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

Newsletter - #298 US-China STA Renewed; Arkansas' Laws Halted; Andy Kim on Tolerance; Lisa Su; More #298 US-China STA Renewed; Arkansas' Laws Halted; Andy Kim on Tolerance; Lisa Su; More In This Issue #298 · US-China Science Technology Agreement Renewed · Arkansas' Foreign Ownership Restrictions Halted · Senator Andy Kim on Tolerance and Unity · Time CEO of The Year: Lisa Su · News and Activities for the Communities US-China Science Technology Agreement Renewed According to the Washington Post, Reuters, Nature, Science, NBC News, and other media reports, the United States and China renewed but narrowed a long-running science and technology agreement on December 13, 2024, marking continuity in their ties while also accounting for bilateral tensions that are likely to only grow under the incoming Trump administration. The previous agreement expired on August 27, 2024. The U.S.-China Science and Technology Cooperation Agreement, which was first signed in 1979 to enable basic research collaboration between the two countries, will be renewed for five years under altered terms that reflect the fraught reality of today’s U.S.-China relationship, according to statements from the U.S. and Chinese governments.The new version modifies the terms to account for the increased tensions between the two countries, including clarification of rules on data sharing and how to resolve disputes.With new guardrails around research security and transparency, as well as intellectual property protections, the agreement ensures that any federal science and technology cooperation with China “benefits the United States and minimizes risks to U.S. national security,” according to a State Department statement . “This Agreement does not facilitate the development of critical and emerging technologies.” The State Council of the People's Republic of China issued a statement on December 14. The extension of the Agreement Between the United States and China on Cooperation in Science and Technology is in line with the interests of the two peoples, and is what the international community hopes to see, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said on December 16.Many scientists are pleased. “The new agreement is a very positive step,” says Deborah Seligsohn , a political scientist at Villanova University. “It’s a signal to U.S. scientists that their government still values a bilateral relationship with China, even one with more guardrails.” Li Tang , a science policy specialist at Fudan University, calls the latest version “a win-win-win for the U.S., China, and other nations that benefit from not having to take sides” in the growing economic and political competition between the two superpowers.The new agreement also covers the safety of individual scientists. According to State Department official, “We don’t want U.S. researchers involved in an innocuous project to be caught up in a situation where some overzealous official harasses them or detains them. We wanted to signal to Congress that we are aware of issues of arbitrary detention and exit bans in China.”Chinese observers think the concern for researcher safety should cut both ways. “Ensuring fairness and safety for Chinese researchers abroad is essential to re-establishing a stable framework for scientific exchange and joint research,” Tang says, citing the harmful effect on Chinese scientists of a campaign launched by the Trump administration to thwart Chinese economic espionage. 2024/12/16 China Daily : Sino-US sci-tech agreement extended 2024/12/14 NBC News: U.S. and China renew science and technology pact amid growing rivalry 2024/12/13 Washington Post : U.S. and China renew science agreement as officials brace for new tensions 2024/12/13 Reuters : Biden administration inks renewed science cooperation deal with China; Republicans cry foul 2024/12/13 Nature : US and China sign new science pact — but with severe restrictions 2024/12/13 Science : United States and China renew science pact despite rising tensions Arkansas' Foreign Ownership Laws Halted On December 11, 2024, the National Agricultural Law Center reported that a U.S. District Court in Arkansas issued a preliminary injunction in favor of Jones Eagle, LLC., or Qimin "Jimmy" Chen , a naturalized U.S. citizen who lives in New York. Chen controls the firm through Eagle Asset Holding Inc., which owns a majority stake in Jones Eagle. The ruling prevents the state from enforcing its foreign ownership laws against the plaintiff until further notice. This followed an earlier temporary restraining order (TRO) granted to Jones Eagle, which halted Arkansas’s enforcement of its foreign ownership laws for 14 days, expiring on December 9, 2024.In its 43-page ruling , the Court found that the Arkansas laws may conflict with federal law and constitutional protections. It rejected the state's motion to dismiss, affirming the lawsuit's jurisdiction and ripeness.The lawsuit, Jones Eagle LLC v. Ward ( 4:24-cv-00990) , was filed on November 13, 2024, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas. It challenges Arkansas Acts 636 (2023) and 174 (2024) as unconstitutional. The injunction was granted based on the likelihood that Jones Eagle would succeed on its claims, including arguments about preemption, equal protection, and due process violations. The case continues with a focus on constitutional and federal preemption issues.According to Arkansas Advocate , Jones Eagle filed suit against the state, Arkansas Secretary of Agriculture Wes Ward and Attorney General Tim Griffin . The suit claims the two laws violate the Fourteenth and Fifth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution by denying due process, illegally discriminating against a person based on national origin and depriving a person of just compensation for taking property. The plaintiff is represented by Kutak Rock LLP and Paul L. Hoffman, Director of Civil Rights Clinic, and Robert S. Chang, Executive Director of the Fred T. Korematsu Center for Law and Equality at University of California Irvine School of Law Act 636 , also known as Senate Bill 383, prohibits ownership of property in Arkansas by companies or individuals connected with the Chinese government and several other countries considered adversaries of the United States. It gives the state agriculture department authority to investigate allegations of such ownership and directs the attorney general to take action to force the divestiture of the property through judicial foreclosure. Act 174 , also known as Senate Bill 79, amended the law regulating digital asset mining operations, also known as data centers, and prohibits ownership by “foreign-party-controlled” interests connected to the same countries listed in Act 636.Read more about Senate Bill 383 and other state alien land bills at the Committee 100 tracker for the 2023 legislative session at https://bit.ly/4cqxFfg The Arkansas lawsuit was discussed briefly by Ashley Gorski , Senior Staff Attorney for ACLU, during the alien land laws webinar co-hosted by the Committee of 100 and APA Justice on December 11, 2024. In response to a question from the audience about who should be contacted by individuals impacted by state alien land laws, Gorski suggests that they may contact ACLU and her at agorski@aclu.org . Information about the about the webinar is located here: https://bit.ly/3CEWK9p . A video recording of the webinar is posted at https://www.youtube.com/user/committee100 Committee of 100 Alien Land Laws Tracker ( 2024 , 2023 )APA Justice: Alien Land Bills 2024/12/10 National Agricultural Law Center: Federal Judge Halts Enforcement of Arkansas' Foreign Ownership Restrictions 2024/12/09 Jones Eagle LLC v. Ward (4:24-cv-00990): Redacted Preliminary Injunction Order 2024/11/26 Arkansas Advocate : Arkansas laws targeting foreign ownership of land and data center put on hold Senator Andy Kim on Tolerance and Unity Newly-elected Senator Andy Kim made a poignant observation as he transitioned from the House to the Senate. Reflecting on the House chamber, he shared something that often goes unnoticed: the center aisle—the one the President walks down for the State of the Union, dividing the Republican and Democratic sides—ends at an inscription of the word "Tolerance." "Why 'tolerance'?" he asked.At first glance, tolerance might not seem particularly inspiring. The word can even sound negative, as in tolerating noise or bad behavior. That’s why political leaders often prefer terms like "unity." Why, then, isn’t "unity" inscribed in this central location? After all, the nation's motto, E Pluribus Unum (Out of Many, One), is inscribed on the Capitol Dome, a symbol of national identity.Senator Kim reflected that tolerance offers a unique path toward togetherness while still recognizing the challenges posed by differences. Unlike unity, which can sometimes suggest total agreement or harmony, tolerance acknowledges that differences exist—and that they always will. It does not suggest a melting pot where everyone is the same or a singular sense of what it means to be American. Instead, tolerance embraces the idea that our belief in freedom is more important than our discomfort with how others live their lives."Tolerance exists in the space between unity and disunity," he observed. It rejects the notion that we are enemies and instead fosters respect for one another despite our differences. Tolerance stands against separation and segregation, promoting coexistence over division. Importantly, tolerance is not a weakness. It does not mean compromising one’s values or ignoring hate. As President John F. Kennedy famously said, "Tolerance implies no lack of commitment to one's own beliefs. Rather, it condemns the oppression or persecution of others." Senator Kim acknowledged that building a society grounded in tolerance is not easy. "How do we forge a tolerance that flows in all directions?" he asked. "I don’t claim to have all the answers. But I do think there’s value in the concept and that it should be thought of with similar rigor as we do toward unity."In reframing tolerance as an active and essential value—not merely a fallback from unity—Senator Kim reclaimed the term from its often-dismissive connotations. While unity may inspire, tolerance is the framework that allows a diverse society to function. His remarks invite a deeper engagement with the idea of tolerance, not as an abstract principle, but as a call to action for coexistence and mutual respect. Time CEO of The Year: Lisa Su Lisa Su 蘇姿丰 , the CEO of AMD, was named Time 's 2024 CEO of the Year in recognition of her transformative leadership in the semiconductor industry. Under her guidance, AMD achieved a remarkable turnaround, evolving from a struggling company with stock prices at $3 per share in 2014 to a powerhouse trading at over $130 today. Su's strategic focus enabled AMD to surpass Intel in company value and expand its influence into gaming and artificial intelligence technologies. Time highlighted Su's hands-on leadership style, noting her weekend meetings, detailed review of technical documents, and direct involvement in evaluating prototype chips. Her work ethic and innovation have positioned AMD as a major competitor in the rapidly growing AI chip sector. Su has been lauded as a trailblazer, emphasizing the critical role of semiconductors in shaping the future of AI and other technologies.Su , 55, was born in Taiwan and received her BS, MS, and Ph.D. degrees from MIT. She is cousin of Jensen Huang 黃仁勳 , founder, president and chief executive officer of Nvidia. News and Activities for the Communities 1. APA Justice Community Calendar Upcoming Events: 2024/12/22 Rep. Gene Wu's Town Hall Meeting2025/01/05 Rep. Gene Wu's Town Hall Meeting2025/01/06 APA Justice Monthly Meeting2025/01/15 Master Class: Maintaining the Effectiveness of Organizational Equity Initiatives in the Current Environment2024/01/16 Master Classes: Asian American Career Lessons2025/01/19 Rep. Gene Wu's Town Hall Meeting2025/02/02 Rep. Gene Wu's Town Hall Meeting2025/02/13-15 2025 AAAS Annual Meeting2025/02/16 Rep. Gene Wu's Town Hall MeetingVisit https://bit.ly/3XD61qV for event details. 2. C100 Launches “Master Classes for Organizations: Managing Equity Initiatives” The Committee of 100 is launching a new program under the title of “Master Classes for Organizations: Managing Equity Initiatives” where it will feature experts who will conduct tutorials on various topics related to how organizations (corporate, non-profit, government) can more effectively manage their equity initiatives. Two classes will be held on January 15 and 16, 2025, respectively. This program is separate from the Master Classes for Individuals programs that focus on giving advice to Asian Americans as individuals who are dealing with career ceiling issues. WHAT : “Master Class: Maintaining the Effectiveness of Organizational Equity Initiatives in the Current Environment” WHEN: January 15, 2025, 6:00 - 7:00 pm Eastern Time WHERE : Online Webinar HOST: Committee of 100 Moderator : Peter Young , CEO, Young & Partners; Committee of 100 Speakers: · Joyce Chang , Global Head of Research for J.P. Morgan and Executive Sponsor for J.P. Morgan Chase’s network for employees of Asian heritage (AsPIRE) · Jenny R. Yang , Workplace Equal Opportunity Government Leader, Former Chair of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and Former White House, Domestic Policy Council as a Deputy Assistant to the President for Racial Justice and Equity REGISTRATION : https://bit.ly/4iMC1B8 ***** WHAT : "Master Classes: Asian American Career Lessons – Developing a Personal Brand” WHEN: January 16, 2025, 6:00 - 7:00 pm Eastern Time WHERE : Online Webinar HOST: Committee of 100 Moderator : Peter Young , CEO, Young & Partners; Committee of 100 Speaker: Jerry Won , CEO of Just Like Media REGISTRATION: https://bit.ly/4ge4gXI 3. SoCal man pleads guilty to hate crime against Asian woman According to AsAmNews and LA Times on December 12, 2024, a Southern California man punched an Asian American woman in the head and shouted slurs at her as she lay injured in the street. Now he has pleaded guilty to a federal hate crime.The victim, who is unnamed in the plea agreement, was walking to work in Culver City at 1 a.m. on June 14, 2021. Jesse Lindsey , 38, described as a homeless man who last lived in Fontana, approached the victim, whom he perceived to be Asian, prosecutors said."You can't say hi to a motherf— white boy?" he reportedly yelled, before punching the victim and knocking her down. According to prosecutors, Lindsey shouted, "You hear what I said?" and referred to the woman using the N-word. "I said good morning, b—." The victim received 11 stitches for her injuries after hitting her head on the street when she fell.He is scheduled to be sentenced in March, 2025. # # # APA Justice Task Force is a non-partisan platform to build a sustainable ecosystem that addresses racial profiling concerns and to facilitate, inform, and advocate on selected issues related to justice and fairness for the Asian Pacific American community. For more information, please refer to the APA Justice website at www.apajusticetaskforce.org . As part of its continuing migration to a new website under construction, we have moved the Newsletter webpage to www.apajusticetaskforce.org/newsletters . We value your feedback about the new web page. Please send your comments to contact@apajustice.org . Back View PDF December 17, 2024 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter

Newsletter - #213 TX/FL Land Bills Alerts; Affirmative Action; 3/6 Meeting Summary; AAUC Community Hub #213 TX/FL Land Bills Alerts; Affirmative Action; 3/6 Meeting Summary; AAUC Community Hub In This Issue #213 · Alert: Texas State Senator Lois Kolkhorst Introduced Senate Bill 51 · Florida's Chinese Community Calls for Reform, Repeal of Law that Limits Property Ownership · Race-Based Admissions and the Supreme Court: An Asian American Perspective · 2023/03/06 APA Justice Monthly Meeting Summary Posted · AAUC Launches Asian American Pacific Islander Community Hub · News and Activities for the Communities Alert: On October 9, 2023, Texas State Senator Lois Kolkhorst introduced Senate Bill (SB) 51 relating to the purchase of or acquisition of title to real property by certain aliens or foreign entities. She was previously the primary sponsor of the discriminatory Texas alien land bill SB 147. Read the SB51: https://bit.ly/3ROl7qJ . Read the LegiScan tracking report: https://bit.ly/45r9B7V . Florida's Chinese Community Calls for Reform, Repeal of Law that Limits Property Ownership According to NPR/WMFE , Florida’s Chinese community held a town hall meeting on September 26, 2023, to call for the repeal or reform of Senate Bill (SB) 264, a law that limits real estate purchase or ownership for some foreign nationals.Over 100 people attended the virtual meeting organized by the Florida Asian American Justice Alliance (FAJAA), which included local and national attorneys, activists, legislators, real estate buyers, sellers, and Florida residents on work and student visas. Most were of Chinese descent, and many said they are already living under the consequences of SB 264.“This bill has made a serious impact on the Asian community in general. It honestly feels like we are all being treated differently,” said Yuyuan Zhang , an Orlando real estate agent born and raised in China. Zhang said she holds a green card and lives in Orlando with her husband, a U.S. veteran, and their three young children. They have lived in Central Florida since 2016. Zhang is an only child. She said her parents like to travel from China to visit her and their only grandchildren as much as they can. Due to the pandemic, however, it’s been three years. The family was excited in the summer of 2022 when Zhang’s parents decided to buy and build a new home in Orlando so they could stay comfortably nearby during long visits. Construction on the house was about halfway through, Zhang said, when SB 264 went into effect, and they were forced to abandon the project. Zhang’s parents are Chinese nationals, not U.S. citizens or residents, and live in China. They are banned from owning a home for themselves in Florida.For Ethan Hu , a 28-year-old data analyst in Orlando, the law presents another complication. He lives a long drive away from his work office, which was no problem while the company had employees working remotely. However, that policy changed, and Hu was considering buying a condo in downtown Orlando to be closer to work — then SB 264 became a factor. Even with his H-1B work visa, Hu said buying property feels uncertain and difficult because of all the risks involved. “If the first version of the bill comes true, I’d no longer be able to stay here. I’d be forced to find another job,” Hu said. “I think I’m allowed to own one property for myself, so yeah, there is a chance for me to stay here, but things are getting worse because they are changing every day. Before that, America was the dream land to chase your dreams and fight for your freedom.” Clay Zhu is one of the leading attorneys who filed a federal lawsuit against SB 264. He said the verbiage in the law is much too broad and vague for compliance, and that an “honest mistake” could easily land an individual on some felony charges. “Let’s assume the validity of SB 264, how does an average person comply with it? There are many practical difficulties for people to figure out what is prohibited and what is not,” Zhu said.Orlando-based Attorney Melissa Vickers argued Section 7 of the law is blatantly discriminatory and violates the 14th Amendment as well as HUD’s Fair Housing Act, which prohibits the discrimination of someone trying to buy housing in the U.S. based on their race, nationality, color, religion, sex, gender, marital status, or disability. “This law alone opens you up for the possibility of having to do jail or prison time, which is extremely scary, for just purchasing a home — not doing anything illegal, not trying to do anything illegal — just for purchasing a home in Florida,” Vickers said.Rep. Fentrice Driskell , Florida House Minority Leader, and Florida State Rep. Anna Eskamani discussed the chances of getting the law either reformed or repealed during the next legislative session. “Now that the consequences are felt, it provides more ammunition, if you will, to try to change the current statute,” Eskamani said. "What's become clear with this policy is that it was pushed forward based on fear, it is not actually based on any fact. It is not going to keep us safe. It does not stop any type of espionage."Read the NPR/WMFE report: https://bit.ly/46id4Xm Dangerous laws are being introduced at the state and federal level right now that use "national security" as an excuse to discriminate against immigrants from China. In Florida, for example, Governor DeSantis has banned many Chinese immigrants from buying a house in much of the state – a move that is both unconstitutional and unfortunately, not new.Take one simple step to tell Congress NO to discriminatory land laws: https://bit.ly/3qRsFOh Race-Based Admissions and the Supreme Court: An Asian American Perspective WHEN: Thursday, October 12, 2023 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm ET WHAT: Webinar on Race-Based Admissions and the Supreme Court: An Asian American Perspective HOST: Committee of 100 MODERATOR: Amy Qin. National Correspondent, The New York Times SPEAKERS: · Gordon H. Chang, Senior Associate Vice Provost for Under Graduate Education and the Olive H. Palmer Professor, Stanford University · Sally Chen, Education Equity Policy Manager, Chinese for Affirmative Action (CAA) · John C. Yang, President and Executive Director, Asian Americans Advancing Justice (AAJC) | AAJC DESCRIPTION: In late June, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its ruling in two high-profile cases on race-conscious college and university admissions policies. This is the third time in the last two decades that the nation’s highest court has heard cases that challenge long-standing attempts to increase diversity on college campuses. The Court’s finding that these policies are unconstitutional will have significant implications on the Asian American community, including how Asian American students should prepare for the college application process. This panel will discuss various aspects of the historical context surrounding affirmative action, why affirmative action is relevant to the Asian American community, and what the specific case law means for Asian Americans today. REGISTRATION: https://bit.ly/3LUzOot 2023/03/06 APA Justice Monthly Meeting Summary Posted After delays due to a backlog, the summary for the March 2023 APA Justice monthly meeting has been posted at https://bit.ly/46ogYy1 We thank the following speakers for their updates and discussions: · Nisha Ramachandran, Executive Director, Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC), on the targeting of CAPAC Chairwoman Judy Chu by GOP members of Congress who questioned her loyalty to the U.S. due to her being of Chinese American origin; the nomination of Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su as the next Labor Secretary; and concerns about alien land laws restricting the property ownership rights of individuals from specific countries being introduced in states across the country · John Yang 杨重远, President and Executive Director, Advancing Justice | AAJC, on the negative impact of rhetoric and conspiracies arising from the uncertainties of the U.S.-China relationship; Julie Su nomination; and education equity · Gisela Kusakawa, Executive Director, Asian American Scholar Forum (AASF), on preparing for the AANHPI Heritage month; work with federal grant agencies and universities on policies, procedures and disclosures; monitoring incidents of border interception/questioning of AAPI scholars and scientists and their family members; concerns about increase of rhetoric targeting Chinese students in higher education institutions; and the addition of Professor Xiaoxing Xi as a new member of AASF · Peter Toren, Attorney at Law; Member of Sherry Chen Legal Team as he reflects on Sherry Chen's historic settlement. On May 9, 2015, when the New York Times broke the story about Sherry Chen, Peter was quoted: “They came across a person of Chinese descent and a little bit of evidence that they may have been trying to benefit the Chinese government, but it’s clear there was a little bit of Red Scare and racism involved.” Peter was the first attorney retained by Sherry in her lawsuit against the U.S. government and was an integral part of the Sherry Chen Legal Team that eventually won a settlement with the largest settlement amount paid to an individual by the U.S. Department of Commerce. APA Justice recognizes Peter's outstanding commitment and achievement. · Dr. Helen Shih, a leader of RiseAAPI-Texas, reported on 5 rallies in Texas that were organized by the AAPI community to protest SB 147 in 5 weeks. Grace Meng 孟昭文, Member of U.S. Congress, shared Democratic leadership’s condemnation of attacks on Congresswoman Judy Chu. She emphasized the importance of allyship between CAPAC and groups such as the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC), as well as the communities they represent. Rep. Meng encouraged the AAPI community to continue to push for the inclusion of AAPI, African American, Jewish, and Latino history to feed a more holistic understanding of our shared American story. Rep. Meng also shared progress on the National AAPI Museum Study Bill signed into law by President Biden in June 2022 and her current work to finalize the Commission to explore the feasibility of establishing, maintaining, funding, and operating such a facility in Washington, D.C. as a potential part of the Smithsonian Institution. Baimadajie Angwang 昂旺, New York Police Department Officer and John Carman, Attorney for Officer Angwang provided an overview of the injustice faced by Officer Angwang when he was wrongfully accused to be a spy for China under the now-defunct "China Initiative." Officer Angwang shared his personal experience of spending six months in jail while not allowed to meet with his lawyer or family members. Officer Angwang had served as a Marine in Afghanistan and the Army Reserve. He became NYPD Officer after returning from Afghanistan. All charges against him were dismissed in January 2023, but he had not been reinstated by NYPD. Innocent citizens with Chinese nexus became scapegoats as a result of the government’s racial targeting with the backdrop of increasing U.S.-China tensions. Officer Anwang called on elected officials, community leaders, and civil rights advocates to take actions to stop the government from using profiling and discriminatory tactics William Colton, New York State Assembly member (District 47) remarked on Officer Anwang’s case and called for needed actions. Read the March monthly meeting summary: https://bit.ly/46ogYy1 . Read past monthly meeting summaries: https://bit.ly/3kxkqxP . The August 2023 monthly meeting summary is scheduled for release in a special edition on Friday, October 13, 2023. Work on the October meeting summary is in progress. The May monthly meeting summary is still backlogged at this time. AAUC Launches Asian American Pacific Islander Community Hub Asian American Unity Coalition (AAUC) has launched a website known as Asian American Pacific Islander Community Hub at https://bit.ly/3FbmpEu . According to Dr. S.K. Lo, Founding and current President of AAUC, "the purpose of the AAPI Community Hub is to connect, collaborate and empower the AAPI community. This project collects relevant information that are important and relevant to the community and have it available to the community at large."A signature product of the Community Hub is a current list of 14,631 AAPI organizations located in the U.S., supported by an interactive map powered by Esri, summary statistics, and pie and bar charts. By drilling into the Washington DC area as an example, the map shows approximately 800 organizations. At the most granular level and by clicking on an individual dot on the map, a window appears with information about the name and address of the organization, as well as its purpose, type of organization, asset, revenue, and website if one is available. Visit the interactive map at https://bit.ly/3rDcGnw . The Community Hub covers additional shared information and services. News and Activities for the Communities 1. Community Calendar The APA Justice Community Calendar is located on the front page of the APA Justice website at https://www.apajustice.org/ . Upcoming Events: 2023/10/12 Expert Panel on Open Data for Racial Equity 2023/10/12 C100 Webinar - Race-Based Admissions and the Supreme Court Court: An Asian American Perspective 2023/10/12 The FBI and Chinese Americans - From the Investigation and Defense Frontline 2023/10/15 State Legislature 101 Training 2023/10/15 Rep. Gene Wu's Weekly Town Hall Meeting 2023/10/22 Rep. Gene Wu's Weekly Town Hall Meeting 2023/10/25-26 President's Advisory Commission Meeting Visit https://bit.ly/45KGyga for event details. 2. Law360 Report on Professor Franklin Tao's Appeal According to Law360 , the Tenth Circuit appeared skeptical of the government's argument that former University of Kansas (KU) Professor Franklin Tao's "failure to informer his employer he was pursuing a job in China was relevant to federal grant funding decisions, with one judge citing a 'failure of evidence.'"A three-judge panel heard Professor Tao's appeal to vacate his conviction for making a false statement on a conflict-of-interest form to KU. The paperwork was never submitted on any grant research applications to the Department of Energy or the National Science Foundation. Read the Law360 report: https://bit.ly/3FaHIWU . The audio portion of the hearing is available here: https://bit.ly/46dOxmc (2:24:52) starting at around 1:45:08. Read Professor Tao's case at https://bit.ly/3fZWJvK and visit his GoFundMe page: https://gofund.me/5bf4adbe Back View PDF October 9, 2023 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter

The NIH and the FBI are targeting ethnic Chinese scientists, including U.S. citizens, searching for a cancer cure. June 13, 2019 On June 13, 2019 Bloomberg Businessweek published The U.S. Is Purging Chinese Cancer Researchers From Top Institutions . The NIH and the FBI are targeting ethnic Chinese scientists, including U.S. citizens, searching for a cancer cure. It includes the first account of what happened to Xifeng Wu. The NIH and the FBI are targeting ethnic Chinese scientists, including U.S. citizens, searching for a cancer cure. Previous Next The U.S. is purging Chinese scientists in a new Red Scare

Nearly two years later, a 21-year-old Texas man who attempted to kill an Asian man and his young child has pleaded guilty to federal hate-crime charges. February 24, 2022 On February 24, 2022, the Washington Post published Texas man accused of attacking Asian family over racist coronavirus fears pleads guilty to hate-crime charges . A 21-year-old Texas man, Jose Gomez III, who attempted to kill an Asian man and his young child because he thought they were Chinese — and therefore, he said, responsible for the coronavirus pandemic — has pleaded guilty to federal hate-crime charges. He slashed the 6-year-old boy’s face. “The blade entered millimeters from [the boy’s] right eye, split his right ear, and wrapped around to the back of his skull,” prosecutors said. Gomez then stabbed a White employee who had intervened to stop the attack. Justice Department officials said that while Gomez was pinned down after being subdued, he yelled to the family, “Get out of America!” Gomez later told local authorities that he had never seen the father before but had perceived him as a “threat” because he supposedly “came from the country who started spreading the disease around.” He admitted to trying to kill the father and the 6-year-old in an effort to “stop the threat.” Gomez pleaded guilty to three counts of committing a hate crime and faces a maximum sentence of life in prison and a total of $750,000 in fines. Nearly two years later, a 21-year-old Texas man who attempted to kill an Asian man and his young child has pleaded guilty to federal hate-crime charges. Previous Next Texas man accused of attacking Asian family over racist coronavirus fears pleads guilty to hate-crime charges

Newsletter - #336 Chinese Student Visas; Alien Land Laws; U.S. leadership in Science and Innovation #336 Chinese Student Visas; Alien Land Laws; U.S. leadership in Science and Innovation In This Issue #336 · Chinese Student Visa Revocations and Volatility · Latest Development on Alien Land Laws · National Academy of Sciences President Warns: “Course-Correct or Lose to China” · News and Activities for the Communities; USCET Is Hiring Chinese Student Visa Revocations and Volatility (Author: Madeleine Gable, APA Justice Communications Intern) In 1854, Yung Wing 容闳 graduated from Yale, becoming the first Chinese student to graduate from an American university. Since then, international enrollment in American higher education has expanded dramatically. During the 2023-2024 academic year, more than 1.1 million international students studied in the U.S., contributing nearly $44 billion to the economy and generating 378,000 jobs. India and China together comprised 54% of international students in the U.S. China sent 277,398 students to the U.S., remaining the top-sending country for undergraduates and non-degree students. At New York University (NYU), international enrollment has increased 250% in the last decade. International students in the U.S. can obtain either an F-1 visa or a J-1 visa . An F-1 visa allows noncitizens to enter the U.S. as full-time students and requires certain criteria to be met. A J-1 visa allows participation in approved exchange visitor programs for studying, research, training, or acquiring special skills. F-1 students may also be eligible for Optional Practical Training (OPT), permitting them to remain in the country and work in a position relating to their degree for up to a year after graduation. Students in STEM fields are eligible for a two-year extension. If a student’s visa is revoked, they may still be able to legally remain in the country; however, if their legal status is revoked, they may be subject to detention and deportation. In spring 2025, the Trump administration unleashed a harsh crackdown on international students in the U.S. as part of its broader strategy to rapidly reduce immigration. In March, federal immigration authorities arrested Mahmoud Khalil , a recent Columbia graduate and green-card holder, due to his role in pro-Palestinian campus protests last year, sparking outrage and confusion across the nation. Simultaneously, the House Select Committee on the CCP requested information from six U.S. universities regarding Chinese students and staff in STEM at the institutions. On June 11, a federal judge in New Jersey blocked the Trump administration from deporting Khalil on foreign policy grounds. In April, the Trump administration began quietly stripping international students of their visas due to campus activism, criminal infractions, and even traffic violations. These charges were often long resolved or dropped. In response to visa revocations and deportation efforts, many international students across the country filed more than 100 lawsuits . A judge in Georgia issued a temporary restraining order restoring the legal status of 133 students after a lawsuit filed by ACLU Georgia. Similar legal victories have occurred in Wisconsin , Oregon , Ohio , and Minnesota . Meanwhile, four ACLU offices filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of international students throughout New England and Puerto Rico, intending to stop ongoing detentions and deportation efforts. The Chinese American Legal Defense Alliance (CALDA) filed Chen v. Noem (4:25-cv-03292) in the Northern District of California. Similar legal battles (ongoing and resolved) are detailed in APA Justice Newsletters 328, 331, and 332. After a nationwide injunction was ordered by the court, the Trump administration reversed its policy and restored thousands of international students’ F-1 registrations on or about April 25, 2025, after contributing to widespread anxiety, confusion, and chaos. During a hearing , the Department of Homeland Security admitted they used an FBI database to identify international students with criminal records, terminating hundreds of students’ records in less than 24 hours, suggesting little to no individual case review. One of the students targeted had a reckless driving charge that had long been dropped. Read Inside Higher Ed ’s article on this situation for more insight. Inside Higher Ed ’s coverage on this topic ended on April 24. On May 28, 2025, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the State Department will begin “aggressively revoking” visas for Chinese international students, targeting those associated with the Chinese Communist Party and those working in critical fields. The State Department will also enhance scrutiny of future visa applications from China and Hong Kong. The Trump administration has halted all new student visa interviews to implement a thorough social media vetting process. After Secretary of State Rubio’s announcement, organizations including the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC), Advancing Justice | AAJC , the Asian American Scholar Forum , the Committee of 100 , the U.S.-China Education Trust, and the 1990 Institute , as well as Rep. Judy Chu , Emeritus Chair of CAPAC, have issued statements condemning and criticizing the policy. On June 6, a coalition of American scholars and experts on China co-signed a petition to urge Secretary of State Marco Rubio to reconsider and pause any implementation of the planned policy change pending further review, including consultation with key stakeholders both inside and outside the U.S. government. In addition to Chinese international students, the State Department is also doubling down on international students at Harvard and those under OPT. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem ordered the termination of Harvard University’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program, barring the university from enrolling international students and forcing existing international students to transfer or risk losing their legal status. On May 29, a federal court in Massachusetts issued a preliminary injunction. In an amended lawsuit filed on June 5, Harvard challenged President Trump’s latest move to bar foreign students from entering the U.S. to attend the college, calling it illegal retaliation for Harvard’s rejection of White House demands and attempting an end-run around the previous court order. On the same day, the State Department directed consulates around the world to stop processing visa applications for students planning to attend Harvard – less than an hour before a federal court in Massachusetts granted a temporary restraining order to Harvard, ruling that Trump's directive would cause "immediate and irreparable injury" before the courts have a chance to review the case. According to the Washington Post , the State Department reversed its guidance on June 6 and resumed processing visa processing for affected students. Latest Development on Alien Land Laws According to Newsweek on June 9, 2025, as of 2024, a growing number of U.S. states—more than two-thirds—have enacted or are considering laws restricting foreign land ownership, with a specific focus on Chinese nationals and entities. This wave of legislation is part of a broader response to escalating tensions between the United States and China, including trade disputes and national security concerns. According to the Committee of 100 , at least 27 states have considered or passed such laws. Some bills mention China by name, while others reference "foreign adversaries" or countries under scrutiny, which implicitly includes China. Concerns have intensified over Chinese land purchases near sensitive locations such as military bases. While Chinese investors reportedly own U.S. land equivalent to twice the size of New York City, the scale is still small in proportion to overall foreign land ownership. Nonetheless, the symbolic and strategic implications have drawn bipartisan attention. In 2023, Florida passed a law banning citizens of China and six other countries from owning agricultural land or property near military sites. Similarly, Texas enacted legislation barring land purchases by individuals linked to the governments of China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran. States like South Dakota, Indiana, Nebraska, and Virginia have followed with their own restrictions. Other states remain divided. In January, Republican lawmakers in Arkansas introduced the “Not One More Inch or Acre Act” to bar any real estate transactions involving Chinese nationals or proxies of the Chinese Communist Party. However, not all proposed bills have succeeded. Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs , a Democrat, vetoed a bill that would have blocked Chinese entities from purchasing significant land near strategic assets. Meanwhile, states such as Ohio, Michigan, and Georgia are still weighing similar legislative actions. As this issue continues to evolve, it reflects both geopolitical anxieties and domestic debates over property rights, economic openness, and national security. Read the Newsweek report: https://bit.ly/45iIQGk . National Academy of Sciences President Warns: “Course-Correct or Lose to China” On June 3, 2025, National Academy of Sciences President Marcia McNutt delivered her second State of the Science address in Washington DC. Her warning was stark, as summarized by Politico : “Course-correct or lose to China.” A video of her address is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MENzD7eVtZA (47:55).Dr. McNutt cited independent studies showing the U.S. is already trailing China in several key technology sectors. “The U.S. is no longer leading in key technologies,” she said, warning that U.S. scientific leadership is at risk unless the nation reverses damaging trends: budget cuts, grant cancellations, and restrictive research policies.To restore U.S. leadership in science and innovation, McNutt outlined a plan that includes: · Revive a culture of innovation . Budget cuts are leading to risk-averse research choices. Dr. McNutt called for data-driven reforms in peer-review systems to support bold, high-impact proposal. · Develop a national research strategy . “No sensible business runs a multibillion-dollar enterprise without a strategy—yet that’s what we’re doing,” McNutt said. She urged the U.S. to emulate countries like China and Germany, which use strategic, nonpartisan planning to guide research investment. · Strengthen science education . The U.S. lacks the STEM workforce to meet growing demand, and restrictive visa policies further hinder talent inflow. Dr. McNutt emphasized the broader societal need for science-literate professionals across all sectors. such as lawyers, politicians, and workers in manufacturing and transportation. · Sustain International Collaboration . Cutting-edge science increasingly relies on global partnerships. Dr. McNutt warned that turning away international students and collaborators squanders opportunities and weakens U.S. influence. · Reduce Regulatory Burdens . ed tape is draining research resources. And since the Trump administration has prioritized reducing regulations, McNutt hopes that push extends to research regulations. “I worry that the emphasis right now on waste, fraud and abuse only leads to more regulations, as everyone is assumed guilty until proven innocent.” Dr. McNutt also revealed that the National Academy of Sciences is grappling with a $40 million budget shortfall due to terminated federal contracts. As a result, it may need to lay off 250 more employees, following 50 recent departures—marking a sobering reminder of science’s precarious place in today’s policy landscape.On June 5, Science pointed out that the United States was already falling behind in its share of published research—even before the most recent waves of defunding and dismantling basic science. The percentage of papers in Science with at least one corresponding author supported by U.S. federal funding dropped from 54% in 2018 to 44% in 2024. In contrast, the number of published papers originating from China has doubled over the same period. On June 6, John Holdren and Neal Lane , two former directors of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, sounded alarm in Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists , that U.S. science faces a crisis due to proposed massive funding and staffing cuts to key federal agencies. The National Science Foundation (NSF) could see its budget slashed by 55% and staff cut by 30%, undermining basic research. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) faces a $20 billion reduction and deep staff losses, threatening critical biomedical research. Similar cuts target the Department of Energy’s Office of Science, NOAA, NASA, EPA, and USAID—agencies vital to health, energy, environment, and national security. These moves, they argue, are politically driven and risk reversing decades of bipartisan investment that positioned the U.S. as a global science leader. As China increases its research output, America is losing talent and momentum. The authors urge Congress to act decisively and restore support for science, warning that failure to do so endangers innovation, public welfare, and democracy itself. On June 7, Axios reported that the Trump administration’s science funding cuts and restrictions on foreign students are triggering a severe brain drain in the U.S. Quoting Dr. McNutt, America may never fully recover its leadership in global science, as countries like China aggressively recruit top talent. U.S. grant approvals have slowed to a 35-year low, while foreign institutions—like France’s Aix-Marseille University and Chinese research centers—are drawing increasing numbers of American scientists. The administration argues its policies will prioritize domestic talent, but experts say U.S. applicants cannot realistically fill the gap, especially in critical STEM fields. The result is a discouraged generation of young scientists and a weakened future pipeline. On June 9, the National Academies released a feature story about President Marcia McNutt’s annual State of the Science address with the title “NAS President Says U.S. Science Is Facing ‘Pessimistic’ Future, Urges Changes to Regain Leadership in Science”. News and Activities for the Communities APA Justice Community Calendar Upcoming Events: 2025/06/15 Rep. Gene Wu's Town Hall Meeting2025/06/15-18 2025 Applied Statistics Symposium2025/06/16-24 Discover China 2025: Summer Youth Exchange to the Greater Bay Area2025/06/29-30 2025 ICSA China ConferenceVisit https://bit.ly/3XD61qV for event details. USCET Is Hiring The U.S.-China Education Trust (USCET) is hiring a full-time Program Associate and a part-time Program Manager . These positions are ideal for individuals passionate about U.S.-China relations and cross-cultural dialogue. Join a dynamic nonprofit environment dedicated to fostering mutual understanding between the United States and China.Deadline is June 30, 2025, at 11:59 pm ET. Rolling review begins on June 23, 2025 — early applications encouraged! For more information on full job descriptions and application details, visit https://bit.ly/3Fuaplv . # # # APA Justice Task Force is a non-partisan platform to build a sustainable ecosystem that addresses racial profiling concerns and to facilitate, inform, and advocate on selected issues related to justice and fairness for the Asian Pacific American community. For more information, please refer to the new APA Justice website under development at www.apajusticetaskforce.org . We value your feedback. Please send your comments to contact@apajustice.org . Back View PDF June 11, 2025 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter

Newsletter - #205 9/11 Meeting; No to Discriminatory Laws; March on Washington; "A Life Well Lived;" + #205 9/11 Meeting; No to Discriminatory Laws; March on Washington; "A Life Well Lived;" + In This Issue #205 2023/09/11 APA Justice Monthly Meeting Tell Congress NO To Discriminatory Land Laws; Is China Really Buying Up U.S. Farmland? NPR Interview UCA on March on Washington Vigil Honors "A Life Well Lived" at The University of North Carolina News and Activities for The Communities 2023/09/11 APA Justice Monthly Meeting The next APA Justice monthly meeting will be held via Zoom on Monday, September 11, 2023, starting at 1:55 pm ET. In addition to updates by Nisha Ramachandran , Executive Director, Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC); John Yang 杨重远 , President and Executive Director, Advancing Justice | AAJC; and Gisela Perez Kusakawa , Executive Director, Asian American Scholar Forum (AASF), confirmed and invited speakers include: Clay Zhu 朱可亮 (confirmed) , Partner, DeHeng Law Offices 德恒律师事务所; Founder, Chinese American Legal Defense Alliance 华美维权同盟, to report on the latest developments of the lawsuit against Florida's discriminatory alien land law Deborah Seligsohn (confirmed) , Senior Associate (non-resident), Center for Strategic and International Studies; Assistant Professor, Villanova University on the case for US-China Science and Technology Agreement (STA) https://bit.ly/3OMc8En Steve Kivelson (confirmed), Prabhu Goel Family Professor of Physics Luke Blossom Professor, Stanford University, on the joint letter with Professor Peter Michelson to President Joe Biden and members of the National Security Council on renewing the STA https://bit.ly/44xTNPX Sudip Parikh (invited) , Chief Executive Officer and Executive Publisher Science Family of Journals at AAAS, on moving open science, basic research, and US-China collaboration forward in today's environment. Ting Wu (invited) , Advisor, Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, Office of the Chief of Staff, The White House, on the letter to the President and more 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 On August 24, 2023, Stanford University Professors Steven Kivelson and Peter Michelson sent a letter to President Joe Biden and the Members of the US National Security Council to express their strong support for renewing the Agreement Between the United States and China on Cooperation in Science and Technology , which was signed by U.S. President Jimmy Carter and Chinese Premier Deng Xiaoping on January 31, 1979. Their letter was endorsed by over 1,000 faculty and scholars from many US universities including multiple Nobel Laureates, members of the National Academies, and of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Read the letter: https://bit.ly/44xTNPX . Read the APA Justice coverage: https://bit.ly/3E9NmI8 Tell Congress NO To Discriminatory Land Laws; Is China Really Buying Up U.S. Farmland? NPR Interview 1. Tell Congress NO To Discriminatory Land Laws On August 25, 2023, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) put out a call for the public to tell Congress: Say NO to Discriminatory Land Laws."Dangerous laws are being introduced at the state and federal level right now that use 'national security' as an excuse to discriminate against immigrants from China. In Florida, for example, Governor DeSantis has banned many Chinese immigrants from buying a house in much of the state – a move that is both unconstitutional and unfortunately, not new."This type of 'alien land law' should sound alarm bells for all of us. From the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, to the WWII incarceration of Japanese Americans, to the ongoing post-9/11 surveillance of Black and Brown communities – we’ve seen how such racist policies created under the guise of 'national security' are racist and used to scapegoat entire communities."We cannot allow history to repeat itself: Tell your Members of Congress to speak out against any law that falsely equates Chinese people with the Chinese government."Thanks to ACLU, take one easy step to tell Congress NO to discriminatory land laws at https://bit.ly/3qRsFOh 2. CNBC: Is China Really Buying Up U.S. Farmland? According to NBC News on August 26, 2023, state and federal lawmakers are pushing to regulate foreign ownership of U.S. real estate because of fears that Chinese entities are creating a national security risk by amassing swaths of U.S. farmland, some of it near sensitive sites.A review by NBC News of thousands of documents filed with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), however, shows very few purchases by Chinese buyers in the past year and a half — fewer than 1,400 acres in a country with 1.3 billion acres of agricultural land. In fact, the total amount of U.S. agricultural land owned by Chinese interests is less than three-hundredths of 1%.But the review also reveals a federal oversight system in which reporting of foreign ownership is lax and enforcement minimal. NBC News was able to review filings on foreign purchases and leases of agricultural land, meaning both farm and forestry land, from 35 states since Jan. 1, 2022. The vast majority of the transactions were European wind power companies leasing land from U.S. farmers to build wind turbines. One Italian wind company disclosed 40 new leases of farmland in just one rural Illinois county. The same company had leases in at least four other states.In those 35 states, NBC News found 11 purchases by Chinese entities that had been reported to the USDA from Jan. 1, 2022, to June 30, 2023.Several of the disclosures were not recent sales, and at least one was a repeat of a previous disclosure. Another was not reported to the government till it had been revealed in the media.Historically only about 3.1%, or 40 million acres, of the nation’s 1.3 billion acres of agricultural land has been owned by foreigners. Almost half of the foreign-owned land is forest. USDA records show that a third of the 40 million foreign-owned acres are held by Canadian interests, while Chinese interests hold less than 400,000 acres.In the name of national security, members of Congress have called for tougher laws to regulate foreign land purchases, criticizing existing efforts by the USDA to police disclosure.In late July, the Senate passed a ban on China, Russia, North Korea and Iran buying American agricultural land, but it’s unclear if the amendment will make it into the final defense spending bill that will go to a vote in Congress this fall.Read the NBC News report: https://cnb.cx/3sGWSAk 3. NPR: Slew of new landownership bills are reminiscent of anti-Asian Alien Land Laws On August 28, 2023, National Public Radio (NPR) talked with legal expert Edgar Chen , Special Policy Adviser for the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA), about the recent slew of legislation aimed at restricting U.S. land ownership for Chinese citizens and businesses.The following are excerpts of his responses:"Fear of so-called malign influence by the Chinese Communist Party over American agriculture or fear that China will use land for spying purposes has often been cited as the basis for introduction of these bills. But to be clear, several of these bills, as introduced, also placed restrictions on the ability of ordinary Chinese citizens to purchase residential real estate, like condos."In Florida, a law recently enacted there would prevent persons from certain countries that are deemed adversaries to the U.S. from purchasing agricultural land, land near military bases or critical infrastructure and - so most habitable areas. And that would ban persons from countries like China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Syria, Venezuela or Cuba from doing so. But that Florida law has an entire separate section dedicated to restricting those from China. And that law even has higher penalties for those violating the Chinese section than for other sections. So there are felony provisions for violating the Chinese section of the Florida law and misdemeanors for the other sections."The Chinese spy balloon in February of this year doesn't help matters. That provided a tangible illustration of the ongoing geopolitical threat posed by China. But again, these laws that we've seen introduced do nothing to address that particular threat head on. I don't see how banning someone from buying a condo in the downtown area will address that particular threat."The problem is there is a false moral equivalency that equates ordinary Chinese citizens, even those with no ties to the Chinese Communist Party, as essentially being agents of those regimes. So these laws assume that if you immigrate from China, your loyalty is to China. And that's extraordinarily harmful to the broader Asian American community in this country."This country has already seen this movie before. We've experienced the discriminatory effects of these laws. The court that recently upheld the Florida law cited to a widely discredited 1923 precedent which contains language about those who are eligible for citizenship and therefore entitled to purchase property. And that 1923 Supreme Court precedent says that Natives of European countries are eligible. Japanese, Chinese and Malays are not. That is the type of case law that is being cited to. And as an Asian American and as a lawyer, I'm stunned that the court would continue to rely on a case that contains so much discriminatory reasoning. "As legal precedent, those alien land laws helped set the groundwork for the incarceration of Japanese Americans during the Second World War. So for the Asian American community, we have seen this. This slippery slope has already come and, we thought, gone."Listen to the interview and read the entire transcript at: https://n.pr/45Sa4k6 . Follow APA Justice coverage of Alien Land Bills at: https://bit.ly/43epBcl UCA on March on Washington According to a summary report on the 60th anniversary of the March on Washington by United Chinese Americans (UCA), several hundred members and partners joined the March at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC on August 26, including nine members of its Board of Directors. UCA made customized placards and banners such as "We Belong Here", "Against Asian Hate", "One Common Dream" and wore unified UCA T-Shirts. At the same time, as a symbol of anti-Asian hate, thousands of Yellow Whistles were distributed on the spot. The Yellow Whistles were described as "a symbol of self-preservation and solidarity in the fight against racism and anti-Asian violence," and feature a yellow color that "has been used as a symbol of hateful mentality against Asians." Haipei Shue 薛海培 , UCA President, was invited to have a cordial and in-depth conversation with Martin Luther King III and his daughter-in-law, Arndrea Waters King , and discussed the development of the American civil rights movement and cooperation.Haipei Shue remarked afterwards: "Today, I participated in the historic 60th anniversary March on Washington. I met with the King family and had a good talk. I expressed my gratitude from the Chinese community, telling them that without the March on Washington in 1963 and the vigorous civil rights movement in the 1960s, there would be no immigration law reform in 1965, and thus many Chinese would not be able to settle down in the United States today. I further told his family about the current difficult situation faced by the Chinese community such as the 'China Initiative' and the discriminatory alien land bills, as well as UCA outreach to various ethnic groups, including NAACP and the Jewish community. The King family is very interested in connecting with UCA to continue bilateral communications. The Chinese community was often absent in the past social and political movements in the United States. Today, more than 100 people from over ten states participated in this March with high visibility. It is a significant milestone worthy of everyone's pride! UCA calls for the launch of a new civil rights movement of our generation! Thanks again for the participation and concern of friends from far and near!" Steven Pei 白先慎 , Founding Chair of UCA, said, "Chinese Americans have a long history of civil rights movement, such as the Yik Wo v. Hopkins case in 1886." From participating in the previous March on Washington and building intercultural partnerships, advocating for the creation of racial studies, to participating in the Black Lives Matter protests, the Asian American community does not stop for civil rights for all. Early in the 2020 pandemic, UCA hosted a summit of Asian, Black and Jewish community leaders to discuss the challenges each community faces and ways to work together to address injustice. Chen Jian 陈健 , Founding Director of UCA came to the Lincoln Memorial early in the morning to provide logistical support. She said that "we Chinese Americans are facing various challenges at present. But we firmly believe that, as Martin Luther King Jr. conveyed, the dream of equality and justice must be inherited by each of us. This mission transcends skin color, transcends background, and is integrated into the veins of our great country. Let us work together to overcome difficulties and write a better and more inclusive future."Read the UCA report: https://bit.ly/47WGV9d . Read APA Justice's coverage of the 2023 March on Washington: https://bit.ly/3OVojxs Vigil Honors "A Life Well Lived" at The University of North Carolina According to the University of North Carolina (UNC) on August 31, 2023, thousands wore ribbons and lit candles at the Dean E. Smith Center service in memory of Zijie Yan 严资杰 , a brilliant, soft-spoken faculty member and nanoscience researcher killed in a campus shooting.The vigil at the Smith Center allowed the Carolina community to come together to process the fear and uncertainty caused by the shooting and resolve to be “Carolina Strong” in the wake of the tragedy.“His loss will be deeply felt by all those who knew him and loved him,” Chancellor Kevin M. Guskiewicz said to the mourners, who included Yan’s mother and two young children. “Dr. Yan left this world a better place for his brilliance, his commitment and the lives that he affected. That’s a life well lived and a life ended far, far too soon.”An estimated 5,000 faculty, staff, students and community members attended the vigil, and another 10,000 watched the livestream from the Smith Center. Many wore blue ribbons and held candles that were handed out at the Smith Center entrance. Music professors played somber selections on cello and violin as mourners filled the seats. Leah Cox , vice provost of equity and inclusion and chief diversity officer, reminded audience members of the mental health resources available for faculty, staff and students. “Let us never forget that we are truly one Carolina where hope always triumphs over fear, where inclusivity arises above difference,” she said.According to the South China Morning Post on August 30, 2023, a doctoral candidate Tailei Qi 齐太磊 , 34, was charged with first-degree murder and possession of a firearm on educational property. He was ordered held without bail until his next scheduled court appearance on September 18.Read the UNC report: https://unc.live/45BgVP4 . Read the South China Morning Post report: https://bit.ly/3PnoLGa United Chinese Americans (UCA) issued the following report in Chinese: 8月30日星期三晚，大约五千名北卡罗来纳大学（UNC）教堂山分校校园和社区成员，聚集在史密斯中心（Dean E. Smith Center）举行烛光守夜活动，纪念两天前在校园不幸遇害的严资杰教授。校长古斯基维奇（Kevin M. Guskiewicz）在讲话中表示，“所有认识他和爱他的人，都会对他的去世深感悲痛，严以他的才华、他的承诺以及他所带来的影响，让这个世界变得更美好，这样一个美丽的生命如此戛然而止，令人痛心。”音乐系教授演奏了大提琴和小提琴的忧郁音乐，陪伴在场的人们凭吊和追思。据报道，身为纳米科学研究人员，严是一位才华横溢、为人谦和的教授，有两个年幼的孩子。2005年在华中科大以计算机和材料工程本科双学位毕业后，严先后在纽约和芝加哥攻读硕士、博士和做博士后研究，2019年起在UNC担任副教授。他生前所在的艺术与科学学院、应用物理科学系系主任丁格曼斯（Theo Dingemans）回忆说，严是他见过的最友善的人之一，也是一位杰出的科学家，“他的研究计划突破了纳米科学的界限……我确信，这些研究最终将改变世界。”枪击案凶嫌齐太磊是严教授手下的博士在读学生，被控一级谋杀罪和在教育场所持有武器，不得保释，这两项罪名都是重罪，但目前对于动机尚没有确切的信息。根据2010年中国媒体的报道，他是河南省高考状元之一，家境拮据，父母务农，他在武汉大学读物理学，在进入UNC之前与路易斯安那州立大学获得材料科学与工程硕士学位。凶杀案引起华人社区的热议，有一些猜测是在背后存在长期的心理问题，呼吁学生注重精神健康并善用相关资源。 News and Activities for The Communities Mark Your Calendar - National API Elected Officials Summit API Coalition and Civic Leadership USA (CLUSA) will convene the Inaugural National API Elected Officials Summit on November 18-19, 2023, immediately following The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders Meeting. This summit aims to facilitate the exchange of experiences, ideas, and the establishment of enduring relationships geared towards mutual support. The event will be held at The Westin St. Francis Hotel, 335 Powell St, San Francisco, CA 94102. Hundreds of current Asian Pacific Islander (API) elected officials, representatives from APEC member countries and regions, and the world's top business AANHPI elected officials will participate in the event. Contact Andy Li, President of API Coalition and CLUSA, at andy.j.li@gmail.com or (860)-263-9540 for additional details. APA Justice has also posted the event at its newly created Community Calendar: https://bit.ly/45KGyga Back View PDF September 4, 2023 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter

Newsletter - #220 Biden-Xi Summit/QI Letter; Dr. Yanping Chen; Section 702; "Global Women Forum"? News+ #220 Biden-Xi Summit/QI Letter; Dr. Yanping Chen; Section 702; "Global Women Forum"? News+ In This Issue #220 · Biden-Xi Summit and Quincy Institute Open Letter · Latest Development of The Case of Dr. Yanping Chen 陈燕平 · Alarm Over Section 702 Surveillance Program · Is It a "Global Women Forum" When There Is No Asian Woman? · News and Activities for the Communities Biden-Xi Summit and Quincy Institute Open Letter This is a special invited report by Juan Zhang , Editor, US-China Perception Monitor/ 中美印象, Carter Center The highly anticipated Biden-Xi summit took place on November 15, 2023, on the sidelines of the APEC summit in San Francisco, California. Many experts believe the significance of this meeting lies in the fact that it will prevent further deterioration of the bilateral relationship and possibly lead to a reset of the relationship between the two countries before the upcoming U.S. presidential elections.Before the meeting, 34 U.S. civil society and professional organizations issued an open letter urging the leaders to have “a cordial and productive discussion.” The letter expressed concerns over the current dangerous trends in Sino-American relations. APA Justice was a signatory to the letter. The organizations who signed the letter represent “a wide range of American constituencies with direct stakes in the future of the U.S.-China relationship.” “Continued hostile rhetoric from prominent figures in both the United States and China contributes to this alarming deterioration of relations,” the letter further stated. Dr. Yawei Liu , founding editor-in-chief of the U.S.-China Perception Monitor at The Carter Center, is also a signatory to the letter. Dr. Liu recounted the role of President Jimmy Carter and his Chinese counterpart Deng Xiaoping in finding ways to put aside differences and cooperate almost 45 years ago.“That legacy is endangered now,” he continued, saying both countries appear on a path that could lead to conflict and confrontation.Read the full report by The Hill : Farmers, academics, advocates urge Biden, Xi to calm US-China tensions . Takeaways from the Summit The White House released a readout after the meeting, framing the meeting as “candid and constructive.” Two leaders discussed “a range of bilateral and global issues, including areas of potential cooperation and exchanged views on areas of difference”, the statement pointed out. The two sides reached agreements on several key areas that include curbing the production of illicit fentanyl and resuming military-to-military communications, which was suspended after then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi ’s visit to Taiwan. Rick Waters, former diplomat and managing director of Eurasia Group’s China practice, pointed out in GZERO Daily a fentanyl deal would be key for Biden’s reelection campaign. Fentanyl is a dangerous drug that has become a leading cause of death among young Americans.Taiwan remains the biggest point of contention. It is also the most important issue that China wants to discuss at the summit. Analysts warned that Taiwan could become a flash point that might trigger a conflict between the two countries.Both sides expressed their positions on Taiwan. President Xi Jinping told President Joe Biden that the United States needed to take “concrete actions” to reassure China that it still stands by its stated policy of not supporting Taiwanese independence. President Biden emphasized the One China policy has not changed. Biden also reiterated that the U.S. opposes any unilateral change of the status quo. What’s next? Can this year’s summit successfully manage and stabilize this relationship? This is a million-dollar question. While many experts agree that it is constructive and positive that the top leaders from both countries talk to each other, they do not think that this summit would become a turning point for the troubled bilateral relationship. When the two leaders met last year on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Indonesia, both sides had a similar goal: to stabilize the bilateral relations. But the balloon incident earlier this year derailed that goal. The rest of this year would see further U.S. export control, arms sales to Taiwan, and military maneuvers in the South China Sea. Let’s hope leaders on both sides agree that they need to do everything to prevent their fierce rivalry from veering into conflict. Latest Development of The Case of Dr. Yanping Chen 陈燕平 According to AP , a federal judge in Washington is weighing whether to hold in contempt a veteran journalist who has refused to identify her sources for stories about Dr. Yanping Chen , a Chinese American scientist who was investigated by the FBI but never charged. The judge previously ordered former Fox News reporter Catherine Herridge , who now works at CBS , to be interviewed under oath about her sources for a series of stories about Dr. Yanping Chen. Dr. Chen, who was investigated for years on suspicions she may have lied on immigration forms related to work on a Chinese astronaut program, has since sued the government, saying details about the probe were leaked to damage her reputation. But after Herridge refused to divulge to Chen’s lawyers how she acquired her information, the scientist’s attorneys are asking U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper to hold the reporter in contempt — a sanction that could result in steep monetary fines until she complies. It’s not clear when the judge might rule on Chen’s request to hold Herridge in contempt. The judge acknowledged the stakes in an August decision that forced Herridge to be interviewed, writing, “The Court recognizes both the vital importance of a free press and the critical role that confidential sources play in the work of investigative journalists like Herridge.” But Cooper said that “Chen’s need for the requested evidence overcomes Herridge’s qualified First Amendment privilege in this case.”Courts have recognized that journalists have a limited privilege to keep confidential their sources, allowing reporters to block subpoenas in the past. But judges in some cases, like Herridge’s, have found that privilege can be outweighed by the need for the information if the person seeking the source has failed to find it through other means.Read the AP report: https://bit.ly/3QEHfSe . Read the story of Dr. Yanping Chen: https://bit.ly/APAJ_Yanping_Chen Alarm Over Section 702 Surveillance Program According to WIRED , more than 60 groups advocating for Asian American and Pacific Islander communities are pushing the US Congress to reform the Section 702 surveillance program as Senate leaders move to renew it. A coalition letter expressing strong opposition to including a short-term reauthorization of Section 702 in a continuing resolution or any other "must-pass" legislation was sent to all members of Congress on November 14, 2023. The coalition calls for members of Congress to consider the concerns seriously and to reject any short-term reauthorization of Section 702. Failure to do so would perpetuate a system that unjustly targets Asian Americans and subjects them to unwarranted surveillance. "Section 702 and related surveillance authorities have been misused to spy on Americans, including but not limited to protesters, journalists, campaign donors, and members of Congress. The consequences of such misuse have had a profound impact on our Asian American community, resulting in wrongful targeting, unjust surveillance, and devastating tolls on careers, livelihoods, and reputations. This disproportionate targeting has fostered a climate of fear among Asian Americans and their families, causing anxiety about being stopped, monitored, or investigated while engaging in everyday activities. These issues not only raise significant concerns about civil liberties and civil rights, but also underscore the need for substantial reform," the letter said. "The inclusion of a short-term reauthorization in larger 'must-pass' bills would undermine the democratic process, run counter to the will of Congress, and disregard the concerns of the American people. Such an approach could also imperil the long-term viability of Section 702 by alienating members who are willing to engage in constructive negotiations for meaningful reforms," the letter also said.Concerned individuals may sign on to the opposition of warrantless surveillance here: https://bit.ly/3EFkg3R . A community briefing on Section 702 has been tentatively scheduled for December 12, 2023. Read the coalition letter: https://bit.ly/47gXxaO . Read the WIRED report: https://bit.ly/47wdFVz . Is It a "Global Women Forum" When There is No Asian Woman? On November 14, 2023, The Washington Post hosted an all-day event named Global Women's Summit, featuring "women from around the world galvanizing innovation and change." However, according to Nancy Chen , President of Chinese American Women in Action (CAWA), noted that none of the 44 women speakers and 2 men from around the U.S. and part of the world are of Chinese and East Asian ancestry. In an email to Sally Buzbee , executive editor of the Washington Post and one of the organizers for the Global Women’s Summit, Chen wrote "I am reaching out to you as the executive editor of the Washington Post and one of the organizers for the Global Women’s Summit. "It's astonishing that the Washington Post trumpets its Global Women's Summit with 44 women speakers and 2 men from around the U.S. and part of the world but omits and excludes American and other women who are of Chinese and East Asian ancestry. Basically, you have ignored almost one quarter of the female population in the world while touting this as a 'global' women’s summit. Our exclusion—either domestically or internationally—harkens back to the colonial era of the past two centuries when Asian women were excluded by the Page Act and later the Chinese Exclusion Act in the United States, and Asian countries were divided up amongst European powers. "By any measure, women of East Asian ancestry are equally shaking up the systems of power in government, entertainment, tech, business and medicine, but are apparently not enough to be recognized by Washington Post decision-makers. There is no shortage of distinguished and nationally-recognized women leaders—Women like Tammy Duckworth or Mazie Hirono in government, Michelle Yeoh or Sandra Oh in entertainment, Kim Ng in sports management, Dr. Leana Wen in medicine, Helen Zia in civil rights, Ellen Pao in technology, Celeste Ng , Maya Lin and more. You could have looked as close by as AARP, one of Global Summit's leading sponsors, and its Vice President of DEI Daphne Kwok whose career has spanned the civil rights, government and nonprofit sectors. It speaks volumes of the mindset of the Washington Post that East Asian American women leaders are invisible in this 'global summit.' "Chinese American Women in Action (CAWA) was founded a year ago amid anti-Asian racism during the pandemic in order to increase recognition and civic engagement for women in our community. This slight by the Washington Post is yet another reminder of the work ahead of us, our daughters and our granddaughters to belong and to be seen and heard. "We ask that you and the Post do better." Read Nancy Chen's letter: https://bit.ly/49ygHuu News and Activities for the Communities 1. APA Justice Community Calendar Upcoming Events: 2023/11/16 C100 Forum Debate: Has the Chinese Economy Slowed Down Permanently, Temporarily, or It Depends?2023/11/18 Inaugural Jimmy Carter Conversation on U.S.-China Relations2023/11/18-19 National API Elected Officials Summit2023/11/19 Rep. Gene Wu 's Weekly Town Hall meeting2023/11/26 Rep. Gene Wu 's Weekly Town Hall meeting2023/12/03 Rep. Gene Wu 's Weekly Town Hall meetingVisit https://bit.ly/45KGyga for event details . 2. Survey on Racism and Anti-Asian Hate According to AsAmNews , nearly 9 out of 10 Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders polled, or 86 percent, say racism is a serious problem in the United States. Half of those say they’ve been discriminated against based on their race and 16 percent say they’ve been a victim of a hate crime.Those are the results of a new survey conducted by APIA Data and AP/NORC.Another 34% of AAPI adults believe they’ve been subjected to verbal harassment, racial slurs or have been on the receiving end of threats of physical violence.Surveys were conducted online and via telephone in English, the Chinese dialects of Mandarin and Cantonese, Vietnamese, and Korean. 1,178 Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders aged 18 and older living in the United States participated. The margin of sampling error is +/- 4.2 percentage points.Read the AsAmNews report: https://bit.ly/40E2R5M Back View PDF November 16, 2023 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter

Newsletter - #150 Arrowood; OSTP/AASF Webinars; BIS/NASEM Reports; US Ranking/Scores Drop; Big Data #150 Arrowood; OSTP/AASF Webinars; BIS/NASEM Reports; US Ranking/Scores Drop; Big Data Back View PDF October 13, 2022 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter

Newsletter - #212 10/2 Meeting; Section 702 Reforms; Anti-Asian Racism in the US; 2020 Census Data; More #212 10/2 Meeting; Section 702 Reforms; Anti-Asian Racism in the US; 2020 Census Data; More In This Issue #212 2023/10/02 APA Justice Monthly Meeting Report on The Warrantless Surveillance Program and Section 702 Reforms Report on Anti-Asian Racism in The United States 2020 Census Data for Nearly 1,500 Detailed Race and Ethnicity Groups, Tribes and Villages News and Activities for the Communities 2023/10/02 APA Justice Monthly Meeting The next APA Justice monthly meeting will be held via Zoom on Monday, October 2, 2023, starting at 1:55 pm ET.In addition to updates by Nisha Ramachandran , Executive Director, Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC); Joanna Derman , Director, Advancing Justice | AAJC; Gisela Perez Kusakawa , Executive Director, Asian American Scholar Forum (AASF), and Clay Zhu 朱可亮 , Partner, DeHeng Law Offices 德恒律师事务所, confirmed speakers will also include: Nancy Chen , Founding President, Chinese American Women in Action (CAWA) on the history of CAWA and its interests and concerns in Illinois and national issues Andy Wong , Managing Director of Advocacy, Chinese for Affirmative Action, on the coalition letter on Section 702 reforms, responses, and related CAA activities such as the recently launched "Stop The Blame" campaign Haipei Shue (薛海培) , President, United Chinese Americans, on the recent hearings of Professor Feng " Franklin" Tao 陶丰 's appeal in the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver and the administrative trial of New York Police Department Officer Baimadajie Angwang 昂旺 in New York City (new addition) 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 NOTE : A shutdown of the federal government happens when Congress fails to pass some type of funding legislation that is signed into law by the president. Funding expired on September 30, 2023, but a 45-day stop-gap bill was signed into law at the last minute to continue government operation until November 17, 2023. Report on The Warrantless Surveillance Program and Section 702 Reforms On September 28, 2023, the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB) released a 297-page report titled "Report on The Surveillance Program Operated Pursuant to Section 702 of The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act." According to The Hill on October 1, 2023, "the PCLOB report reveals deep divisions among its five members on how to reform Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which allows for warrantless surveillance of foreigners abroad. "In a departure from precedent, the report did not reach unanimous conclusions about how to update the law, a confusing prospect as a Congress divided on Section 702 stares down an end-of-the-year deadline to renew it. "The board’s two Republican-appointed members voted against its release, said its findings should not be attributed to them and attached their recommendations in a 56-page annex that read almost like a second report. "Civil liberties advocates have long viewed Section 702 as a backdoor for gaining access to information on Americans, whose communications get swept up in searches as they speak with those being surveilled abroad. It’s a factor they see as a violation of Sixth Amendment rights and a particular risk to Black and other communities of color. "The report, however, includes a third rail for the intelligence community — a suggestion the intelligence community first get a court order before reviewing any intel gleaned on Americans. "Doing so, PCLOB’s majority writes, would offer the 'most critical safeguard for Americans’ privacy rights.' "The FBI spied on 119,000 Americans last year, a sharp decline that reflects changes in FBI policy for how the agency accesses the information of citizens swept up in other searches. Still, an unsealed opinion from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, the entity that would oversee the court order process recommended by the report, recently unsealed an opinion showing a string of abuses, including reviewing information on elected officials. "The inclusion of a recommendation to get a court order before reviewing information gathered on Americans and permanent residents was celebrated by civil liberties groups that have long pushed for such a requirement. " Elizabeth Goitein , senior director of the Liberty and National Security Program at the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University, called the report an 'ironclad case for requiring a probable-cause order for U.S. person queries.'" On September 14, 2023, a coalition of 52 Asian American organizations wrote to Congress to oppose the renewal of Section 702 of FISA unless significant revisions are put into place. The letter, led by Asian American Scholae Forum (AASF), Advancing Justice | AAJC, and Chinese for Affirmative Action (CAA) and Stop AAPI Hate, wrote "with a sense of urgency and a shared commitment to safeguarding the principles of justice, equality, and privacy in our nation. As Asian Americans and allies, we understand all too well the perils of unchecked national security programs and the historical discrimination our community has endured. Our shared history serves as a poignant reminder of the dangers of racial profiling and prejudice in the name of national security." Read the coalition letter: https://bit.ly/3LkEmnt . Read the PCLOB report: https://bit.ly/3PEutm3 . According to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) , in May 2017, Professor Xiaoxing Xi 郗小星 filed a lawsuit against the lead FBI agent in the case, Andrew Haugen , and other agents, alleging that they made knowingly or recklessly false statements in support of the investigation and prosecution. Xi’s wife and oldest daughter later joined the case. The ACLU joined the case in October 2017. The lawsuit asks the court to award damages and to declare that the defendants violated the plaintiffs’ Fourth and Fifth Amendment rights. It also asks the court to order the government to return or delete any of the Xis’ communications that it obtained during the investigation. The Third Circuit Court of Appeals allowed Xi and his family to pursue their lawsuit against the U.S. government in May 2023. Report on Anti-Asian Racism in The United States On September 27, 2023, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights (USCCR) released its 2023 statutory enforcement report, The Federal Response to Anti-Asian Racism in the United States . The report assesses the rise in anti-Asian hate crimes in the U.S. from 2019 through 2021, and the federal role in preventing and enforcing federal hate crime laws. According to USCCR, the report examines three main areas: 1) national trends and data regarding the rise of hate incidents and hate crimes against members of Asian communities; 2) local and state law enforcement’s prevention and reporting practices regarding hate crimes; and 3) federal efforts and policies that encourage greater participation in reporting hate crime incidents, as well as prosecution and enforcement efforts to prevent hate crimes. The report highlights that language barriers hinder the reporting of incidents, and many incidents, even if they don’t meet legal hate crime criteria, still evoke fear and are not accounted for in official statistics. A major impediment is the lack of comprehensive data and reporting in understanding the severity of hate crimes against individuals of Asian descent. The report notes that the transition to the National Incident-Based Reporting System has been slow for some agencies, leading to incomplete data. The Commission proposes a “holistic strategy” to combat anti-Asian hate incidents, including improvements in data collection, legal enforcement, community support and education initiatives. It recommends urging prosecutors and law enforcement to vigorously investigate and prosecute hate crimes against Asian Americans and providing first responders with training on identifying hate crimes. It also highlights the need to address language barriers in federal, state and local law enforcement agencies and victim services. The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights is an independent, bipartisan agency established by Congress in 1957. Its mission is to inform the development of national civil rights policy and enhance enforcement of federal civil rights laws. Read the USCCR report: https://bit.ly/3ZB9llm 2020 Census Data for Nearly 1,500 Detailed Race and Ethnicity Groups, Tribes and Villages On September 21, 2023, the U.S. Census Bureau released 2020 Census population counts and sex-by-age statistics for 300 detailed race and ethnic groups, as well as 1,187 detailed American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) tribes and villages. On the Asian Population Among Asian respondents, Asian Indian was the largest alone group (4.4 million) and Chinese, except Taiwanese the largest alone or in any combination group (5.2 million). Filipino (4.4 million), Vietnamese (2.3 million), Korean (2.0 million), and Japanese (1.6 million) all had alone or in any combination populations over 1 million in 2020. The Nepalese population was the fastest growing Asian group among those with populations of 50,000 or more in 2010. The Nepalese alone population increased 295.5% from 51,907 in 2010 to 205,297 in 2020, and the Nepalese alone or in any combination population grew 269.0% from 59,490 to 219,503 over the decade. On the Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander Population Native Hawaiian was the largest Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander (NHPI) alone group (199,880) and alone or in any combination group (680,442). Nearly all NHPI groups grew from 2010 to 2020. The Chuukese alone population was the fastest growing NHPI alone group, increasing 296.2% to 10,500 in 2020. The fastest growing NHPI alone or in any combination group was Papua New Guinean, which increased by 249.3% to 1,453 people during the decade. Read the Census Bureau news release: https://bit.ly/3rAYGdQ . Read the breakdown on the Asian population: h ttps://bit.ly/3PwxDby News and Activities for the Communities 1. Community Calendar The APA Justice Community Calendar is located on the front page of the APA Justice website at https://www.apajustice.org/ . Upcoming Events: 2023/10/02 APA Justice October Monthly Meeting 2023/10/08 Rep. Gene Wu's Weekly Town Hall Meeting 2023/10/12 Expert Panel on Open Data for Racial Equity 2023/10/12 C100 Webinar - Race-Based Admissions and the Supreme Court Court: An Asian American Perspective 2023/10/12 The FBI and Chinese Americans - From the Investigation and Defense Frontline 2023/10/15 State Legislature 101 Training 2023/10/15 Rep. Gene Wu's Weekly Town Hall Meeting 2023/10/22 Rep. Gene Wu's Weekly Town Hall Meeting Visit https://bit.ly/45KGyga for event details. 2. 2023/10/12 Webinar: The FBI and Chinese Americans WHAT: On-site event - The FBI and Chinese American Community: Stories and Tips from the Investigation and Defense Frontline WHEN: Thursday, October 12, 6:30 - 8:30 pm PT WHERE: Santa Clara University School of Law, 500 El Camino Real, Santa Clara, CA 95050 HOSTS: The Chinese American Lawyers of the Bay Area (CALOBA) and the Chinese American Semiconductor Professional Association (CASPA) DESCRIPTION: "A conversation with the FBI on criminal trade secret theft at the Santa Clara University School of Law. As members of the Chinese American community, we are committed to protecting our shared interests and promoting a safe and prosperous environment for all. Please join us and learn some frontline stories and practical tips offered by our distinguished panelists based on their decades of experience in the field!" REGISTRATION: https://bit.ly/46cHiei 3. Foreign Affairs Essay: The Dysfunctional Superpower According to a Foreign Affairs essay on September 29, 2023, a looming government shutdown, a partisan impeachment inquiry, and the former president facing multiple felony charges across four criminal cases. Add to this chaos a presidential election and it’s fair to say that the U.S. political system will be preoccupied with its own drama and division for some time. Such paralysis could not come at a worse time. The United States should be in a strong position to deter Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping —but “dysfunction has made American power erratic and unreliable, practically inviting risk-prone autocrats to place dangerous bets,” the essay said. “The United States finds itself in a uniquely treacherous position: facing aggressive adversaries with a propensity to miscalculate yet incapable of mustering the unity and strength necessary to dissuade them.” Only by working together can U.S. leaders contend with such grave threats. And “therein lies the rub.” Robert M. Gates , author of the essay, is former U.S. Secretary of Defense. Read the Foreign Policy essay: https://fam.ag/3LNONjN Back View PDF October 2, 2023 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter

Newsletter - #357 Vincent Wang Honored; 10/16 Webinar; Mike German Remarks/Impacts; NSF Politicization+ #357 Vincent Wang Honored; 10/16 Webinar; Mike German Remarks/Impacts; NSF Politicization+ In This Issue #357 · Vincent Wang Inducted into Ohio Civil Rights Hall of Fame · Reminder: 10/16 Webinar "Bridging Nations" · Mike German's Remarks and Impacts over Time · Politicization at the National Science Foundation · News and Activities for the Communities Vincent Wang Inducted into Ohio Civil Rights Hall of Fame Wenkui “Vincent” Wang 王文奎 , Co-Organizer of APA Justice, was inducted into the Ohio Civil Rights Hall of Fame at a ceremony and reception held at the Lincoln Theatre in Columbus, Ohio, on October 9, 2025.The Ohio Civil Rights Hall of Fame honors exceptional Ohioans recognized as pioneers in advancing human and civil rights, equality, and inclusion. Inductees are individuals who have made significant contributions to civil rights, cultural awareness, and understanding in pursuit of a more just society. Their achievements are officially recorded in Ohio’s history. This year’s class includes eight distinguished honorees.In accepting the honor, Vincent stated: “I am deeply humbled and honored to be inducted into the Ohio Civil Rights Hall of Fame, alongside seven extraordinary individuals who have devoted their lives to advancing civil and human rights in their communities. I accept this honor not for myself alone, but for everyone who refuses to stay silent in the face of injustice—for those who choose hope over fear,trust over suspicion,and bridges over walls. Together, we will continue to defend civil rights, advance immigrant rights, and strengthen the democratic ideals that bind us as one people. My deepest gratitude to the Ohio Civil Rights Commission, my fellow honorees, and all who continue to fight for a more just and inclusive Ohio—and America.” APA Justice congratulates Vincent on this distinguished recognition and his continued leadership in advancing civil and human rights.Watch the 2025 induction ceremony honoring Vincent: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_jrtGze7nM (7:44) Reminder: 10/16 Webinar "Bridging Nations" Join APA Justice, Committee of 100, and the US-China Education Trust on Thursday October 16, 2025 at 8:00 p.m. ET for an expansive discussion of "Bridging Nations: People-to-People Exchange in U.S.-China Relations" with two distinguished Asian American ambassadors -- Ambassador Julia Chang Bloch and Governor Gary Locke – whose personal journeys and family histories bridge both nations. They will be joined in dialogue by Jessica Chen Weiss , David M. Lampton Professor of China Studies at Johns Hopkins SAIS.Register to attend the webinar by scanning the QR code above or clicking this link: https://bit.ly/20251016Webinar Mike German's Remarks and Impacts over Time On October 6, 2025, Mike German , Retired Fellow, Liberty & National Security, Brennan Center for Justice spoke at the APA Justice monthly meeting to reflect on his career and share his insightful thoughts.Mike opened by thanking APA Justice, Gisela Perez Kusakawa and Pat Eddington , noting with humor that his retirement “is not an obituary” and that he remains available to help.Reflecting on his career in the FBI, Mike described his years working undercover to infiltrate white nationalist networks. He emphasized that white nationalism is not a fringe ideology, as it is often portrayed, but rather a foundational force in American history that continues to influence society today. While his focus as an agent had been to stop people plotting violence, trafficking illegal weapons, and manufacturing explosives, the experience revealed to him how deeply these extremist ideologies are woven into the history of the United States—and how prevalent it still is.He observed that it has become easier to express such views openly in recent years. Mike left the FBI in 2004 after witnessing how the Global War on Terrorism was scapegoating Muslim Americans as a generalized threat. He recognized how easily those same FBI investigative methods could be turned against other communities. He had already seen a lot of targeting of the Asian American community in that process, particularly during the first Trump administration, when the China Initiative made such targeting more explicit. Mike was very pleased to be introduced to Jeremy and APA Justice, and so many of you. He already knew Gisella and Joanne. He shared how meaningful it was to connect with all of us who were ready to respond constructively. Together, we created a webinar series that educated policymakers, journalists, and the public about discriminatory practices within federal law enforcement.Mike said one of the most significant outcomes of that series was its impact on the media. In 2017 and 2018, coverage of alleged “China Initiative” cases was not very nuanced. When the FBI made an arrest, it was written in sensational terms, adopting the government’s accusations uncritically—before, months or even years later, it was discovered that the evidence was not nearly as strong as claimed, or had been mischaracterized. Through the webinars, the community helped reporters and scholars understand the broader context, which led to more nuanced, skeptical, and fairer coverage. We started to see that shift in the media. That change, Mike said, helped everyone and strengthened the quality of public discussion. It fueled better scholarship, and we were involved in identifying problems with the system.Mike credited the Asian American community’s remarkable organization and capacity for collective action as a central reason for this success. Having worked with many communities targeted by government programs, he noted that this one is unique in its resources, professionalism, and connections at high levels of government. He encouraged the group to extend that strength outward—supporting other communities who may now face similar injustices. He highlighted CAPAC and Judith’s collaborative work with the Congressional Black Caucus and others as examples of solidarity, stressing that “ultimately, it’s all the same issue.” Drawing on lessons from his undercover work, Mike reflected that the use of racial grievance to divide society is a powerful and enduring tool. If one community can be scapegoated, any can. He urged everyone to stay vigilant, to help others before they are directly targeted, and to recognize how division is used to weaken all of us.Although this is an old lesson, we, unfortunately, have to learn over and over again across generations. Mike said he is encouraged by the community’s strong organizational spirit and leadership. Looking ahead, Mike expressed enthusiasm for the upcoming webinar series co-organized by APA Justice, the Committee of 100 (C100), and the US-China Education Trust (USCET). He said the new series continues the essential work of promoting understanding in an era when media is fragmented and misinformation can easily amplify through narrow portals without understanding the nature of the threats that exist—or how those threats can be sensationalized and manipulated.Mike urged policymakers to focus on genuine threats rather than policies that harm innocent and productive individuals who are contributing to our society. Mike also invited participants to connect with organizations in Latino, Black, immigrant, and LGBTQ communities, offering to help make introductions so that knowledge and resources can be shared across movements. Mike closed by reaffirming his commitment to the cause:“Let’s keep working together. Keep up the good work… and if there’s anything I can do to help, just let me know.”***** The webinar series on the China Initiative (2020-2021) Beginning in September 2020, Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC, APA Justice Task Force, APAPA, the Brennan Center for Justice, and United Chinese Americans (UCA) hosted a series of five webinars examining the civil rights and national security implications of the U.S. Department of Justice’s “China Initiative.”The series explored how this initiative—launched under the guise of countering economic espionage—disproportionately targeted Chinese American and Chinese immigrant scientists, often conflating legitimate academic collaboration with national security threats. Drawing historical parallels from the Chinese Exclusion Act to modern racial profiling, the webinars highlighted how recurring cycles of suspicion and xenophobia continue to harm Asian American communities and undermine U.S. democratic and scientific values.Featuring voices from civil rights organizations, academia, science, and law, the series aimed to raise public awareness, promote accountability, and foster dialogue toward protecting both civil liberties and national security. 1. 2020/09/30 The Human and Scientific Costs of The "China Initiative" ( YouTube 1:00:15) · Moderator: Mike German . Panelists: Steven Chu 朱棣文 , Margaret Lewis 陸梅吉 , John Yang 杨重远 2. 2020/12/02 Policy Needs for U.S. Science and Scientists ( YouTube 1:13:35) · Moderator: Mike German . Panelists: Alice S. Huang 黄诗厚 , Neal Lane , Sarina Neote , Xiaoxing Xi 郗小星 3. 2021/02/24 Building Coalition Against “China Initiative” Discrimination: Fighting racial targeting of Asian Americans and communities of color, past & present ( YouTube 1:16:13) · Moderator: Faiza Patel. Keynote: Judy Chu 赵美心. Panelists: Karen Korematsu , Becky Monroe , Leslie Wong 4. 2021/04/28 Legal Resources and Policy Advocacy: How to Combat Racial Profiling Under the “China Initiative" ( YouTube 1:05:36) · Moderator: Mike German . Panelists: Susan Lee 李凤迁 , Patrick Toomey , Frank Wu 吴华扬 , John Yang 杨重远 5. 2021/06/23 The Mistrial of Professor Anming Hu under the "China Initiative” ( YouTube 1 :12:52) · Moderator: Mike German . Keynote: Ted Lieu 刘云平 , Susan Lee 李凤迁 . Panelists: Phil Lomonaco , Guiyou Huang 黄桂友 , Margaret Lewis 陸梅吉 Politicization at the National Science Foundation On September 19, 2025, Science reported that the National Science Foundation (NSF) is held captive as Trump directives have undermined a 75-year history of independence and threaten the agency's vaunted track record for excellence.NSF, long regarded as the U.S. government’s most independent science agency, has seen its autonomy erode sharply under the Trump administration, according to scientists, former officials, and internal records. Once guided by peer-reviewed merit, NSF’s funding and priorities are now increasingly directed by White House political appointees and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which reportedly gives “thumbs-up or -down” to vetted research proposals.A hallmark example came when NSF abruptly cut its Graduate Research Fellowship program in half—then restored it only after “direct intervention” from the White House. The White House has ordered the $9 billion agency to abandon long-running programs, terminate more than 2000 grants, and reverse decisions on what to fund next based on the administration’s political agenda, which excludes DEI efforts, climate change research, and even mathematics institutes like UCLA's Institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics (IPAM), whose grants were suspended after the DOJ accused UCLA of antisemitism—later overturned by a federal judge.NSF is also making radical changes in its daily operations, including sharply reducing its reliance on top academic scientists on loan from their institutions and realigning the agency’s entire grantmaking apparatus to conform to Trump’s priorities.Critics say the administration’s agenda—focused on AI, quantum science, and industrial partnerships while defunding DEI and climate initiatives—marks a departure from NSF’s founding mission to fund “the best ideas across all fields.” As one former NSF official warned, “This administration doesn’t buy the idea that the government’s investment in basic research buys us anything useful.”Internal morale has plummeted. Senior leaders, including computing director Gregory Hager and former director Sethuraman Panchanathan , resigned over political interference. NSF is also eliminating most of its rotator scientists, a move seen as consolidating control and silencing independent scientific judgment.Several programs illustrate the shift: · The Carpentries, a nonprofit training underrepresented coders, was told to strip DEI language from its NSF proposal or lose funding. · A $75 million AI project was restructured to include Nvidia, aligning with Trump’s industrial priorities. · A New Mexico water initiative lost out after tailoring its proposal to avoid DEI language but still not meeting “NSF priorities.” Observers fear the reorganization will replace scientific leadership with political oversight, echoing what one former official compared to “Soviet-style political commissars.” Many warn that the cumulative effect of small changes could permanently redirect the agency’s mission away from open, merit-based science toward politically filtered research serving executive priorities. News and Activities for the Communities 1. APA Justice Community Calendar Upcoming Events: 2025/10/16 Bridging Nations: The Power of People-to-People Exchange in U.S.-China Relations2025/10/23 C100 Asian American Career Ceilings Initiative: Asian American Women in the Law2025/11/03 APA Justice Monthly Meeting2025/11/20 Cook County Circuit Court Hearing2025/11/25 Committee of 100 Conversations – “Recollections, Pioneers and Heroes” with Elaine ChaoVisit https://bit.ly/3XD61qV for event details. 2. C100 Conversations: Elaine Chao 赵小兰 WHAT : Conversations, Recollections, Pioneers and Heros: Elaine Chao 赵小兰 WHEN : November 25, 2025, 6:00 pm ET WHERE : Online event HOST : Committee of 100 Moderator: Peter Young , Chair of the Conversations Initiative and Committee of 100 New York Regional Chair and Board Member Speaker : Elaine Chao , 24th U.S. Secretary of Labor and 18th U.S. Secretary of Transportation DESCRIPTION : Secretary Elaine Chao is the first Asian-Pacific American woman to serve in the President’s cabinet in American history. She has been confirmed to two cabinet positions by the United States Senate on a strong bipartisan basis: U. S. Secretary of Labor and U. S. Secretary of Transportation. She will reflect on her remarkable journey as an immigrant, trailblazer, and leader at the highest levels of government, and her insights on leadership, resilience, and service to the nation. REGISTRATION : https://bit.ly/48ozpXq # # # APA Justice Task Force is a non-partisan platform to build a sustainable ecosystem that addresses racial profiling concerns and to facilitate, inform, and advocate on selected issues related to justice and fairness for the Asian Pacific American community. For more information, please refer to the new APA Justice website under development at www.apajusticetaskforce.org . We value your feedback. Please send your comments to contact@apajustice.org . Back View PDF October 14, 2025 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter

Newsletter - #82 Professor Anming Hu Acquitted!!! More On The DOC Internal Review Report #82 Professor Anming Hu Acquitted!!! More On The DOC Internal Review Report Back View PDF September 10, 2021 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter