023, CAPAC Chair Rep. Judy Chu (CA-28) took to the House Floor to urge her colleagues to vote in opposition to H.R. 5933 , the DETERRENT Act.Her remarks as delivered:“As Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, I rise in strong opposition to the DETERRENT Act.“The DETERRENT Act would burden higher education institutions and federal agencies by needlessly complicating existing research security measures. Further, the bill would impose unreasonably expansive reporting requirements on individual researchers. What is worst is that it would broadcast their personal information on public databases, therefore casting a chilling effect disproportionately on the Asian American academic community.“From the incarceration of Japanese Americans in World War II to racial profiling of Chinese American scientists under the failed China Initiative, countless Asian Americans have had their lives destroyed because our government falsely accused them of being spies. Already, seventy two percent of Asian American academic researchers report feeling unsafe. “Safeguarding national security can be done through commonsense reforms that Democrats have offered that don’t come at the expense of U.S. scientific innovation, global collaboration, and the Asian American community. In fact, Congressmember Bobby Scott has submitted such an amendment that is a commonsense reform. In the meanwhile, this bill, the DETERRENT Act, is a bill that I urge all my colleagues to vote no on.” News and Activities for the Communities APA Justice Community Calendar Upcoming Events: 2023/12/06 1882 Foundation Lecture and Reception: We are Americans 2023/12/07 An Introduction to The White House Fellows Program2023/12/10 Rep. Gene Wu 's Weekly town hall meeting 2023/12/12 Community Briefing on Section 702 of FISA2023/12/17 Rep. Gene Wu 's Weekly town hall meeting Visit https://bit.ly/45KGyga for event details. Back View PDF December 7, 2023 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter

Newsletter - #263 Return of Anming Hu; AAJC on Land Laws; Spying on USPS Mail; Vincent Chin's Legacy; + #263 Return of Anming Hu; AAJC on Land Laws; Spying on USPS Mail; Vincent Chin's Legacy; + In This Issue #263 · The Return of Exonerated Professor Anming Hu · Advancing Justice | AAJC Speaks Up on Discriminatory Land Laws · WP : Law Enforcement is Spying on Thousands of Americans' Mail · FBI Released 602 Pages of Its Vincent Chin Files · News and Activities for the Communities The next APA Justice monthly meeting will be held via Zoom today, July 1, 2024, starting at 1:55 pm ET. In addition to Nisha Ramachandran , Joanna YangQing Derman , and Gisela Perez Kusakawa . confirmed invited speakers include Neal Lane , Kei Koizumi , Xiaoxing Xi , and Karla Hagan . Please register to attend. 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 . The Return of Exonerated Professor Anming Hu Professor Anming Hu returned and spoke at the APA Justice monthly meeting on June 3, 2024. It has been almost three years since he was fully acquitted of all charges against him under the now-defunct China Initiative.Professor Hu was born in China, a naturalized Canadian citizen, and Professor of Mechanical, Aerospace and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK).On February 27, 2020, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the indictment of Professor Hu. He was the second China Initiative case involving a U.S. university professor of Asian ancestry. He was charged with three counts each of wire fraud and making false statements, but not espionage. The charges stemmed from his purported failure to disclose affiliations with a Chinese university while receiving funding from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).At the time of his arrest, he was a tenured professor. After his arrest, UTK suspended him without pay and then terminated his employment on October 8, 2020.Professor Hu was the first academic to go to trial under the China Initiative. A mistrial was declared on June 16, 2021, after the jury deadlocked. On September 9, 2021, Judge Thomas Varlan acquitted Professor Hu of all charges in his indictment. “The government has failed to provide sufficient evidence from which any rational jury could find, beyond a reasonable doubt, that defendant had specific intent to defraud NASA by hiding his affiliation with BJUT [Beijing University of Technology] from UTK," the judge wrote.On October 14, 2021, UTK offered to reinstate Professor Hu. On February 1, 2022, Professor Hu returned to his laboratory. During the APA Justice monthly meeting on June 6, 2024, Professor Hu provided updates on his situation and his family's well being since his return to UTK. He expressed gratitude to his attorney Phil Lomonaco , members of the UTK Faculty Senate, Congressional representatives, CAPAC, and various Asian American justice organizations for their support.Professor Hu spent a year rebuilding his lab with startup support from the university's leadership. He acquired new equipment and repaired old, damaged devices. Despite recovering about 95% of his equipment, nearly 50% were malfunctioning and 30% were completely damaged.With help from collaborators, two of his PhD students graduated in 2022 and 2023.Professor Hu focused on applying for external funds and hiring new students. He secured one federal and one industrial fund, enabling him to hire one new PhD student and two undergraduates. However, his lab size is still only about 30% of its previous capacity, and it may take another one to two years to fully recover.The wrongful prosecution caused significant mental and physical harm to his family. They continue to struggle with sleep issues and anxiety, and Professor Hu sometimes needs medication to sleep. His wife still becomes anxious when receiving phone calls in the afternoon, a reminder of the day Professor Hu was arrested.In the past two years, the family has shared their experience with colleagues, friends, and church groups. Professor Hu also participated in panel discussions on the China Initiative and civil rights. Despite his reinstatement, the US government continued to falsely accuse him of being part of China's Thousand Talents Program. With support from lawyers and Congressional representatives Judy Chu , Ted Lieu , and Jamie Raskin , his U.S. permanent residency was approved in March 2024. Recently, his older son's green card was also approved.A summary for the June 3 APA Justice monthly meeting is being prepared at this time. APA Justice has compiled Professor Hu's story as an impacted scientist under the China Initiative. It is posted for beta review for its content, navigation, and links at https://bit.ly/44V5tOG . Please send your comments and feedback to contact@apajustice.org . Advancing Justice | AAJC Speaks Up on Discriminatory Land Laws During the APA Justice monthly meeting on June 3, 2024, Joanna YangQing Derman , Director, Anti-Profiling, Civil Rights & National Security Program, Advancing Justice | AAJC, reported that John Yang , President and Executive Director of AAJC, testified before the Texas Senate State Affairs Committee on May 29. The hearing addressed three interim charges or topics, one of which was foreign investment in Texas land. John Yang emphasized AAJC’s deep concern about the resurgence of discriminatory land laws under the guise of national security. He underscored the historical context of AAPI discrimination and called for robust research to accurately identify the issues these land laws aim to address. John successfully countered harmful and overbroad anti-China rhetoric that conflates Chinese individuals with the Chinese government. Overall, it was a successful testimony, with special credit to Asian Texans for Justice (ATJ) for facilitating the opportunity and playing a critical role in coordinating the response. John Yang’s written testimony is posted here: https://bit.ly/3zkxgwe . A summary for the June 3 APA Justice monthly meeting is being prepared at this time. WP : Law Enforcement is Spying on Thousands of Americans' Mail According to the Washington Post on June 24, 2024, · The U.S. Postal Service shares mail data with law enforcement without warrants. · More than 60,000 requests have been received since 2015, with a 97% acceptance rate. · A group of senators want judicial oversight, but the chief inspector declined to change the policy. The U.S. Postal Service has shared information from thousands of Americans’ letters and packages with law enforcement every year for the past decade, conveying the names, addresses and other details from the outside of boxes and envelopes without requiring a court order.Postal inspectors say they fulfill such requests only when mail monitoring can help find a fugitive or investigate a crime. But a decade’s worth of records, provided exclusively to The Washington Post in response to a congressional probe, show Postal Service officials have received more than 60,000 requests from federal agents and police officers since 2015, and that they rarely say no.Each request can cover days or weeks of mail sent to or from a person or address, and 97 percent of the requests were approved, according to the data. Postal inspectors recorded more than 312,000 letters and packages between 2015 and 2023, the records show.The IRS, FBI and the Department of Homeland Security were among the top requesters. In a letter in May 2023, a group of eight senators, including Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), urged the agency to require a federal judge to approve the requests and to share more details on the program, saying officials there had chosen to “provide this surveillance service and to keep postal customers in the dark about the fact they have been subjected to monitoring.”In a response earlier this month, the chief postal inspector, Gary Barksdale , declined to change the policy but provided nearly a decade’s worth of data showing that postal inspectors, federal agencies, and state and local police forces made an average of about 6,700 requests a year, and that inspectors additionally recorded data from about another 35,000 pieces of mail a year, on average.The practice, he added, had been legally authorized since 1879, a year after the Supreme Court ruled that government officials needed a warrant before opening any sealed letter.Wyden said in a statement, “These new statistics show that thousands of Americans are subjected to warrantless surveillance each year, and that the Postal Inspection Service rubber stamps practically all of the requests they receive.” He also criticized the agency for “refusing to raise its standards and require law enforcement agencies monitoring the outside of Americans’ mail to get a court order, which is already required to monitor emails and texts.”In their letter last year, the senators said that even the exteriors of mail could be deeply revealing for many Americans, giving clues about the people they talk to, the bills they pay, the churches they attend, the political views they subscribe to and the social causes they support.Read the Washington Post report: https://wapo.st/3Xxr9yO FBI Released 602 Pages of Its Vincent Chin Files Without explanation, the FBI released 602 pages of its files on Vincent Chin during the week of his murder 42 years ago. Helen Zia published an essay at the Vincent Chin Institute about its good, bad, and ugly on June 26, 2024. This is an AI-assisted summary of her essay: The Good · Community Support and Advocacy : The essay highlights the significant support and advocacy from the Asian American community and various organizations in seeking justice for Vincent Chin. · Awareness of Anti-Asian Hate : The release of the FBI documents and the efforts to commemorate Vincent Chin's legacy help raise awareness of anti-Asian hate and the historical context of such violence. · Legacy and Education : The essay emphasizes the importance of educating others about Vincent Chin's case and the ongoing fight against racial prejudice, contributing to a more informed and empathetic society. The Bad · Incomplete Investigation : The FBI documents are incomplete, missing critical details from the Wayne County criminal proceedings and failing to interview key witnesses, which hindered the investigation and justice process. · Inadequate Judicial Response : The essay criticizes the judicial system's response, particularly the sentencing judge's decision to release the attackers on probation and fines, which highlights systemic racial biases. · Media Bias : The essay points out how media coverage at the time failed to grasp or acknowledge the anti-Asian prejudice involved in the case, often casting doubt on the racial motivations behind the crime. The Ugly · Racially Motivated Violence : The brutal attack on Vincent Chin, driven by racial hatred and scapegoating during an economic recession, represents the ugly reality of racially motivated violence and bigotry. · Traumatic Aftermath : The essay describes the trauma endured by Vincent Chin's family and the Asian American community, exacerbated by the lack of justice and recognition from the judicial system. · Enduring Prejudice : The essay underscores the persistent ignorance and harmful stereotypes surrounding Asian Americans, both in the past and present, highlighting the ongoing struggle against racial prejudice and discrimination. Overall, the essay provides a detailed account of the events surrounding Vincent Chin's death, the community's response, and the broader implications for understanding and combating racial hatred. Read Helen Zia's essay: https://bit.ly/4eN4Nzg . Read the 602-page FBI case file: https://bit.ly/3RQobSt Vincent Chin's Legacy on Asian American Activism According to the Washington Post on June 26, 2024, when Vincent Chin , a Chinese American groom-to-be, was bludgeoned to death with a baseball bat by two white Detroit autoworkers in 1982, his loved ones’ cries for justice fell on deaf ears. The autoworkers who attacked Vincent Chin did so under the false belief that he was Japanese, attributing the auto industry’s hardships to foreign competition from Japan.It took twelve full days before the media reported his killing — without recognizing the racism involved, remembers Curtis Chin , the nephew of Vincent Chin’s best man. Nine months later, judge Charles Kaufman handed the perpetrators just three years’ probation and a $3,780 fine, reasoning that “These aren’t the kind of men you send to jail.”Despite media silence and a lenient sentence for the perpetrators, Chin's case galvanized Asian Americans to unite across ethnic lines.Today , advocates still ensure that Vincent Chin’s name is never forgotten. In the wake of his death anniversary, and amid increasing xenophobia worldwide, his story provides guiding light for the struggle toward equality.Curtis Chin found his calling in the experience, and instead of taking over Chung’s — his family’s restaurant of five decades — spent the next 30 years elevating Asian American voices as a writer and a filmmaker. In his memoir and his documentary, “Vincent Who?,” Curtis Chin recounts Vincent Chin’s story and the racial animosity of 1980s Detroit.For Helen Zia , an activist who moved to Detroit in 1976 and took up work at an auto plant, Chin’s case laid bare the glaring injustices that Asian Americans faced: “There were two legal organizations in the whole country, one in New York and one in California,” Zia says. “We were in Detroit, and they couldn’t help us.” Zia rallied leaders from Detroit’s Chinatown and local lawyers to support Vincent Chin's mother Lily Chin and co-founded the American Citizens for Justice, which helped secure a federal trial for Vincent Chin. Zia launched the Vincent Chin Institute in 2022 to fill the void Asian American Detroiters found themselves in four decades ago through advocacy, education, and resources for Asian Americans in underserved areas.In the 21st century, the killing of Vincent Chin continues to energize Asian American advocacy and presence. Law students reenact his trial to highlight legal shortcomings. Hollywood has adapted his case into films like “Hold Still, Vincent” and “Who Killed Vincent Chin?”The fear of foreign economic threat parallels modern “anti-China hysteria and scapegoating,” says Stop AAPI Hate co-founder Cynthia Choi , pointing to how COVID-19 was racialized and fueled attacks on Asians across the country. The Vincent Chin case remains a cornerstone for Asian American advocacy, inspiring films, reenactments, and organizations like Stop AAPI Hate, which combats rising xenophobia and discrimination. Despite the progress achieved, advocates against anti-Asian hate assert that there is still considerable work ahead in every sector, from the workplace to the entertainment industry. The comprehensive history of Asian Americans, for instance, continues to be excluded from core K-12 history curricula in the United States. Some advocates like John Yang , the president and executive director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice AAJC, are turning their attention to what they say is a new form of anti-Asian hate: a growing number of bills preventing some Chinese citizens from buying and owning land. “Everyone is concerned about whether an Asian American is truly an American, and so they’re not being shown the same houses, they’re not being afforded the same opportunities,” Yang says. Wilson Lee , co-founder of the Chinese American Citizens Alliance Boston Lodge and the Chinese American Heritage Foundation, has organized a vigil for Vincent Chin every June 23 for the past six years. “We’re in it for the long haul,” Lee tells the Associated Press . “Because it’s the right thing to do, not because it’s the popular thing to do.”On June 21, 2024, the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus issued a press statement marking the 42nd Anniversary of the murder of Vincent Chin: https://bit.ly/4cdUAKT Read the Washington Post report: https://wapo.st/3VHk4Jf . Visit the Vincent Chin Institute website: https://bit.ly/39Bu0QQ News and Activities for the Communities 1. APA Justice Community Calendar Upcoming Events: 2024/07/01 APA Justice Monthly Meeting2024/07/01 President's Advisory Commission Public Meeting - Livestreaming2024/07/02 President's Advisory Commission Public Meeting - In Person2024/07/03 Hearing on Preliminary Injunction on Florida SB 8462024/07/07 Rep. Gene Wu's Town Hall Meeting2024/07/11-12 National AAPI Leadership Summit2024/07/13 APIAVote: Presidential Town Hall, Philadelphia PA2024/07/15 APIAVote: RNC Convention, AAPI Briefing &Reception, Milwaukee, WI2024/07/16-17 National Science, Technology, and Security Roundtable - Capstone2024/08/04 Rep. Gene Wu's Town Hall MeetingThe Community Calendar has moved. Visit https://bit.ly/3XD61qV for event details. 2. New Appointments at Johns Hopkins University Starting July 1, 2024, Professor Jessica Chen Weiss joined the faculty of Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in Washington, DC as the David M. Lampton Professor of China Studies and the inaugural director of a new institute on the evolving role of China in the world to be established this fall at SAIS, bringing together scholars, practitioners and experts from the private sector to foster deeper understanding and informed policy making. Professor Chen Weiss comes to SAIS from Cornell University, where she was the Michael J. Zak Professor for China and Asia-Pacific Studies in the Department of Government. From August 2021 to July 2022, she served as senior advisor to the Secretary's Policy Planning Staff at the U.S. State Department on a Council on Foreign Relations Fellowship for Tenured International Relations Scholars.Also starting July 1, 2024, Jeremy Lee Wallace has been named the A. Doak Barnett Professor of China Studies, also starting July 1, 2024; and he will be affiliated with the new institute at SAIS as well as the SNF Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins. Read the Johns Hopkins University announcement: https://bit.ly/4beT3CJ Back View PDF July 1, 2024 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter

Anming Hu 胡安明 Docket ID: 3:20-cr-00021 District Court, E.D. Tennessee Date filed: Feb 25, 2020 Date ended: September 9, 2021 Table of Contents Overview 2021/06/14 First Trial Ends in Mistrial: FBI Revelations 2021/07/30 Outage at DOJ Motion for Retrial 2021/09/09 Acquitted of All Charges 2021/09/13 APA Justice Monthly Meeting 2021/12/18 AASF Webinar Wendy Chandler - Juror of First Trial on “Ridiculous Case” Mary McAlpin - UTK Chapter of AAUP Spoke Out The Role of UTK Nomination of Casey Arrowood Defeated Photo Album & Links and References Overview On February 27, 2020, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the indictment of Professor Anming Hu, an Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical, Aerospace and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK). Professor Hu was the second China Initiative case involving a U.S. university professor of Asian ancestry. He was charged with three counts each of wire fraud and making false statements, but not espionage. The charges stemmed from his purported failure to disclose affiliations with a Chinese university while receiving funding from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Professor Hu was the first to go to trial. A mistrial was declared on June 16, 2021, after the jury deadlocked. The jury includes 4 women and 8 men - all white. This was an embarrassing outcome for DOJ to fail on the very first trial under the China Initiative. What was even more embarrassing was the overzealous tactics and misconduct of the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) revealed during the trial. On the part of UTK administrators, they concealed the federal investigation from Professor Hu, provided his records to the authorities without a warrant or informing him, suspended him without pay, and fired him shortly after. Without any attempt to protect its faculty, UTK was broadly criticized for throwing Professor Hu “under the bus.” Despite the absence of evidence and misconduct, DOJ opted to pursue a retrial on July 30, 2021, prompting outrage by members of Congress, national and local organizations, the Asian American community, and the general public. On September 9, 2021, Judge Thomas Varlan issued a Memorandum Opinion and Order and acquitted Professor Hu of all charges in his indictment. “The government has failed to provide sufficient evidence from which any rational jury could find, beyond a reasonable doubt, that defendant had specific intent to defraud NASA by hiding his affiliation with BJUT [Beijing University of Technology] from UTK," he wrote. Professor Hu was born in China and is a naturalized Canadian citizen. He joined the UTK faculty in 2013. At the time of his arrest, he was a tenured professor. After his arrest, UTK suspended him without pay. His son had to withdraw from UTK due to financial difficulties. UTK terminated Professor Hu’s employment on October 8, 2020, citing the termination was not for cause but for “not eligible to work due to policy or regulations.” On October 14, 2021, UTK offered to reinstate Professor Hu. On February 1, 2022, Professor Hu returned to his laboratory. After a long delay, Professor Hu’s application for U.S. permanent residency was approved in March 2024. Back to Table of Contents 2021/06/14 First Trial Ends in Mistrial: FBI Revelations The jury trial of Professor Hu started on June 7, 2021. On June 16, 2021, a mistrial in Professor Anming Hu’s case was declared after the jury deadlocked. Knox News reporter Jamie Satterfield provided end-to-end coverage of the trial. Although it was not her original assignment, Satterfield was on site to observe witness testimony, read records related to the case, and conducted a thorough, independent investigation. According to the Knox News reports, FBI agent Kujtim Sadiku admitted in court testimonies that federal agents: Falsely accused Professor Hu of being a spy for China, Falsely implicated him as an operative for the Chinese military in meetings with Professor Hu’s superiors, Used false information to put Professor Hu on the federal no-fly list, Spurred U.S. customs agents to seize Professor Hu’s computer and phone and spread word throughout the international research community that Professor Hu was poison, Used false information to justify putting a team of agents to spy on Professor Hu and his son, a freshman at UTK, for nearly two years, Used false information to press Professor Hu to become a spy for the U.S. government. During cross-examination, defense attorney Phil Lomonaco said to Sadiku, “You wanted to find a Chinese spy in Knoxville,” making note of the tactics he used to secure a fraud indictment against Professor Hu. “My job is to find spies, yes,” the FBI agent responded. During the trial, Sadiku admitted to not knowing the last time Professor Hu was in China. “You’ve been carrying around his passport … haven’t you?” Lomonaco asked Sadiku. “You know you’re under oath, right?” “I don’t remember the dates on it. … I wouldn’t rely on that document,” Sadiku responded. Lomonaco asked if Sadiku could return Professor Hu’s passport. During the trial, Sadiku was unable to recall who tipped him off that Professor Hu might be a spy. Sadiku claimed that his investigation had nothing to do with the China Initiative when the Trump administration was pushing federal prosecutors to round up Chinese spies under the China Initiative. He also claimed that his investigation began with an “open source” search for information on Professor Hu, which turned out to be a Google search on the professor. “If you can find it by Google search, how can it be that Professor Hu was hiding it as a secret,” Satterfield raised the rhetorical question after the mistrial. Sadiku admitted to telling university officials that Professor Hu was a Chinese military operative, despite having no evidence to back up that claim. He never followed up with the officials to clarify that his statements were false. Federal prosecutors then shifted their focus away from unsupported spy allegations. Instead, they pursued a case of fraud, citing a law known as the NASA restriction. This law prohibits NASA from funding research involving collaboration with China or Chinese-owned companies. Professor Hu was accused of intentionally omitting his part-time teaching job at the Beijing University of Technology (BJUT) from disclosure forms, allegedly violating the NASA restriction. However, the law does not bar NASA from funding research that involves collaboration with Chinese universities. NASA itself added Chinese universities to its restrictions list and the DOJ under the Trump administration used it as an excuse in 2018 to search American universities for China-born researchers as potential spies. Professor Hu was not the only professor born in China targeted as part of the China Initiative, but his trial is the first legal test of that NASA policy. Assistant U.S. Attorney Casey Arrowood argued that Professor Hu began plotting to violate the NASA restriction in 2013 — two years after it was enacted — by leaving his part-time teaching job at BJUT off his UTK “outside interests” form. However, testimony showed that UTK officials told Professor Hu and all its research personnel the NASA restriction did not apply to its “faculty, staff and students” because they are not “entities of China.” A letter, dubbed the China Assurance and sent to NASA with each UTK grant proposal, repeated the same language. Professor Hu’s affiliation with BJUT was clearly listed in other UTK documents and in dozens of research papers posted on the Internet. Lomonaco also noted it was not Professor Hu who sought a NASA grant. It was NASA who sought Professor Hu’s technology. “They wanted him to work on this project,” Lomonaco said. “(A NASA contractor) sought him out because he was so qualified. (Hu) wasn’t trying to trick NASA.” 2021/07/30 Outrage at DOJ Motion for Retrial On July 30, 2021, the Department of Justice announced that it intends to retry the case against Professor Anming Hu after FBI agents admitted under oath to knowingly building a case on falsified evidence to find a non-existent spy, resulting in a mistrial. In statement issued by Rep. Judy Chu, Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, she said, “Instead of the normal process of beginning with a crime and searching for a suspect, the FBI has, through its China Initiative, started with racially profiled suspects and searched for a crime. Many of the FBI’s cases have been flawed from the start, evident in the number of cases that have been dropped without any explanation, and despite the incredible harm done to those whose lives have been turned upside down by these investigations. The case of Dr. Anming Hu is the most glaring example of how investigations rooted in racial profiling lead to flimsy cases that cannot stand up in court. Worse, in order to justify this investigation, we know that FBI agents have falsified evidence. Yet instead of accepting that Dr. Hu does not in any way present a threat to our national security, the DOJ is disappointingly doubling down, pressing for a retrial to justify their fruitless investigation. We must take national security threats seriously, but the China Initiative does not work, and has threatened a return to prejudice as a cornerstone of policy. Unless the DOJ has new evidence against Dr. Hu, this case must be dropped and the China Initiative halted.” After the government made its announcement, defense attorney Philip Lomonaco filed a renewed motion for judgment of acquittal , which was originally filed on June 11, 2021 . The motion for acquittal was made because "the evidence was insufficient to sustain a conviction. There is no evidence that Professor Hu willfully intended to deceive NASA... Without the intent to deceive there can be no wire fraud conviction. Without the convictions for wire fraud, the remaining counts would fail as well... In the alternative, Defendant would rely on previous briefings to the Court regarding the lack of intent to harm NASA as being a defense to wire fraud as well." On August 20, 2021, APA Justice and a coalition of nine national and local organizations sent a letter to Judge Thomas A. Varlan urging him to dismiss the case and acquit Professor Hu in the best interest of justice and fairness. The letter provides the Asian American historical perspective on racial profiling, including the government's continuing use of xenophobic labels on Asian Americans such as "Non-traditional Collectors" and "Thousand Grains of Sand," as well as a continuing pattern with the cases of Dr. Wen Ho Lee, Professor Xiaoxing Xi, and Ms. Sherry Chen prior to the China Initiative. The first trial shows that Professor Hu’s case has nothing to do with theft of American trade secrets. It started as an economic espionage investigation based on a false premise and failed with misinformation to implicate Professor Hu as a spy for China and attempt to press him to spy for the U.S. government. Congress made inquiries into the alleged FBI misconduct. It is with this historical perspective and the prevailing facts in his case that we find the intent by the DOJ to retry Professor Hu to be deeply concerning and invidious. Massive amounts of taxpayers’ dollars and federal resources have already been spent without accountability to inflict enormous harm to Professor Hu and his family in the government’s zeal to hunt for a non-existent spy. Overzealous investigations such as Professor Hu’s undermines the U.S. Constitution as the government should have at least a reasonable suspicion of wrongdoing before launching an investigation, and race, ethnicity or national origin should not be used to profile people. The co-signers of the letter were: Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC Asian-American Community Service Council Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) Defending Rights & Dissent Greater Nashville Chinese Association (GNCA) New England Chinese American Coalition (NECAC) Ohio Chinese American Association (OCAA) San Francisco Community Alliance for Unity, Safety & Education (SFCause) University of Tennessee Chapter of the American Association of University Professors The following organizations co-signed the letter at a later date: Asian American Unity Coalition (AAUC) Calvin J Li Memorial Foundation Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) OCA – Asian Pacific American Advocates Carl Patton, Professor Emeritus at Colorado State University, and The Committee of Concerned Scientists also sent their letters to Judge Varlan urging the dismissal of Professor Hu's case on August 2 and 4, 2021 respectively. 2021/09/09 Acquitted of All Charges The first trial of Professor Hu revealed the zeal of the misguided China Initiative to criminalize Professor Hu with reckless and deplorable tactics of spreading false information to cast him as a spy for China and press him to become a spy for the U.S. government. When these efforts failed, DOJ brought charges against Professor Hu for intentionally hiding his ties to a Chinese university, which also fell apart upon cross examination during the trial. A former juror said after the first trial, “It was the most ridiculous case.” About the FBI, she added: “If this is who is protecting America, we’ve got problems.” Despite the egregious abuses of authority and lack of evidence, DOJ motioned for a retrial of Professor Hu on July 30, 2021. The blatant disregard of fairness and justice outraged members of Congress, national and local organizations, the Asian American community, and the general public. On September 9, 2021, Judge Thomas Varlan issued a Memorandum Opinion and Order and acquitted Professor Hu of all charges in his indictment. Judge Varlan wrote on page 42 of the 52-page ruling acquitting Hu that " the government has failed to provide sufficient evidence from which any rational jury could find, beyond a reasonable doubt, that defendant had specific intent to defraud NASA by hiding his affiliation with BJUT [Beijing University of Technology] from UTK. " According to two legal experts, the judge's ruling has particular significance and relevance in similar cases against an academic under the China Initiative. On page 38 of the ruling, the judge wrote: The Sixth Circuit’s Frost decision is squarely aligned with Takhalov’s conclusion that the federal wire fraud statute requires the intent to cause a tangible harm to the victim regarding the benefit of the bargain between the parties. Frost’s ultimate conclusion that the lack of tangible harm meant there was insufficient evidence on the element of intent to Case 3:20-cr-00021-TAV-DCP Document 141 Filed 09/09/21 Page 38 of 52 PageID #: 2333 39 defraud, 125 F.3d at 361–62, further confirms that Takhalov’s definition of the term “defraud” in the federal wire fraud statute is correct and applies equally in this Circuit. The two legal experts opined that the judge required a high standard of “a specific intent to defraud” so as to receive some financial benefits. Professor Hu’s alleged hiding of his relationship with BJUT was not to defraud NASA for money. Accordingly, the wire fraud charges should be dropped. This means that this will make DOJ's wire fraud charge against other professors considerably harder. In addition, the judge carefully described how UTK failed to provide clear guidance and training to the professors on the restrictions of the collaboration with Chinese institutions, which explains why Professor Hu did not fully disclose his affiliation with the Chinese university. This problem is common in nearly all universities in the U.S. and can be used as a reason to fight the charges against other professors. 2021/09/13 APA Justice Monthly Meeting Professor Anming Hu, his wife Ivy Yang, and defense attorney Phil Lomonaco spoke at the APA Justice monthly meeting on September 13, 2021, only days after Professor Hu’s acquittal. Phil led off the meeting with the good news about the acquittal of Professor Hu on September 9, 2021. He expressed appreciation for the interest, support, and help from many to Professor Hu and his family through the trying times. There were many twists and turns in the case. As the first academic to go to trial under the China Initiative, it was very important to have a good outcome for Professor Hu’s case, and Phill could not ask for anything better. Judge Thomas Varlan right from the beginning was open. He looked at the pre-trial motions where Phil set off the facts and arguments. The judge was open to waiting to see the evidence at trial - whether what Phil said in his papers really came true through the witnesses’ testimonies. The judge paid attention and was very much on point with everything in his memorandum opinion, granting the rule 29 motion by tracking the trial. Basically, Judge Varlan found there was no preponderance of the evidence to convince a jury that Professor Hu was guilty even given in a light most favorable to the government. The government did not provide sufficient evidence of guilt. The judge found two reasons why Professor Hu was innocent of wire fraud. The first being that there was insufficient evidence to show that he intended to deceive NASA, or fraudulently represent a material fact to NASA, that there was no satisfactory evidence to prove that. The second theory Phil had propounded was that there was no damage or Professor Hu did not intend to injure NASA. Phil found a case law supporting the theory that if NASA is not damaged, or if Professor Hu was not taking property or money from NASA, or intended to take property and money from NASA, he could not be convicted of wire fraud. Phil cited a case out of the 11-th Circuit that held if there is no harm there is no foul, so to speak. It was a district court judge who is sitting on the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. So it would have been Judge Varlan’s boss if he disagreed with that theory. That was another blessing that God provided, Phil said. Without the proof that Professor Hu knowingly and intentionally tried to deceive NASA, the last three counts of false statements were also not supported by evidence. If he did not intend to deceive NASA, then he did not intend to make false statements. Under Rule 29, the judge granted an acquittal on all six counts of the indictment. The last email Phil received from the government said that they were still trying to figure out their appeal options, which Phil did not think they had any, but he would see what they would say. They had a few days to absorb what had happened to make a statement officially in court if they were going to. Phil was very happy with Professor Hu for being a trooper all the way through this process. Professor Hu did not waver to prove his innocence. And that is the kind of client Phil likes – those who are innocent although it is the most stressful type of representation. Phil wishes all his clients had two PhDs, which would be a lot more helpful. Ivy Yang, wife of Professor Hu, followed Phil and expressed gratitude on behalf of their family including three children. The broad support they have received gave them comfort and inspiration to fight against injustice with determination and faith. History is made by people who are the true patriots of this country. Ivy thanked Phil as their beloved attorney and a wise and humble man. History was made by Phil, the jury, Jamie Satterfield, Judge Varlan, CAPAC, APA Justice, AAJC, United Chinese Americans, Asian American Scholar Forum, Committee of Concerned Scientists, American Association of University Professors, Tennessee Chinese American Alliance, and many, many more persons and organizations. For everyone who made donations, provided encouragement, and watched the case closely, Ivy thanked them for providing the strength for her family to continue the fight. She said Anming is an ordinary passionate scientist who only wanted to perform his research and to contribute his talents to the academic world. What has happened in the past years has damaged his career and reputation that was built over many years of tremendous unbelievable hard work. Although their lives have been forever changed and they are not sure of what the future holds, they will be forever thankful for the selfless actions of individuals who believed and supported them throughout the entire journey despite the backlash, oppression, and fear of injustice. Professor Hu concluded with his brief comments. It was still too challenging for him to find the proper words and no words would be adequate to express his deep appreciation for what so many have done for him. The scars and the painful memories are still there in his heart. For now, he preferred to remain silent and let Phil speak on the case and Ivy to speak for the family. Mary McAlpin, President, UTK Chapter of the American Association of University (AAUP), also spoke at the meeting. 2021/12/18 AASF Webinar On December 18, 2021, the Asian American Scholar Forum (AASF) hosted a webinar titled “The China Initiative and Professor Anming Hu’s Case.” Margaret K. Lewis, Professor of Law, Seton Hall University School of Law, served as moderator. Featured speakers were: Dr. Anming Hu, Associate Professor, University of Tennessee at Knoxville Mara Hvistendahl, Investigative reporter with The Intercept and the author of the book The Scientist and the Spy: A True Story of China, the FBI, and Industrial Espionage, on a case that foreshadowed the China Initiative Jamie Satterfield, Investigative journalist with more than 33 years of experience, specializing in legal affairs, policing, public corruption, environmental crime and civil rights violations Additional speakers included: Steven Pei, Asian American Scholar Forum Phil Lomonaco, defense attorney Wendy Chandler, former juror of the first trial Mary McAlpin, President, UTK Chapter of the American Association of University Professors Mara Hvistendahl led off with historical context of targeting Chinese Americans dating back to the Second Red Scare and Dr. Qian Xuesen to the recent cases of Sherry Chen and Professor Xiaoxing Xi prior to the launch of the China Initiative. For the first time since his acquittal, Professor Hu talked in detail about his experience and thoughts of his ordeal. Jamie Satterfield, despite not being originally assigned to the case, described her investigative reporting. Her invaluable reports significantly impacted public understanding and perception of Professor Hu’s case in Tennessee and nationwide. Wendy Chandler - Juror of First Trial on “Ridiculous Case” A week after the first trial was declared to be a mistrial, on June 23, 2021, the Intercept published an interview with Wendy Chandler, a juror who served on the hung jury. When Chandler was called to serve on a federal jury in Tennessee, she trusted the prosecutors and the FBI. She was known only as Juror 44 in the case. She knew she had to keep an open mind. But surely there would be some merit to what the FBI had found, she thought. The government wouldn’t waste everyone’s time. “I walked in assuming the government had some reason to be there, assuming that they were coming at it with honesty and integrity,” she told Mara Hvistendahl in the first interview given by a juror in the case. “I assumed the best for them.” Chandler understood the complexity and importance of the case and committed to paying close attention, even adjusting her sleep schedule. But as the trial progressed, she grew increasingly skeptical. After six days of hearing witnesses and arguments, she came to a conclusion. “It was the most ridiculous case,” she said. About the FBI, she added: “If this is who is protecting America, we’ve got problems.” The trial ended in a hung jury. Chandler, one of four women on the all-white jury, was one of the holdouts. She came away believing that the lead FBI agent in the case had pursued the investigation out of ambition rather than an interest in justice. She also believed that when faced with questions from federal agents, the administrators who had advised Hu on his grant applications caved and hastily sacrificed their faculty. “This poor man just got sold down the river by his university and everyone else,” Chandler said. Professor Hu’s case follows a long history of FBI surveillance of ethnic Chinese scientists in the U.S., some of it with disastrous results. In the 1960s, the bureau compiled lists of researchers with ties to China. In the 1980s, agents tailed renowned physicist Chang-Lin Tien, who later became the chancellor of the University of California at Berkeley. In the 1990s, an FBI and Department of Energy investigation into Los Alamos National Laboratory scientist Wen Ho Lee imploded in a series of missteps. “There has been very clear messaging from the Justice Department to the field offices that this is a massive priority and they should take it very seriously,” said Margaret Lewis, a law professor at Seton Hall University. “You combine that with calling it the China Initiative and issues with implicit bias, and you’re creating a recipe for unconscious decision-making to occur in a way that can pull you towards certain people as potential suspects.” In February, civil rights groups, researchers, and others jointly wrote House Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Chair Jamie Raskin to request a hearing on investigations of ethnic Asian scientists. Maryland state Sen. Susan C. Lee, who signed the letter, told The Intercept, “We just want some accountability, because you’re talking about people’s lives.” Prosecutors tried to paint Professor Hu as duplicitous. In closing arguments, assistant U.S. attorney Casey Arrowood asserted, “He intentionally hid his ties to China to further his career. This case, ladies and gentlemen, is just that simple.” Professor Hu’s attorney had a different view. “This case is really embarrassing,” Lomonaco countered. “It makes me want to vomit.” The jury began deliberating that afternoon, June 14. It was clear to Chandler from the outset that the jurors didn’t agree. By the end of the day, after three hours of deliberations, they had not reached a verdict. Driving home that night, she burst into tears. “I was so scared for this man,” she recalled. The trial had left her with the feeling that the government was charging Professor Hu to justify its lengthy investigation. “They spent all this time and money on this big giant nothing burger, and they were not going to leave without a pound of flesh.” The jury resumed deliberations on June 16 and discussed the case for the entire day. At 4:45 p.m., the foreperson reported to the court that they were deadlocked, and the judge declared a mistrial. After she was dismissed from jury duty, Chandler found Professor Hu’s GoFundMe page, which his wife started to cover his legal fees, and donated $20. She believes the government now owes Professor Hu an apology and that the University of Tennessee should offer him his job back. As Chandler put it, “He deserves so much, this man, with what was done to him.” Mary McAlpin - UTK Chapter of AAUP Spoke Out Soon after the acquittal of Professor Hu, Professor Mary McAlpin, President of the UTK Chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) and Distinguished Professor of the Humanities and Professor of French at UTK, spoke at the APA Justice monthly meeting on September 13, 2021. AAUP is a nonprofit membership association of faculty and other academic professionals. Headquartered in Washington, DC, AAUP members and chapters based at colleges and universities across the country. Founded in 1915, AAUP has helped to shape American higher education by developing the standards and procedures that maintain quality in education and academic freedom in this country's colleges and universities. AAUP defines fundamental professional values and standards for higher education, advance the rights of academics, particularly as those rights pertain to academic freedom and shared governance, and promote the interests of higher education teaching and research. AAUP looks into not only questions of tenured professors but also the protection of non-tenure track faculty and graduate teaching assistants. Mary first heard of Professor Hu’s case from Jamie Satterfield’s report in the local newspaper, Knox News. People started posting many messages and questions in the AAUP listserv – What is going on? What happened? Is AAUP looking into this? What is the administration doing? People were upset and confused. Although the case comes down to simple injustice, trying to figure out what happened through reading was a challenge. Professor McAlpin provided a summary of three primary concerns. First was the FBI investigation and how it seemed to be a travesty of justice, which was also what the judge concluded. Second was UTK’s role in this investigation, which was also covered by Jamie Satterfield. One of her articles went into details about how the UTK administration responded to this case. The university is a giant bureaucratic entity, and it protects itself. When an FBI agent comes calling, the university is not there to help or protect the employee. This has happened several times over the course of Professor McAlpin’s career, but it was never in such an egregious and shocking fashion as in Professor Hu’s case. Third was the government's targeting of international faculty. They are particularly vulnerable to losing their employment at UTK which was what happened with Professor Hu. There are many international faculty members working at UTK. Many of Professor McAlpin’s colleagues in the Department of Modern Foreign Languages and Literatures at UTK are on green cards or H1 visas. The international faculty members were probably following this situation very closely, but not speaking out the way that Mary believed she could as a U.S. citizen born in the U.S. and possessing tenure. Mary also said that she was closer to the end than the beginning of her career. As President of AAUP/UTK, she was also speaking for those who might be afraid to speak up, particularly employees who were not citizens at UTK. When the acquittal of Professor Hu came through, Mary and her colleagues were thrilled to hear the news. AAUP/UTK sent an email to UTK Provost John Zomchick, hoping that Professor Hu would be reinstated with back pay and perhaps for emotional and other damages. That was not what happened. Apparently, the university is expecting Professor Hu to demonstrate proof that he was able to work in the U.S. before they would rehire him. The UTK Faculty Senate was leading on this case and trying to figure out what exactly was going on with the reinstatement and the legal issues involved. While Professor McAlpin could not speak to the legality of what happened, the Provost has said that in every case and every situation surrounding this case, the UTK administration followed both the letter and the spirit of the faculty handbook. Even if the letter was followed, Professor McAlpin was not sure the spirit of the faculty handbook was followed in this case. From what Professor McAlpin could piece together, Professor Hu was indicted by the federal government. At that point the UTK administration put Professor Hu first on paid and then on unpaid suspension. According to the faculty handbook, the UT administration did not have to put Profdssor. Hu on unpaid suspension. For example, he could have been reassigned to another job unrelated to the indictment that was in play. It was a choice made to put Professor Hu on unpaid leave. Then, because Professor Hu was on unpaid leave, he no longer qualified for the H1B visa, with which he was working and at which point they fired Professor Hu not for cause, but because he did not have an H1B visa, which he did not have because they suspended him without pay, which they did not have to do. Mary observed that UTK basically triggered their own ability to fire Professor Hu because they probably did not want to deal with the legal fallout of the indictment. From what Mary understood at that time, Provost Zomchick was saying that UTK would rehire Professor Hu but he had to prove that he was eligible to work in the U.S., which would mean having a visa, which was lost precisely because the UTK administration suspended him. This is a catch-22 Kafka situation. The faculty members at UTK and perhaps the Faculty Senate were not going to stop pushing on this issue. This is a clear travesty of justice, and it had been continued unfortunately at the level of the university even after the acquittal of Professor Hu. The Role of UTK APA Justice constructed a timeline on the chronological events at UTK. [subject to review and confirmation by Professor Hu.] In March 2018, about nine months before the launch of the China Initiative, the FBI opened an economic espionage investigation on Professor Hu. FBI and Department of Energy (DOE) made at least four presentations to UTK officials prior to the indictment of Professor Hu. After a mistrial was declared, Knox News published How the FBI manipulated the University of Tennessee to find a Chinese spy who didn't exist on July 29, 2021, raising a detailed list of questions about the university’s treatment of Professor Hu. "The trial also revealed that UT administrators handed over documents from Hu’s university files without a warrant, concealed the federal investigation from him, misled NASA at the behest of a federal agent, set Hu up for his eventual arrest and fired him as soon as he was in handcuffs... It’s still not clear who at UT authorized meetings in 2018 between Hu’s bosses and federal agents or why. Chancellor Beverly Davenport was fired in July 2018 after a tumultuous tenure of less than 19 months, and System President Joe DiPietro announced his resignation two months later... The agents, testimony has revealed, didn’t have any proof of wrongdoing by Hu when they first walked onto UT’s campus and, therefore, no legal authority to take records from his personnel files," Knox News reported. On August 4, 2021, UTK Provost John Zomchick issued a message to the UTK faculty, responding to UTK Faculty Senate President Lou Gross' questions regarding the faculty rights of Professor Hu. President Gross posted his questions and notes under "Faculty Member Suspension Issue" on his web page at https://bit.ly/3Cr67F1 . Citing that the university administration followed the letter and spirit of the Faculty Handbook at every stage, Provost Zomchick provided a timeline of administrative actions taken regarding Professor Hu’s tenured faculty appointment from suspension on February 25, 2020, to termination on October 8, 2020. There were three versions of the Faculty Handbook online: 2016, 2019, and 2021. The handbook says the Faculty Senate President should be consulted when the administration is considering suspending a tenured faculty member. "That did not really happen," said Dr. Gross. "The then-faculty senate president was simply informed." "I have made it clear, and our current provost has agreed, what consultation means," Dr. Gross told Knox News. "Consultation means that there will be time to actually look at the details of a particular situation and provide meaningful input from the faculty senate president." One day after Professor Hu was acquitted of all charges, on September 10, 2021, UTK Chancellor Dr. Donde Plowman informed Dr. Gross and Dr. Beauvais Lyons, Faculty Representative on the UTK Advisory Board, that if Professor Hu "is able to verify authorization to work in the United States in the next year, the administrative termination will be reversed, and his faculty appointment will be reinstated with expectations in place around disclosures and outside interests." In response , Dr. Gross expressed concern that Dr. Plowman's letter was inconsistent with the UTK Faculty Handbook, which states that "full restitution of salary, academic position and tenure lost during the suspension without pay will be made." Dr. Gross also described an apparent catch-22 situation "because Professor Hu lost his work authorization due to UTK action so it is not clear that he can possibly re-attain work authorization without first having his position and employment here restored." In his separate response, Dr. Lyons urged UTK to take steps to reinstate Professor Hu to his faculty position. "This is not only about doing what is right, but damage control for our institutional reputation," he wrote. On September 13, 2021, Dr. Lyons and the Faculty Senate Faculty Affairs Committee which he chaired sent a memorandum including a set of 10 questions for UTK Provost Dr. John Zomchick to address at an upcoming Faculty Senate meeting. The UTK Senate Faculty held a public meeting on September 20, 2021. UTK faculty were also concerned with the lack of notice that Professor Hu received about the investigation. UTK administrators gave the U.S. Attorney’s Office documents from Professor Hu’s university files without a warrant, and they were not obligated to notify Hu. “In a world of data privacy, this is a great concern to everyone," Dr. Gross said. UTK faculty members were also upset with the lack of public support the university showed Professor Hu. According to the memo from the faculty affairs committee to the provost, the university did not make a statement specifically in support of Chinese and Chinese American communities. On October 14, 2021, Dr. Zomchick offered to reinstate Professor Hu. On February 1, 2022, Professor Hu returned to his laboratory. Nomination of Casey Arrowood Defeated On July 29, 2022, the White House announced the nomination of Casey T. Arrowood to serve as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Tennessee. Arrowood led the prosecution of Professor Hu. “This is ridiculous,” Professor Hu said of the Arrowood nomination In an interview in August 2022. “This is the worst presidential nomination ever. I am shocked at this news.” Professor Hu said President Joe Biden should rescind the nomination and, if not, the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary should reject Arrowood as a candidate for the post. “My case was a case of wrongful prosecution, and I believe (if Arrowood is confirmed) similar things will happen again and will damage long term the U.S. (government’s) reputation,” Professor Hu said. “If you do something wrong, you should have consequences. Instead, (Arrowood) is getting rewarded. It is very unfair. I do not think this is a reasonable nomination.” After the story was published, a slew of advocacy groups, including APA Justice, Asian American Scholar Forum, Tennessee Chinese American Alliance, and United Chinese Americans, teamed up with Professor Hu to defeat Arrowood’s nomination. “The nomination of Mr. Arrowood is an affront to the Asian American, immigrant and scientific communities,” the groups stated in a letter-writing campaign notice . “It opens a new wound when we still need to heal from the targeting and fallout before and during the ‘China Initiative.’” “Mr. Arrowood’s wrongful prosecution of Professor Hu betrayed the public trust and confidence we all place in our judicial system,” the letter stated. Mr. Arrowood demonstrated his poor judgment, wasted valuable taxpayers’ dollars, failed to uphold justice and fairness, and eroded public trust. “His unjust prosecution of Professor Hu, not once but twice, is deplorable and an embarrassment to our nation,” the letter continued. “In summary, Mr. Arrowood’s track record does not meet the high requirements and expectations for a U.S. Attorney. We strongly support Professor Hu’s request for the withdrawal of the nomination of Mr. Casey Arrowood to be the next U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Tennessee.” The Senate Judiciary Committee did not vote on the Arrowood nomination when the Senate session ended in January 2023. The White House did not renominate Arrowood. Continuing Education and Advocacy Previous Item Next Item

Newsletter - #111 Anming Hu; 2/7 Meeting; COMPETES Act; FBI/ODNI Accountability; UCI/UPenn/Yale Letters #111 Anming Hu; 2/7 Meeting; COMPETES Act; FBI/ODNI Accountability; UCI/UPenn/Yale Letters Back View PDF February 3, 2022 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter

Newsletter - #265 Meeting Summaries; OSTP Guidelines; Scientists Speak Up; CAPAC and AASF Updates; + #265 Meeting Summaries; OSTP Guidelines; Scientists Speak Up; CAPAC and AASF Updates; + In This Issue #265 · June and July 2024 APA Justice Monthly Meeting Summaries Posted · Updates on OSTP Guidelines by Kei Koizumi · Observations and Remarks by Impacted Scientists · Updates from Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus · Updates from Asian American Scholar Forum · News and Activities for the Communities June and July 2024 APA Justice Monthly Meeting Summaries Posted Summary for the June 2024 APA Justice monthly meeting has been posted here: https://bit.ly/45Zilni . Summary for the July 2024 APA Justice monthly meeting has been posted here: https://bit.ly/3Wc9NX0 . We extend our heartfelt thanks to the speakers who shared their valuable insights and reports during our monthly meetings, including regular speakers: · Nisha Ramachandran , Executive Director, Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC), nisha.ramachandran@mail.house.gov · Joanna YangQing Derman , Director, Anti-Profiling, Civil Rights & National Security Program, Advancing Justice | AAJC · Gisela Perez Kusakawa , Executive Director, Asian American Scholar Forum (AASF), gpkusakawa@aasforum.org and invited speakers and commentators: · Tam Dao , Assistant Vice President for Research Security, Office of Research Security, Rice University · Haipei Shue , President, United Chinese Americans · Anming Hu , Professor, University of Tennessee at Knoxville · Kei Koizumi , Principal Deputy Director for Science, Society, and Policy, Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), The White House · Neal Lane , Senior Fellow, Baker Institute; Former Director of OSTP; Former Director, National Science Foundation · Xiaoxing Xi , Laura H. Carnell Professor of Physics, Temple University · Gang Chen , Carl Richard Soderberg Professor of Power Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology · Karla Hagan , Senior Program Officer, Staff Director for National Science, Technology, and Security Roundtable, National Academies of Sciences, Engineering,and Medicine Updates on OSTP Guidelines by Kei Koizumi In August 2021, the White House tasked OSTP with setting clear rules for research security and researcher responsibility. It charged OSTP with protecting America’s research security while ensuring policies do not fuel xenophobia or prejudice. As part of the OSTP effort, the NSF commissioned two studies by JASON, an independent group of scientists with unique expertise that advises the U.S. government on national security matters related to science and technology. · 2024/03/21 JASON Report: Safeguarding the Research Enterprise · 2021/08/10 White House: Clear Rules for Research Security and Researcher Responsibility o Protect America’s Security and Openness; Be Clear; Ensure Policies Do Not Fuel Xenophobia or Prejudice · 2019/12 JASON Report: Fundamental Research Security During the July 1 APA Justice monthly meeting, Kei Koizumi , Principal Deputy Director for Science, Society, and Policy, Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), The White House, was hoping to share the final version of a research security standards document requested by Congress and outlined in a presidential memorandum. This document aims to provide universities and Federal research agencies with clear guidelines on running research security programs. Unfortunately, its release has been delayed.Kei remains hopeful that it will be released in the coming days, offering clarity to the Asian American research community and universities on how to maintain an open, international, collaborative research enterprise in the U.S. while protecting against foreign government exploitation.A key element of this document is the longstanding prohibition against actions that exacerbate anti-Asian bias or prejudice. Implementing the final guidance will be a collaborative effort for all of us. Meanwhile, Congress is considering legislation that would force the Department of Justice to reinstate the China Initiative. In addition, OSTP is reviewing proposals in draft intelligence and national defense bills that would prohibit citizens of certain countries, specifically the People's Republic of China, from visiting or working in Federal and national laboratories, regardless of their visa or visitor status.The administration will oppose this legislation, as it did with reinstating the China Initiative in last year’s Appropriations Bill.This is where our community must play defense against some harmful ideas circulating in Congress. With this being an election year, opposing bad legislation is even more challenging than usual.Kei is grateful that Dr. Neal Lane and a coalition hosted the FBI Forum and that the National Academies will soon complete its important work on research security through the Roundtable.Kei is also eager to hear from us, particularly at the state level. He is concerned about bills and laws in various states that restrict Asian Americans, especially Chinese Americans, from buying property or impose extra screening to participate in academic environments at many state universities.Read Kei's comments in the July 1 monthly meeting summary: https://bit.ly/3Wc9NX0 . UPDATE: On July 9, 2024, the White House OSTP released Guidelines for Research Security Programs at Covered Institutions. The 10-page Guidelines is posted here: https://bit.ly/3xQgRzj . ".... federal research agencies should implement research security policies in a way that treats everyone equally under law, without xenophobia, prejudice, or discrimination, a principle reinforced by the CHIPS and Science Act. The law also requires that research security activities be carried out in a manner that does not target, stigmatize, or discriminate against individuals on the basis of race, ethnicity, or national origin," the Guidelines said. REMINDER: The National Science, Technology, and Security Roundtable Capstone Workshop will be held on July 16-17, 2024, in Washington DC and virtually. For more information, visit https://bit.ly/3z0PnY7 . Register to attend the workshop: https://bit.ly/3VirGle . Observations and Remarks by Impacted Scientists Professor Xiaoxing Xi is a naturalized American citizen who has lived and worked in the U.S. for 35 years. On May 21, 2015, the U.S. government charged Professor Xi for scheming to violate a non-disclosure agreement by sharing U.S. company technology with Chinese entities. Professor Xi committed no crime and was supported by affidavits from leading scientific experts, as well as one of the inventors of the U.S. company technology himself. On September 11, 2015, the government dropped all charges against Professor Xi without an apology or explanation. With support of ACLU, Professor Xi and his family filed a civil lawsuit against the U.S. government in 2017. He is the recipient of the 2020 Andrei Sakharov Prize, a distinguished honor within both the human rights advocacy and scientific communities. Professor Xi joined the meeting from Europe, where he gave a slide presentation on his personal experiences as an impacted scientist. He recounted the traumatic events of May 2015, when armed FBI agents raided his home, held his wife and daughters at gunpoint, and arrested him for a crime he did not commit. This ordeal had a profound and lasting impact on his career and his family's lives, as well as on Professor Gang Chen and others who were also falsely charged by the Department of Justice (DOJ).Many of these cases were dropped, although it is rare for the DOJ to drop cases. In his presentation to the OSTP community briefing in January 2022, Professor Xi attributed the problem to policies that diminish the U.S.'s ability to attract talent and fuel xenophobia against Asian Americans. He highlighted that the FBI Director referred to Chinese scientists and academics as "non-traditional collectors," suggesting they act as spies without formal training on behalf of the Chinese Government. This term, used during Congressional testimonies, portrays anyone with connections to China as a “whole-of-society” threat to the U.S. Professor Xi believes this is the root cause of the cases targeting Chinese scientists.In the spirit of rebuilding trust with the FBI, as seen in the June 6 Forum in Houston, Professor Xi suggests that the FBI Director and leadership should publicly affirm that “ all Chinese scientists are not non-traditional collectors ” and should not label them as suspected spies. This is essential to restore trust.There have been persistent attempts to reinstate the China Initiative. As long as the assumption that Chinese scientists are suspected of espionage prevails, the China Initiative is still active, leading to more such activities.In February 2023, the DOJ established the Disruptive Technology Strike Force to enforce export control laws and investigate and prosecute criminal violations of these laws. As more institutions are added to the entity list, interactions with scientists from these institutions will increase. These Chinese institutions include the Institute of Physics, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the University of Science and Technology, which are equivalent to Caltech and MIT in the U.S. In March 2023, Science Magazine asked the OSTP Director, Dr. Arati Prabhakar , if Chinese-born scientists working in the United States have been unfairly persecuted as agents of the Chinese Communist Party and are owed an apology from the government. Dr. Prabhakar responded, "I’m not in a position to comment on that. I don’t know enough about it." This response raised concerns about policymakers' commitment to addressing the plight of scientists. Dr. Prabhakar has since provided additional clarifications, and Science Magazine has updated its story.However, Dr. Prabhakar has repeatedly stated that "the world has changed." This statement gives Professor Xi a clear perspective on the direction of U.S. Government science policy, despite reports and recommendations from the scientific community on how to protect U.S. technology from China.For example, in September 2022, the National Academies released a report on Protecting U.S. Technological Advantage. It emphasized that in today’s interdependent, global innovation system, the greatest threat is the potential weakening of the U.S. innovation ecosystem. Protecting and strengthening this ecosystem is more important than protecting specific technologies, which can be ineffective and self-damaging.The innovative ecosystem requires openness and the ability of the U.S. to attract scientists from around the world.The 2024 JASON report also emphasizes openness and transparency. It advises the National Science Foundation (NSF) to adopt a dynamic approach for identifying potentially sensitive research topics as they arise, rather than maintaining a comprehensive list of sensitive areas. The NSF should proceed with caution before adding access or dissemination controls to grants or contracts. But that is not what the policy makers, including the White House, are doing. The CHIPS and Science Act includes provisions that prohibit Federal funding for participants in malign foreign talent recruitment programs sponsored by countries of concern, with a definition codified as 42 USC 19237 (4). This situation creates a chilling effect, where people, including Professor Xi, may avoid collaborating with scientists from China for fear of being considered part of a malign foreign talent recruitment program and being barred from Federal funding. In two February 2024 documents, OSTP provided guidelines on a long list of international collaborations not considered part of a foreign talent recruitment program, including memberships in the Royal Society, sabbaticals at University of Oxford or McGill University, and receiving the Nobel Prize. However, it did not clarify whether sabbaticals in China or memberships in the Chinese Academy of Sciences would be considered part of a malign foreign talent recruitment program. Professor Xi seeks clarification in the new OSTP guidelines expected to be released soon.Can a scientist collaborate with China? NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan stated in a post on X, “By working together with our international like-minded partners to strengthen and scale collaborations … we will supercharge powerful global innovation ecosystems.”So, openness has conditions. While we want openness and collaboration with like-minded partners, this does not extend to people from countries of concern. The Deputy Secretary of State recently expressed a desire to see more Chinese students studying humanities and social sciences in the U.S., but not particle physics. He suggested that students from India could fill the gap in science studies.The message from policymakers is clear: no collaboration with scientists in China and no Chinese students in STEM. This stance contradicts the recommendations of the National Academies report and the JASON report.A possible explanation is the OSTP Director’s response to Science Magazine: "The world has changed." The U.S. and China, once at peace, are now at war. These conflicts include trade wars and geopolitical wars in technology, which have been ongoing and could escalate to military wars. During the last major conflict with an Asian country, the U.S. government interned 120,000 Japanese persons. We are now at war with China. We are now at risk of similar internment. Labeling all Chinese scientists as suspected spies is akin to suggesting that Japanese Americans during WWII signaled incoming warplanes from Japan. This underscores the importance of ongoing efforts by allies in OSTP, the scientific community, and interactions with the FBI, CAPAC, and Congress to push back and prevent a repeat of such internment. Persistent mistrust and xenophobia against Chinese and Asian American scientists are fueled by policies and rhetoric that unfairly label them as spies. Professor Xi calls for a change in these policies, advocating for a more inclusive and supportive environment that values the contributions of all scientists, regardless of their ethnic background, as the scientific community has already recommended.In conclusion, Professor Xi underscored the importance of openness and international collaboration in maintaining the United States' leadership in science and technology. He criticized restrictive policies that hinder collaboration with scientists from China and warned against the long-term damage such policies could cause to the nation's innovation ecosystem. Professor Xi’s presentation is posted at https://bit.ly/3W3SN5f . His remarks are included in the July meeting summary: https://bit.ly/3Wc9NX0 . ***** Gang Chen , Carl Richard Soderberg Professor of Power Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, joined the meeting from Taiwan, expressing his gratitude to Professor Xi for his courage in speaking out and to Kei Koizumi and Neal Lane for their insightful comments. Professor Chen, himself a victim of the misguided China Initiative, finds it disheartening to witness persistent efforts to reinstate the initiative, whether under its original name or disguised under a different one. He emphasized the findings of the National Academies report, which highlighted that the greatest threat to the U.S. is the weakening of its innovation ecosystem. The China Initiative and similar U.S. policies have driven away many talented individuals, diminishing the country's appeal not only to researchers of Chinese origin but to scientists in general. The CHIPS and Science Act's definition of a malign foreign talent program is so broad that it could potentially label many CEOs of major U.S. companies as participants in such programs. There is widespread uncertainty about how these rules will be applied, but those in academia feel particularly targeted. Many are afraid to attend conferences or give seminars in China. Universities share this fear as well. A faculty member recounted to Professor Chen that during a visit to his family in China, he asked a University Security Officer if he could meet his colleagues and friends at a local university. The officer suggested holding the meeting off-campus, highlighting the tense atmosphere. Such policies are detrimental to scientific exchange and ultimately harm the U.S. innovation ecosystem. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), an intergovernmental organization with 38 member countries, has been tracking new researchers by country every year. Before 2018, the U.S. consistently gained new researchers each year, with over 2,000 new researchers in 2018 alone. However, since then, the trend has reversed, and by 2021, the U.S. experienced a net loss of new researchers. This trend is strong evidence of the damaging effect of the China Initiative. Professor Chen's remarks are included in the July meeting summary: https://bit.ly/3Wc9NX0 . Updates from Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus During the June APA Justice monthly meeting, Nisha Ramachandran , Executive Director, Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC), reported that May, the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, was likely the busiest month of the year for CAPAC. She was pleased to have met many of us during this time.Congress is gearing up for a busy legislative summer, particularly in the House. The Agriculture Committee has begun the mark-up of the next Farm Bill. The appropriations process is also underway, moving towards mark-ups after members submitted their priorities. In addition, the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) is in progress.CAPAC is closely monitoring civil rights issues for Asian Americans, especially regarding research security and land and property ownership. There are efforts to reinstate the China Initiative, which CAPAC is actively tracking. Nisha encouraged everyone to stay vigilant and collaborate with CAPAC members on these issues across various committees. She expressed special thanks to Asian American Scholar Forum and Advancing Justice | AAJC for their partnerships.Nisha also mentioned a Bloomberg article about students being turned away at Dulles Airport and other ports of entry, highlighting this growing issue. CAPAC is tracking these developments and needs the community’s support to balance all interests.Finally, June is National Immigrant Heritage Month, and CAPAC will be uplifting immigrant stories throughout the month.As Nisha was about to provide an update from CAPAC during the July monthly meeting, she was called away. Casey Lee , Policy Director for CAPAC, stepped in to report on a critical issue closely monitored by CAPAC. The Commerce, Justice, and Science Appropriations Bill for fiscal year 2025 underwent its subcommittee markup. According to the Appropriations Committee’s press release, the China Initiative is included once again in the accompanying report language for the bill. The legislative process will proceed to a full committee markup, scheduled for July 9. CAPAC, along with many of our champions such as Rep. Grace Meng , will ensure it is monitored very closely.We are once again witnessing an attempt to revive the China Initiative in Congress. CAPAC will continue to oppose this effort. Casey encouraged the community to reach out to CAPAC with any questions and expressed appreciation for the advocacy and voices present at the monthly meeting. Updates from Asian American Scholar Forum During the July APA Justice monthly meeting, Gisela Perez Kusakawa , Executive Director, Asian American Scholar Forum (AASF), highlighted the ongoing engagement of AASF with the White House, Congress (particularly CAPAC), and various Federal agencies, emphasizing the contributions of Asian American scholars to American society. This engagement has garnered nearly 400 million potential views through its news coverage. AASF's top priority is ensuring that issues facing Asian American scholars remain at the forefront for national leaders.Not all AASF activities are publicly visible; some occur behind closed doors, such as roundtable discussions with the National Science Foundation and university leaders. These efforts include a briefing to the Department of Homeland Security Subcommittee on Foreign Malign Influence in Higher Education, contributing to their recent subcommittee report. AASF anticipates another significant effort with Federal agencies will soon be made public.AASF consistently recommends greater transparency, clarity, and ongoing feedback from the Asian American scholar community to Federal agencies. Their efforts aim to change perspectives within the Federal government, media, and public while also building a community. AASF aims to establish a permanent non-profit organization to protect the rights of Asian American scholars and celebrate their excellence and contributions.On July 27, 2024, AASF will co-host the inaugural Asian American Pioneer Medal Symposium and Ceremony with Stanford University. This public event will also feature roundtables and listening sessions with Federal government representatives on July 28. Distinguished speakers, including Nobel Laureates Steven Chu and Randy Shekman , Turing Award Laureate Raj Reddy , former Stanford President John Hennessy , and industry leader Eric Yuan , will participate. CAPAC Chair Judy Chu will open the Symposium and ceremony. Register for the Symposium and Ceremony here: https://bit.ly/3XLApPN . In addition, AASF is co-hosting a Presidential Town Hall with APIAVote and other partners in Philadelphia on July 13, ahead of the upcoming November elections. The House passed the National Defense Authorization Act on June 14, which includes provisions related to research security, potentially restricting collaboration for researchers and universities receiving Department of Defense (DOD) funding. AASF will focus on the conferencing stage as the Senate considers its version of the bill next.Regarding the Appropriations Bill, AASF is leading efforts with nearly 50 organizations, including APA Justice, to oppose restrictive language in this must-pass bill. They will closely monitor the July 9 markup session. AASF is also promoting the Youth Ambassador Science Video Competition, encouraging participation to highlight the involvement of the next generation in their efforts. Visit the AASF website and subscribe to the AASF newsletter at AASF .Gisela reported on the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and AASF's commitment to ensuring that Asian American scholars have a voice by monitoring the bill and gathering feedback from AASF members and the Asian American scholar community on issues like research security. AASF is keeping a close eye on HR 1398, the Protect America’s Innovation and Economic Security from the CCP Act, which attempts to revive the China Initiative and increase scrutiny of the scholar community. AASF plans to make a strong statement highlighting the exhaustive attempts by the House to reinstate the China Initiative, emphasizing the need for Congressional members to reconsider these efforts. This is crucial for the Asian American scholar community and the country, which benefits from the contributions of immigrant talent in science and technology. Gisela can be reached at gpkusakawa@aasforum.org . News and Activities for the Communities 1. APA Justice Community Calendar Upcoming Events: 2024/07/11-12 National AAPI Leadership Summit2024/07/13 APIAVote: Presidential Town Hall, Philadelphia PA2024/07/15 APIAVote: RNC Convention, AAPI Briefing &Reception, Milwaukee, WI2024/07/16-17 National Science, Technology, and Security Roundtable - Capstone2024/07/17 C100 Career Ceiling Summit: Creating a Level Playing Field2024/07/25-28 Leadership Convention by NAAAP (National Association of Asian American Professionals) 2024/07/27-28 Asian American Pioneer Medal Symposium and CeremonyThe Community Calendar has moved. Visit https://bit.ly/3XD61qV for event details. 2. Committee of 100 Career Ceilings Summit: Creating a Level Playing Field WHAT: Committee of 100 Career Ceilings Summit: Creating a Level Playing Field WHEN: July 17, 2024, 11:00 am - 2 pm ET WHERE: Webcast HOST: Committee of 100 MODERATOR: Peter Young , Chair of the Initiative and Committee of 100 Member DESCRIPTION: · 11:10 am ET: Fireside Chat ( Ngan Nguyen , Senior Vice President, Global Diversity & Talent Management, Citi) and Open Discussion: “The Future of DEI: Can it Pivot?” · 12: 30 pm ET: Keynote Speech: “Lessons Learned” ( Cecilia Stanton Adams , CEO of The Diversity Institute) · 1:00 pm ET: Town Hall Discussion: “Breaking Through Career Ceilings: Choices and Solutions” ( Adrian Kwok , Associate Partner, McKinsey, Co-Head of the Asian DEI Group and Frank Wu , President, Queens College, Leading expert on Asian American Career Ceilings) REGISTRATION: https://bit.ly/3WgevmT 3. New Book: "The War for Chinese Talent in America" A new book authored by Dr. David Zweig , has just been released with the title of "The War for Chinese Talent in America: The Politics of Technology and Knowledge in Sino-U.S. Relations."Dr. Zweig is Professor Emeritus, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), Distinguished Visiting Professor of Taipei School of Economics and Political Science, National Tsinghua University, Taiwan, and Vice-President of the Center for China and Globalization (Beijing). He was a Postdoctoral Fellow at Harvard in 1984-85. For 15 years, he directed the Center on China’s Transnational Relations at HKUST.To overcome their “brain drain,” some developing countries employ the “Diaspora Option,” encouraging their overseas nationals to use the knowledge they gained abroad to help their motherland. Since the mid-1990s, China’s party/state has vigorously used an extensive array of programs and incentives to persuade ethnic Chinese living in America to transfer their technological knowhow back home. Many Chinese working abroad facilitated this flow, some to strengthen their former homeland, others from self-interest. In 2018, the Trump Administration declared war on these efforts. Employing a McCarthy-like campaign called the “China Initiative,” the government investigated Chinese scientists across the U.S. Many individuals were arrested, only to have their cases dropped. Still, hundreds had their research disrupted or lost their jobs. This book documents China’s ‘no-holds-barred’ effort to access U.S. technology and America’s vigorous counterattack and its efforts to disrupt the transfer of U.S. technology to China. Six case studies include stories of unknown victims of that campaign whose cases were never made public. It highlights how the war has undermined Sino-American scientific collaboration and triggered the outflow of some top Chinese talent from America and back to China.For more information and to order the book, visit: https://bit.ly/45ZqFDz 4. New Book Chapter: "New Red Scare - The China Initiative" A chapter titled "New Red Scare - The China Initiative," authored by Steven Pei , Jeremy Wu , and Alex Liang , has just been released in the book "Communicated Stereotypes at Work."Steven Pei is an electrical engineering professor at the University of Houston. He is also Founding Chair of United Chinese Americans and a co-organizer of the APA Justice Task Force. Jeremy Wu retired from the U.S. federal government, He is Founder and Co-Organizer of the APA Justice Task Force, a Senior Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration, and a Member of the Committee of 100. Alex Liang was Fox International Fellow at the Australian National University. He is a second-year student at Harvard Law School.The FBI has a long history of surveillance of ethnic Chinese scientists in the U.S. McCarthyism, the Economic Espionage Act, and more recently the China Initiative were initiatives adversely impacting Chinese and Chinese Americans living in the United States. The cases of Qian Xuesen , Wen Ho Lee , Sherry Chen , and Xiaoxing Xi were the precursors and indicators of an implicit and explicit bias against Asian Americans questioning their “loyalty” to the United States. Why is it that time and again Chinese Americans are falsely accused of being spies for China? The stereotypes of Asian and Chinese scientists as “disloyal” stem from the perpetual foreigner trope. The key here is that most of them were U.S. citizens. They are as much an American as any other American, yet their “loyalty” is perceived as less trustworthy. This stereotype has harmful, life-altering consequences for them and their families.For more information and to order the book, visit: https://bit.ly/4c7v61x 5. Erratum On July 8, 2024, APA Justice newsletter Issue #264 misspelled the name of the President of the National Academy of Sciences. It should be Marcia McNutt . The corrected newsletter is posted here: https://bit.ly/4eWRZXa Back View PDF July 11, 2024 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter

Newsletter - #169 03/06 Meeting; "China Initiative"; Texas SB 147+; Racist Attacks; AA Leadership; News #169 03/06 Meeting; "China Initiative"; Texas SB 147+; Racist Attacks; AA Leadership; News In This Issue #169 2023/03/06 APA Justice Monthly Meeting One Year After the End of the "China Initiative" Updates on Texas Senate Bill 147 and Opposition to Revival of Alien Land Laws Racist and McCarthyist Attacks on Rep. Judy Chu and Dominic Ng Condemned Building a Sustainable Platform and Pipeline for AAPI Leadership in Higher Education Asian American Community News and Activities 2023/03/06 APA Justice Monthly Meeting The next APA Justice monthly meeting will be held on Monday, March 6, 2023. Confirmed speakers include: Nisha Ramachandran , Executive Director, Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC), to provide updates on the latest developments and activities of CAPAC John Yang 杨重远 , President and Executive Director, Advancing Justice | AAJC to provide updates on the Anti-Profiling, Civil Rights & National Security Program and related Activities Gisela Kusakawa , Executive Director, Asian American Scholar Forum, to provide updates on AASF activities Peter Toren , Attorney and Member of Sherry Chen Legal Team, to be recognized and share his reflections on the Sherry Chen case Steven Pei 白先慎 , Co-organizer, APA Justice, to provide updates on Texas Senate bills, webinars, and opposition to discriminatory land laws Grace Meng 孟昭文 , Member, U.S. Congress and Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, to remark on the latest developments and legislation for the Asian American community Baimadajie Angwang 昂旺 , New York Police Department, and John Carman , Attorney, to share Angwang's story of injustice as another victim of racial profiling under the "China Initiative" The virtual monthly meeting is by invitation only. 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 . Read past monthly meeting summaries here: https://bit.ly/3kxkqxP . One Year After the End of the "China Initiative" 1. Baimadajie Angwang 昂旺. One year has passed since the end of the "China Initiative," but the damages inflicted on impacted innocent persons continue. Hear the story of a New York police officer, an Afghanistan veteran, and an Army reservist, who became yet another victim of the "China Initiative." His case was finally dismissed in January 2023. After an ordeal of two and a half years, he has yet to return to the New York Police Department. What does he want the public to know and learn from his experience? Where does he go from here? Angwang will tell his story with his attorney John Carman in the March 6, 2023, APA Justice monthly meeting. Read more about Angwang's story at https://bit.ly/3RIqXId 2. Nature Report. According to the Nature report on February 24, 2023, anti-Asian scrutiny has only intensified since the controversial "China Initiative" ended one year ago. Scientists of Chinese heritage say that they are still being targeted unfairly and fear for their safety.¶ While the "China Initiative" was active, more than 150 people were criminally charged for actions such as failing to disclose funding or partnerships with institutions in China.¶ Nearly 90% of them were of Chinese heritage. Many of the charges brought by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) after the initiative’s launch in 2018 were eventually dropped or dismissed, and some prosecutions ended in acquittal.¶ The climate of fear and anxiety hasn’t gone away — researchers are just being pressured in a new way, says Jenny Lee. ¶ Since the initiative’s official shutdown, the US government has adopted various anti-China policies. And although the DOJ is pursuing fewer criminal charges, it says that it will work increasingly with federal agencies to investigate researchers and issue civil and administrative penalties for noncompliance. Universities are also taking a more active role in assisting investigations and pursuing potential wrongdoing, sources tell Nature .¶ “I’m sorry to say that it has only intensified,” says MIT professor Gang Chen 陈刚 , He and others who have had their lives upended by the initiative have been speaking out about the damage that it has done.¶ According to the San Diego Union-Tribune in December 2022, Xiang-Dong Fu , a molecular biologist at the University of California, San Diego, was forced to quit his position after the university accused him of hiding ties to China.¶ According to Toby Smith , US institutions acknowledge the considerable research contributions from these scientists. Universities are working to ensure that all faculty members are disclosing information properly. But he calls on US funding agencies to provide greater clarity for universities on what counts as an offense and what are appropriate and fair sanctions.¶ The end of the "China Initiative" gave the illusion that researchers of Chinese heritage would be targeted less, Jenny Lee says, but “the chilling effect” is “still very much at play.”¶ Researchers unjustly accused under the "China Initiative" and now rebuilding their lives and careers are emblematic of this situation. Scrutiny of researchers of Chinese heritage had begun years earlier than the launch of the "China Initiative." Xiaoxing Xi 郗小星 was accused of passing information to scientists in China about restricted technology in 2015. The DOJ eventually dropped the charges. “I am afraid of doing any research,” he says. “We always live in fear.”¶ Anming Hu 胡安明 , a nanotechnology researcher at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, who was indicted for hiding ties with China in 2020 and put under house arrest for more than a year before being acquitted, is also trying to get his research back on track. He has spent the past year rebuilding his lab, but has had trouble securing any funding.¶ Read the Nature report: https://go.nature.com/3kveefx Updates on Texas Senate Bill 147 and Opposition to Revival of Alien Land Laws 1. Second Webinar: Historical Re-Hash - Alien Land Law and SB147 WHAT: Webinar titled "Historical Re-Hash - Alien Land Laws and SB147" WHEN: Friday, March 1, 2023, starting at 6:30 pm ET/3:30 pm PT WHO: Moderator: Janelle Wong, Professor of American Studies, University of Maryland Panelists: Gene Wu 吳元之, Attorney and Texas State Representative Madeline Hsu, Professor of History and Asian American Studies, University of Texas at Austin Carol Suzuki, Professor of Law, School of Law, University of New Mexico at Albuquerque Opening Remarks: Ted Gong , Executive Director of the 1882 FoundationRegister for this webinar at http://bit.ly/3Id2uGp 2. Joint Statement in Opposition to Texas SB 147. On February 17, 2023, the Asian American Bar Association of Houston (AABA Houston), the Austin Asian American Bar Association (Austin AABA), the Dallas Asian American Bar Association (DAABA), and the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) issued a joint statement to strongly oppose the provisions of Texas Senate Bill 147 that prohibit individuals from owning land, buying homes, or establishing businesses in Texas based on their family's country of migration.¶ Read the joint statement: https://bit.ly/3EG7YZl 3 . SB 147 Panel: A Reprisal of Alien Land Laws? On March 2, 2023, the American Constitution Society (ACS) will host an event to discuss proposed Texas Senate Bill 147. Panelists will discuss the Federal and State constitutionality of the proposed bill, its mirroring of bigoted Alien Land Laws that banned Asian immigrants from owning property and establishing businesses, and the overall policy implications of this bill on our immigrant communities. The event is co-sponsored with: ACS DFW Lawyer Chapter, NAPABA, DAABA, AABA Houston, SMU APALSA, SMU ACS, SMU FedSoc. WHEN: Thursday, March 2, 2023, 12:30pm CT WHERE: Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law | Karcher Auditorium, 3315 Daniel Ave, Dallas, Texas 75205 WHO: Panelists: Rep. Salman Bhojani , Texas State Representative District 92 Rep. Gene Wu 吳元之, Texas State Representative District 137 Leo Yu , Clinical Professor of Legal Research, Writing, and Advocacy and ACS Faculty Advisor, SMU Dedman School of Law Moderator: Kristine Cruz , Associate, Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP; Co-Chair, ACS Dallas-Ft. Worth Lawyer Chapter; President-Elect, Dallas Asian American Bar AssociationRegister for the hybrid in-person and Zoom event at: http://bit.ly/3Z28id0 4. Media Reports MSNBC . According to a MSNBC report on February 25, 2023, a bill introduced in December 2022 is picking up steam in the Texas Senate. SB 147 would make it illegal for Chinese citizens to buy any property in the state of Texas, including home purchases. Ling Luo 罗玲 , founder and chair of the Asian Americans Leadership Council, stops by "The Katie Phang Show" to discuss the bill. Watch the MSNBC video: https://on.msnbc.com/3SvK9Jo (4:42) San Francisco Standard . According to a report by the San Francisco Standard on February 23, 2023, Nick Gee, a staff member of Chinese for Affirmative Action, flew from San Francisco to his hometown of Houston to join the local protests against Texas SB 147.¶ Texas SB 147 has sent a shock wave through Chinese American communities nationwide, sparking new debate on the anti-China rhetoric, anti-Chinese racism in politics and the “perpetual foreigner” stereotype. In response, a coalition of Chinese Americans from across the country are banding together to voice their opposition.¶ Peter Kuo , the vice chairman of the California Republican Party, said he was disheartened by the proposed bill. “It actually harnesses a lot of negative energies or negative prejudice against the Chinese Americans who are already here,” said Kuo. He said the bill’s language would increase anti-Asian sentiment and turn Asians into scapegoats. Read the San Francisco Standard report: http://bit.ly/3KAcVXs Washington Post. According to a report by Washington Post on February 22, 2023, a growing number of state legislators and members of Congress are offering a master class in how not to confront China by supporting indiscriminate crackdowns on Chinese citizens and companies seeking to purchase U.S. land.¶ Bills like SB 147 evoke a long and painful history. In the past, the desire to ensure U.S. national security has often been expressed in ways that excused or justified hatred against Asians. In turn, racist anxieties about people of Asian descent have played a key role in shaping the development of national security policy.¶ Revisiting the long history of anti-Asian behavior in the United States makes clear the inherent dangers of today’s assaults. Read the Washington Post article: https://wapo.st/3Z3ZpzI Racist and McCarthyist Attacks on Rep. Judy Chu and Dominic Ng Condemned 1. Mediaite.com . According to a report by Mediaite.com on February 24, 2023, top House Democrats slammed Rep. Lance Gooden (R-TX) over the Republican’s comments on Fox News earlier in the week in which he said he questions Rep. Judy Chu’s 赵美心 ( D-CA) “loyalty or competence.”¶ Gooden made the remarks in response to Fox News host Jesse Watters asking if he believed “Congresswoman Chu should be looked into?”¶ House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) also released a statement lambasting Gooden. “Lance Gooden’s slanderous accusation of disloyalty against Rep. Chu is dangerous, unconscionable and xenophobic.”¶ Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-WA), head of the House Democrats’ campaign arm, also released a statement: "At a time when anti-Asian hate continues to threaten communities, it’s critical that we condemn these racist and xenophobic attacks immediately and hold our fellow colleagues accountable to rid our politics of such dangerous statements and hatred." Read the Mediaite.com report: http://bit.ly/3ZnnfpN 2 . Congressional Black Caucus. On February 24, 2023, the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) issued the following statement: "Last night, Rep. Lance Gordon appeared on Fox News and questioned the loyalty of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) Chairwoman Rep. Judy Chu 赵美心 , indicating that she should be stripped of her security clearance simply because of her Chinese ethnicity. To be clear, a person's ethnicity is not indicative of their trustworthiness or loyalty to this country and to suggest otherwise is inflammatory as a nation of immigrants. The CBC stands with CAPAC in denouncing Rep. Gooden's racist and xenophobic remarks, and we urge Republican House leadership to follow suit and take action." 3. United Chinese Americans (UCA). On February 26, 2023, UCA issued a statement. "United Chinese Americans (UCA) strongly condemns the recent racist and offensive remarks made by Texas Representative Lance Gooden against Representative Judy Chu 赵美心 , Chairwoman of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, and a highly respected leader in Chinese American and AAPI communities. His baseless comments questioning Representative Chu's loyalty to the United States are McCarthyist, racist, and shameful."¶ "It is no less disturbing and shameful to accuse Dominic Ng 吴建民 , a highly respected Chinese American business and community leader, and President Biden’s pick to represent the United States on the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation in 2023, of treason to America, based on flimsy and unsubstantiated evidence." Read the UCA statement: https://bit.ly/3kBl0An 4 . AP News Report. According to an AP News report on February 26, 2023, the leaders of a new House select committee on China defended Democratic Rep. Judy Chu 赵美心 , saying it was abhorrent and unacceptable for a GOP lawmaker to question her loyalty to the United States based on her Chinese heritage.¶ “One of my colleagues, unfortunately, attacked Judy Chu, the first Chinese American congresswoman in the United States Congress, saying that somehow she’s not loyal to the United States. I find that offensive as an Asian American myself,” said Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi , the ranking Democrat on the panel, about the comments last week from Rep. Lance Gooden .¶ Wisconsin Rep. Mike Gallagher , the Republican chair of the China panel who appeared with Krishnamoorthi on CBS ’ “Face the Nation,” said Gooden was out of line. “We should not question anybody’s loyalty to the United States,” Gallagher said. “That is out of bounds. It’s beyond the pale.” Gallagher said his bipartisan committee, which is officially called the “Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party” was named as such “to constantly make that distinction between the party and the people.” “We must constantly be aware of going overboard as we try and win this competition with China,” he said. Read the AP News report: http://bit.ly/3IwLhI5 More Media Reports Politico. According to a Politico report on February 26, 2023, “One of my colleagues, unfortunately, attacked Judy Chu 赵美心 , the first Chinese American Congresswoman in the United States Congress, saying that somehow she’s not loyal to the United States. I find that offensive as an Asian American myself,” Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi said of criticism last week of the California Democrat by Rep. Lance Gooden .¶ Joining Krishnamoorthi on CBS ’ “Face the Nation,” Rep. Mike Gallagher agreed with him: “We should not question anybody’s loyalty to the United States. I think that is out of bounds.” “Absolutely, we shouldn’t question anybody’s loyalty,” Gallagher added.¶ Host Margaret Brennan asked Gallagher how the American people can be sure the panel doesn’t end up as being seen as persecuting people, as in the 1950s loyalty hearings led by Sen. Joseph McCarthy (R-Wis.).¶ “Joseph McCarthy’s from my district, he’s buried in my district; we need not exhume his body and reanimate it,” Gallagher said, adding: “We must constantly be aware of going overboard as we try and win this competition with China.”¶ Read the Politico report: https://politi.co/3KBOxVn 2023/02/27 CBS News. "House China panel leaders denounce heritage-based attack on Rep. Judy Chu." https://cbsn.ws/3SEe4iz 2023/02/27 Salon. House Democrats rip MAGA Republican for 'blatantly racist' attack on Rep. Judy Chu." http://bit.ly/3Zvv9xz 2023/02/27 NBC News. " House China panel leaders defend Rep. Judy Chu after Texas Republican's attack." https://bit.ly/3xWLqjd 2023/02/25 Los Angeles Times. "GOP congressman questions her ‘loyalty.’ Rep. Judy Chu, House Democrats blast ‘racist’ rhetoric:" https://lat.ms/3ktyMVV . 2023/02/25 Business Insider. "Democratic Rep. Judy Chu, the first Chinese American woman elected to Congress, blasts a Texas GOP congressman after he questioned her loyalty to the US: 'It is racist'." http://bit.ly/3xXleoA 2023/02/25 Vanity Fair. "Democrats Denounce Rep. Lance Gooden for Questioning The 'Loyalty' of Rep. Judy Chu Following Rumors of Ties to China's Communist Party." http://bit.ly/41uG1xr 2023/02/24 The Hill. "Democrats erupt with fury after Republican questions ‘loyalty’ of Rep. Chu." http://bit.ly/3Y4rYvx 2023/02/24 Washington Post. "Democrats defend Rep. Chu against ‘xenophobic’ accusations of disloyalty to U.S." https://wapo.st/3Z6miCs . Building a Sustainable Platform and Pipeline for AAPI Leadership in Higher Education Register for this workshop webinar: http://bit.ly/3xPv6Rj Chang-Lin Tien Leadership in Education Award. Know an academically accomplished AAPI leader in Higher Education? Nominate them to the Asian Pacific Fund for the 2023 Chang-Lin Tien Leadership in Education Award! Deadline MARCH 3, 2023. For eligibility criteria and more information, go to: https://bit.ly/TienAward Asian American and Scientific Community News and Activities 1. Workshop on Asian American Trailblazers in Civil Rights. On Wednesday, March 22, 2023, the 1990 Institute and the Alice Fong Yu Alternative School invite middle and high school teachers to learn more about the Asian Americans who fought for civil rights that benefited all who call America home. By 2025, a majority of states will have requirements in place for Asian American and Pacific Islander studies be taught in school. This multifaceted event will highlight Asian American pioneers and the pivotal court cases that have changed the landscape of U.S. civil rights, including the U.S. Supreme Court decision in United States v. Wong Kim Ark (1898) that established the constitutional guarantee of birthright citizenship. The 125th anniversary of this landmark case is on March 28, 2023. Register for the event: http://bit.ly/3ZpBLgN 2. MIT Technology Review. According to a report by MIT Technology Review on February 20, 2023, Citizen, a hyperlocal app that allows users to report and follow notifications of nearby crimes, is trying to remake itself by recruiting elderly Asians.¶ Read the MIT Technology Review Report: http://bit.ly/3xVWmgZ Subscribe to The APA Justice Newsletter Complete this simple form at https://bit.ly/2FJunJM to subscribe. Please share it with those who wish to be informed and join the fight. View past newsletters here: https://bit.ly/APAJ_Newsletters . Back View PDF February 28, 2023 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter

Wuyuan Lu 陆五元 Professor, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Fudan University, Former Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Maryland Table of Contents Overview 2012 Institute of Human Virology Annual Report Links and References Overview According to Science on March 23, 2023, for decades, Chinese-born U.S. faculty members like Wuyuan Lu were celebrated for fostering collaborations with colleagues in China. These partnerships were viewed as enriching the scientific community, and universities proudly cited the benefits of their ties to the rising global power. But in late 2018, the atmosphere shifted dramatically when institutions began receiving emails from the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), asking them to investigate whether their faculty had violated NIH policies by allegedly failing to disclose affiliations with Chinese institutions. This marked the beginning of a covert, wide-reaching investigation that would result in 103 scientists—many of them tenured faculty—losing their jobs within four years. [By June 2024, the number has increased to 112.] Dr. Lu, a tenured professor at the University of Maryland’s Institute of Human Virology (IHV), was one of those caught in the crosshairs. In December 2018, he received an urgent email from a senior university research administrator, Dennis Paffrath, who cited concerns raised by the NIH about Dr. Lu's alleged failure to disclose outside research support and affiliations with Chinese universities. The NIH letter pointed to Dr. Lu’s connections with Xi’an Jiaotong University and Fudan University, alleging that his NIH-funded research overlapped with work being conducted in China. Confident that this was a misunderstanding, Dr. Lu responded swiftly. He explained that his collaborations in China were purely academic and that NIH funds were never used for work conducted overseas. He highlighted the intellectual contributions of Chinese students to his NIH-funded research at IHV, stating that the university had not only approved these partnerships but had publicly celebrated them. However, Dr. Lu's reassurances were met with silence for 15 months. When NIH finally responded, it demanded more documentation, asking for detailed descriptions of his research and even English and Chinese copies of contracts he had signed with Chinese institutions. Despite his efforts to comply, NIH remained unsatisfied. Lu felt the pressure mounting. Frustrated by the process and what he perceived as an unjustified witch hunt, Dr. Lu reached his breaking point. In August 2020, after years of uncertainty, he resigned from his tenured position at the University of Maryland. He relocated to China, where he now teaches at Fudan’s medical school in Shanghai. Looking back, Dr. Lu describes the NIH as acting like a “bully.” He felt that the investigation was a form of racial profiling, a symptom of the larger campaign to counter Chinese espionage, despite little evidence of wrongdoing. While the university never explicitly blamed him, Dr. Lu saw them as simply the middleman, caught between NIH's demands and their faculty. The once-celebrated scientist now viewed NIH’s actions as part of a larger trend of targeting Chinese-born academics, reflecting a dramatic shift in the U.S. scientific landscape, where collaboration with China had gone from a prized asset to a perceived liability. 2012 Institute of Human Virology Annual Report The 2012 University of Maryland Institute of Human Virology annual report highlighted Dr. Wuyuan Lu’s structural biology research associated with China. According to the report, “Dr. Wuyuan Lu has recently been tapped by Xi’an Jiaotong University (XJTU)—a prestigious academic institution in China—to help build a center for translational medicine in the ancient city of Xi’an as an extension of his ongoing biomedical research at IHV. The research center is affiliated with the School of Life Sciences and the Frontier Institute of Science and Technology of XJTU, and forms a strategic alliance with the University’s First Affiliated Hospital—the largest hospital in northwest China. The core mission of the center is to support biomedical research aimed at translating basic science discoveries into improved human health in the areas of cancer and infectious disease. “Dr. Lu regularly travels to Xi’an for strategic planning consultation that entails the building of the infrastructure of the center, recruitment of its principal investigators, development of curricula for graduate education, and establishment of a multidisciplinary research program. Discussions are also underway about how to launch a platform in Xi’an to foster close collaborations in basic and clinical research on HIV between the Institute of Human Virology and XJTU. Dr. Lu hopes that his stint in Xi’an will ultimately lead to frequent exchanges of basic scientists, clinicians and graduate students, sponsorship of joint research projects by the U.S. and China, and a greater role for the IHV in leading the global fight against HIV/AIDS. “The major goals of IHV’s research in the Laboratory of Chemical Protein Engineering (Lu laboratory) include deciphering the molecular basis of how proteins function, elucidating the structure and function relationships for and mechanisms of action of antimicrobial peptides, and developing novel antitumor and antiviral peptides for the treatment of cancer and infectious disease. “Structural biology has grown rapidly at IHV, including international expansion of Lu’s program…” Links and References University of Maryland, Baltimore County: Wuyuan Lu 2023/03/23 Science: Pall of Suspicion 2012 University of Maryland: Institute of Human Virology annual report Previous Item Next Item

Newsletter - #52 Science, NAS, APS, And AAU Voice Concerns; Actions On Anti-Asian Hate; AAUC Podcast #52 Science, NAS, APS, And AAU Voice Concerns; Actions On Anti-Asian Hate; AAUC Podcast Back View PDF April 2, 2021 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter

Newsletter - #283 10/7 Meeting; Firsthand Accounts; Chinese American Survey; McCarthyism; Dr. Min Wu; + #283 10/7 Meeting; Firsthand Accounts; Chinese American Survey; McCarthyism; Dr. Min Wu; + In This Issue #283 · 2024/10/07 APA Justice Monthly Meeting · Firsthand Accounts of the Harmful Effects of the China Initiative · C100 Unveils The 2024 State of Chinese Americans Survey · Dr. Min Wu Recognized with Top Faculty Honor · McCarthyism and the House Un-American Activities Committee · News and Activities for the Communities 2024/10/07 APA Justice Monthly Meeting The next APA Justice monthly meeting will be held via Zoom on Monday, October 7, 2024, starting at 1:55 pm ET. In addition to updates by Nisha Ramachandran , ExecutiveDirector, Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) and Gisela Perez Kusakawa , Executive Director, Asian American Scholar Forum (AASF), confirmed speakers are: · Grace Meng , Member, U.S. House of Representatives; First Vice-Chair, Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus · Gene Wu , Texas State Representative · Min Fan , Executive Director, U.S. Heartland China Association 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 . *****U.S. Congresswoman Grace Meng is serving her sixth term in the United States House of Representatives, where she represents New York's Sixth Congressional District. She returns to update us on the current state of Asian Pacific Americans.State Representative Gene Wu serves the people of District 137 in the Texas House. Rep. Gene Wu will urge the community to wake up to the threats of anti-Asian laws at the state and federal level. Min Fan introduced USHCA to us at the February 2024 monthly meeting. She returns to update us on an upcoming hybrid event "China in the Heartland: Building a Balanced Approach" at the University of Kansas, the 4th Annual U.S.-China Agriculture Roundtable in June, and related activities of USHCA. ***** Summary for the September 2024 APA Justice monthly meeting has been posted here: https://bit.ly/3zzWcjR . In addition to Nisha Ramachandran, Joanna YangQing Derman , and Gisela Perez Kusakawa who gave their updates about CAPAC, Advancing Justice | AAJC, and AASF respectively, we thank these invited speakers: · Christine Chen from APIAVote for her discussion to boost voter participation among AA and NHPI, and its efforts to intensify outreach through events, mailings, and phone banking while emphasizing early and mail-in voting, aiming to engage first-time voters, especially in battleground states. · Jane Shim from AALDEF for her discussion of the ongoing case of Dr. Yanping Chen , who is suing the government for leaking her personal information to Fox News , which falsely implied she was spying for China. AALDEF has filed an amicus brief supporting Dr. Chen’s privacy rights, emphasizing the harm caused by irresponsible media reporting and the need to protect Asian Americans from discrimination. · Sandy Shan from Justice Is Global led a discussion on a brief advocating for a progressive U.S.-China policy to replace the current confrontational approach, which fuels xenophobia and geopolitical tensions. Tori Bateman from the Quincy Institute proposes reforms to foster cooperation, address shared challenges, and promote global sustainability, especially during Congress's "China Week." Read past summaries of APA Justice monthly meetings at https://bit.ly/3kxkqxP Firsthand Accounts of the Harmful Effects of the China Initiative On September 25, 2024, the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) posted a video (3:51) on X and Instagram, providing firsthand accounts of the harmful effects of the China Initiative, which "painted academics of Chinese descent as spies for the CCP, leading to the racial profiling and wrongful arrests of innocent researchers." Testimonies were made by Professors Gang Chen , Anming Hu , and Franklin Tao and Hong Peng , Professor Tao's wife. Watch the video on X: https://bit.ly/3zzfwxA and Instagram: https://bit.ly/4eeTHCH C100 Unveils The 2024 State of Chinese Americans Survey On September 25, 2024, the Committee of 100 (C100) unveiled the findings of its 2024 State of Chinese Americans Survey. The survey was conducted to help address the insufficient data necessary to inform and address ongoing discrimination, stereotypes, and misperceptions about Chinese Americans, and the many gaps in knowledge that remain about Chinese Americans’ political attitudes and behaviors.“Understanding the mental health, discrimination and political perspectives of Chinese Americans is essential to create inclusive and informed policies,” said Cindy Tsai , Interim President, Committee of 100. “These insights not only enrich political dialogue but also foster a more equitable society."According to the survey, about three quarters of Chinese American citizens (76%) are certain they will turn out to vote in November’s presidential election. A little less than half of Chinese Americans (46%) identify as Democrats, 31% Republicans, and 24% Independents.Chinese Americans have been targeted in a surge of both popular and policy-driven racism over the last decade. The COVID-19 pandemic precipitated a wave of anti-Asian and anti-Chinese hate across the country that endures at an elevated level, causing lasting and severe financial, social, health, and emotional harm across the Asian American population.Chinese Americans also face discrimination from federal and state policies. Many were falsely accused of espionage under the auspices of the China Initiative, further extending racist stereotypes of the population as perpetual foreigners loyal to Chinese national interests. While the codified racism of the China Initiative formally ended in 2022, many states have recently passed legislation prohibiting U.S. residents with Chinese citizenship from owning property. The Washington Post reported that the survey showed that 68% of Chinese Americans said they face at least one form of discrimination in an average month, while 65% said they think the state of U.S.-China relations negatively impacts how other Americans treat them. The survey also asked about mental health, and 43% of Chinese Americans said they felt depressed. A large majority — 81 percent — of Chinese Americans said they are “at least a little concerned” about rhetoric used by presidential candidates when talking about China or U.S.-China relations, and 61 percent said U.S. news media rhetoric on the subject “negatively affects how strangers treat them,” Read the Washington Post report: https://wapo.st/3XXTUo9 The South China Morning Post reported that nearly six in 10 Chinese Americans reported hearing about legislative efforts by many states and the US Congress to limit individuals who hold Chinese citizenship from owning houses, farmland and other stateside property. Of those who had heard about the legislation, two thirds thought it had a negative effect on how others treated them.“We were surprised at the large percentage of responses when it came to issues of mental health and wellness and how the relationship with the US and China impacts how Chinese-Americans are feeling discriminated against,” said Sam Collitt , a research and data scientist with C100. “We know there are issues related to shame and language barriers that prevent discussions from taking place,” said Collitt, adding that overall Asian Americans were 60 per cent less likely to seek mental health services than other racial groups. Chinese Americans express high levels of concern about the state of U.S.-China relations, the likely sources of poor bilateral relations, and the downstream effects of domestic policy discrimination and discriminatory political rhetoric. Despite this, many Chinese Americans are cautiously optimistic about the ability of the U.S. and China to cooperate on a number of issues. They identified areas where Washington and Beijing could, at the margin, improve ties, including student exchanges and in fighting climate change and infectious diseases.A majority of respondents said being Chinese and being American were very important to their identity.Read the South China Morning Post report: https://bit.ly/4do9g9Y NBC News reported that 54% of Chinese Americans felt that the current relationship between the U.S. and China has had a “somewhat negative” impact on how those of Chinese descent are treated. Another 10% said the current environment had a “very negative” effect on the group. Only about 3% felt that current relations between the two countries had a positive impact on the community. Almost two-thirds think that such contentious relations can affect how other Americans treat them.“Rhetoric and language is impacting relationships with how strangers treat them, acquaintances even treat them, co-workers and colleagues,” said Nathan Chan , a co-author of the study and an assistant professor of political science at Loyola Marymount University. “This is really infiltrating into the lives of everyday Chinese Americans.” Professor Chan pointed to policies like the controversial Trump-era surveillance program the China Initiative and the former president’s language around economic espionage. The “rhetoric is not doing any good for a large swath of Chinese Americans that are then being scapegoated or held under a suspicious lens.” Jo-Ann Yoo , who heads New York City-based Asian American nonprofit Asian American Federation, said that too often, language used by media has been imprecise, leading to “sweeping generalizations” about the Chinese community. Yoo said the study’s results reflect discussions she has heard in the local community. Citing discussions around the land bans and the looming TikTok ban, which was signed into law earlier this year in an effort to combat Chinese influence, Yoo said those in the heavily immigrant community are unsure of their safety amid contentious relations.C100 partnered with NORC at the University of Chicago to reach a sample of 504 Chinese American adults for the survey. Gordon H. Chang , Professor, Stanford University; Daphne Kwok , Vice President, Office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, Asian American & Pacific Islander Audience Strategy at AARP; and Jeremy Wu , PhD, Founder and Co-Organizer, APA Justice, serve on the Advisory Committee.Read the NBC News report: https://nbcnews.to/4doBjG2 Additional media reports:2024/09/25 AsAmNews: Belonging and discrimination weigh on Chinese Americans 2024/09/25 Bloomberg: Chinese Americans Face Racism, Mental Health Risks Amid Tensions 2024/09/25 AP: The Latest: Candidates try to counter criticisms in dueling speeches Read the C100 press release: https://bit.ly/47EQCcs , executive summary: https://bit.ly/3TIxPHG , and infographics: https://bit.ly/3N0fRfV Dr. Min Wu Recognized with Top Faculty Honor The University of Maryland (UMD) has selected Min Wu 吴旻 , Professor and Associate Dean of Engineering, as 2024 Distinguished University Professor—the highest appointment bestowed on a tenured faculty member. The title is a recognition not just of excellence, but of impact and significant contributions to the nominee’s field, knowledge, profession, and/or practice.According to the UMD announcement, Dr. Wu holds appointments in UMD’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Institute for Advanced Computer Studies, as well as leads the UMD Media, Analytics, and Security Team (MAST). She is a Fellow of the IEEE, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), and the National Academy of Inventors. Dr. Wu was elected to serve as president of the IEEE Signal Processing Society for 2024–2025, the first woman of color to be elected to this leadership role.Read the UMD announcement: https://bit.ly/4exf4in McCarthyism and the House Un-American Activities Committee According to Wikipedia, the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives, created in 1938 to investigate alleged disloyalty and subversive activities on the part of private citizens, public employees, and those organizations suspected of having communist ties. It became a standing (permanent) committee in 1946, and from 1969 onwards it was known as the House Committee on Internal Security. When the House abolished the committee in 1975, its functions were transferred to the House Judiciary Committee.The committee's anti-communist investigations are often associated with McCarthyism, although Joseph McCarthy himself (as a U.S. Senator) had no direct involvement with the House committee. McCarthy was the chairman of the Government Operations Committee and its Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations of the U.S. Senate, not the House.In the wake of the downfall of McCarthy, the prestige of HUAC began a gradual decline in the late 1950s. By 1959, the committee was being denounced by former President Harry S. Truman as the "most un-American thing in the country today".HUAC hearings in August 1966 called to investigate anti-Vietnam War activities were disrupted by hundreds of protesters. The committee faced witnesses who were openly defiant.According to The Harvard Crimson :"In the fifties, the most effective sanction was terror. Almost any publicity from HUAC meant the 'blacklist'. Without a chance to clear his name, a witness would suddenly find himself without friends and without a job. But it is not easy to see how in 1969, a HUAC blacklist could terrorize an SDS activist. Witnesses like Jerry Rubin have openly boasted of their contempt for American institutions. A subpoena from HUAC would be unlikely to scandalize Abbie Hoffman or his friends." In an attempt to reinvent itself, HUAC was renamed the Internal Security Committee in 1969. On January 14, 1975, coinciding with the opening of the 94th Congress, the House Committee on Internal Security was officially disbanded. Its files and staff were subsequently transferred to the House Judiciary Committee on the same day. In July 1995, the National Archives and Records Administration published the Records of The House Un-American Activities Committee, 1945-1969, and The House Internal Security Committee, 1969-1976, which is available online at https://bit.ly/4gGw7Aq .Read Wikipedia on the House Un-American Committee: https://bit.ly/3N23NL1 News and Activities for the Communities 1. APA Justice Community Calendar Upcoming Events:2024/10/02 C100: Asian American Career Ceiling Initiative2024/10/06 Rep. Gene Wu's Town Hall Meeting2024/10/07 APA Justice Monthly Meeting2024/10/08 Media Training for Election Season2024/10/10 China in the Heartland: Building a Balanced Approach2024/10/11 China and the World Forum2024/10/13 Rep. Gene Wu's Town Hall Meeting2024/10/16 Rebuilding Trust in Science2024/10/20 Rep. Gene Wu's Town Hall Meeting2024/10/25-27 Celebrating the 20th Anniversary of the American Studies NetworkVisit https://bit.ly/3XD61qV for event details. 2. Delaware OKs Asian American Studies and new AAPI commission According to AsAmNews , Delaware Governor John Carney signed two bills into law on September 26, 2024, making his state the seventh in the nation to integrate Asian American and Pacific Islander history into k-12 schools along with all other American histories. The other establishes a statewide Commission on Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage and Culture. Read the AsAmNews report: https://bit.ly/3TOaF2t 3. 2024 National Overview of AANHPI According to a Fact Sheet based on Census Bureau data created by the White House Initiative on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders (WHIAANHPI) in collaboration with AAPI Data, the Asian American population was estimated to be around 24.2 million, including one race alone or in combination of other races. The top five ethnic groups are Chinese, Asian Indian, Filipino, Vietnamese, and Korean. About 75% are native born or naturalized citizens. The top five most populous states are California, New York, Texas, New Jersey, and Washington. Read the WHIAAPINH Fact Sheet: https://bit.ly/3Nokq45 4. APA Justice Newsletter Web Page Moved to New Website As part of its continuing migration to a new website under construction, we have moved the Newsletters webpage to https://www.apajusticetaskforce.org/newsletters . Content of the existing website will remain, but it will no longer be updated. We value your feedback about the new web page. Please send your comments to contact@apajustice.org . Back View PDF September 30, 2024 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter

The University of North Texas has suddenly ended its relationship with visiting scholars receiving funding from China. August 26, 2020 On August 26, 2020, the University of North Texas (UNT) announced that it has ended "its relationship with visiting scholars who receive funding from the Chinese Scholarship Council (CSC, also known as the Chinese Scholarship Fund)." Access to UNT email, servers, and other materials, as well as the J-1 program under the U.S. Exchange Visit Program, were terminated immediately. In essence, the action expelled these scholars from the United States. On August 31, 2020, Ling-Chi Wang, Professor Emeritus at UC Berkeley, wrote a letter to UNT to express "shock and profound concern" over the sudden expulsion of students from the university and the U.S. "In the absence of any legitimate explanation, the expulsion appears to be national origin-based and possibly racially and politically motivated, an action explicitly prohibited by Title VI of the Civil Right Act of 1964," Professor Wang wrote in the letter. On the same day, retired Julie Tang also wrote to UNT to protest the expulsion of Chinese students . "Their summary removal from the College appears to be a serious violation of their constitutional rights to equal protection and due process of the law under the 14th Amendment," Judge Tang said in the letter. UNT President Neal Smatresk had issued a statement on " Moving Forward and Living Our Values as a Diverse, Inclusive Community " on June 17, 2020. "I am steadfastly committed to celebrating our diversity and working toward the changes necessary for our university to lead in the fight against racism and bias so that each and every individual feels like a valued member of our Mean Green family," the statement said. A concerned individual has also sent a protest message to UNT President Smatresk, pointing out that the purge of Chinese scholars is not based on misbehavior but on the source of their funding assistance. The UNT letter is a "get-out-of-Dodge" letter from the "Sheriff" with no pretense of due process. " It is a resurrection of the shameful Chinese Exclusion Acts of the past." On September 3, 2020, the petition to " Take back the decision to end the relationship with the Chinese scholars who fund by CSC " has gathered morfe than 6,000 signatures. It has been reported that UNT expelled 15 Chinese government-backed scholars. It is unknown at this time whether the expulsion is a unilateral decision made by UNT, how many other higher education institutions have taken similar action on their own, or an implemenation of a government policy. Available evidence suggests that it may be related to a 2020/08/18 letter from a State Department official. The University of North Texas has suddenly ended its relationship with visiting scholars receiving funding from China. Previous Next Another Purge of Scholars from China?

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