Newsletter - #266 Franklin Tao Wins Appeal; NBER Study; 1990 Workshop Video; Wisconsin Farmland; + #266 Franklin Tao Wins Appeal; NBER Study; 1990 Workshop Video; Wisconsin Farmland; + In This Issue #266 · Professor Feng "Franklin" Tao Wins Appeal · Study Shows Drastic Decline in US-China Scientific Exchange · 1990 Institute Teachers Workshop on U.S.-China Relations · WPR : Fears of China-owned Farmland in Wisconsin and US are Exaggerated · News and Activities for the Communities Professor Feng "Franklin" Tao Wins Appeal According to Reuters, Science, and multiple reports, on July 11, 2024, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver overturned the lone conviction of former University of Kansas (KU) Professor Feng "Franklin" Tao for making a false statement related to work he was doing in China.Professor Tao was one of the first academic scientists charged under the now-defunct China initiative launched in November 2018 by then-President Donald Trump to combat Chinese economic espionage. In 2019, DOJ had relied on information provided by one of Tao’s former colleagues — a visiting scholar at KU angry with Tao amid an authorship dispute. The colleague had demanded $300,000 from Tao or she would tell the FBI that Tao was a spy.The FBI investigation found no evidence of espionage involving Professor Tao. However, while still a tenured KU faculty member, he was arrested in August 2019 and spent 1 week in jail. In April 2022, a federal jury convicted him of three counts of wire fraud as well as making a false statement to KU about his ties to Fuzhou University in connection with grants from the Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Science Foundation (NSF). The university fired him after the jury decision, but 5 months later U.S. District Court Senior Judge Julie Robinson threw out the fraud convictions, citing a lack of evidence. And in January 2023 she rejected the government’s request for jail time and a stiff fine as a penalty for the false statement conviction. Professor Tao was sentenced to time served and a two-year probation, which was later reduced to one year. Professor Tao appealed the jury’s decision on this last remaining count, and the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver ruled in a 2-to-1 decision that Professor Tao was right. “We reverse his conviction … and agree with Tao that the government offered insufficient evidence for a rational jury to find that his statement to his employer was material to any DOE or NSF decision” affecting the status of his grants. U.S. Circuit Judge Nancy Moritz , wrote for the majority. Professor Tao is one of many China Initiative cases against U.S. academics that have fallen apart in court. President Joe Biden ’s administration officially ended the program in February 2022. But Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives have campaigned for it to be reinstated.Professor Tao said in a statement issued by United Chinese Americans (UCA) after the appeal victory, "Today, I come to you with a mix of heavy and joyous feelings to update you on the outcome of our four-year struggle. The Tenth Circuit Court has removed the last remaining charge against me. These four years of fighting against ten baseless charges have been an unimaginable battle. Without the just legal assistance of our lawyers, Peter Zeidenberg and Mike Dearington , I could not have achieved today's victory. "I want to express my gratitude to our Chinese and Asian communities (including UCA, AAJC, Committee 100, APA Justice, Asian American Scholar Forum, CALDA, AFI, OCAA...) and the many Chinese friends who supported me. I am especially thankful for UCA's continued support and encouragement over these years. Special thanks go to UCA President Haipei Shue and his team for their tremendous support. Without President Shue's personal encouragement and support, we could not have fought to this day!" 2024/07/13 AP: Court voids last conviction of Kansas researcher in case that started as Chinese espionage probe 2024/07/12 CALDA: 陶教授无罪，华人无罪 2024/07/12 Science: Court exonerates Kansas professor in China research fraud case 2024/07/12 Kansas Reflector: Federal appellate court tosses final conviction in case against former tenured Kansas professor 2024/07/11 俄州亚太联盟 OCAA: 罪名被推翻，陶峰教授赢了！ 2024/07/11 美國華人聯盟 UCA: 快讯 | 华裔学者陶丰胜诉，联邦上诉法院推翻定罪 2024/07/11 Reuters: Kansas researcher wins reversal of conviction in Trump-era China probe APA Justice: Feng "Franklin" Tao 陶丰 Study Shows Drastic Decline in US-China Scientific Exchange In its June 2024 issue, the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) published a working paper titled Building a Wall Around Science: "The Effect of U.S.-China Tensions on International Science Research." The paper examines the impact of rising U.S.-China geopolitical tensions on three main dimensions of science: STEM trainee mobility between these countries, usage of scientific works between scientists in each country, and scientist productivity in each country. The paper examines each dimension from a “U.S.” perspective and from a “China” perspective in an effort to provide evidence around the asymmetric effects of isolationism and geopolitical tension on science.The paper finds that between 2016 and 2019 ethnically Chinese graduate students became 16% less likely to attend a U.S.-based Ph.D. program, and that those that did became 4% less likely to stay in the U.S. after graduation. In both instances, these students became more likely to move to a non-U.S. anglophone country instead.Second, the paper documents a sharp decline in Chinese usage of U.S. science as measured by citations, but no such decline in the propensity of U.S. scientists to cite Chinese research. Third, the paper finds that while a decline in Chinese usage of U.S. science does not appear to affect the average productivity of China-based researchers as measured by publications, heightened anti-Chinese sentiment in the U.S. appears to reduce the productivity of ethnically Chinese scientists in the U.S. by 2-6%.The results do not suggest any clear “winner,” but instead indicate that increasing isolationism and geopolitical tension lead to reduced talent and knowledge flows between the U.S. and China, which are likely to be particularly damaging to international science. The effects on productivity are still small but are likely to only grow as nationalistic and isolationist policies also escalate. The results as a whole strongly suggest the presence of a “chilling effect” for ethnically Chinese scholars in the U.S., affecting both the U.S.’s ability to attract and retain talent as well as the productivity of its ethnically Chinese scientists.According to a report by the University World News on July 11, 2024, in almost every area, the NBER paper shows that “geopolitical tensions at a much lower level than the formal expulsion of academics or violent warfare can lead to a significant shift in scientist mobility”. Professor Britta Glennon , who teaches management at the Wharton School (University of Pennsylvania) and is one of the study’s four co-authors. “Over the past few decades, science has become more international across many dimensions. Science used to be concentrated in the West, but today there is a much more international scientific community," she said. “For instance, many academics are immigrants, so right there you have a very international community. There are many more international collaborations than there used to be. And, increasingly, citations in papers are from papers produced in other countries. Our study demonstrates in quantifiable terms how this large international scientific community is affected by the geopolitical tensions between the United States and China, which, from a scientific standpoint, are the major players." For their analysis of mobility using the Open Research and Contributor ID (ORCID), on which academics post their curricula vitae, Glennon and her colleagues constructed a database of 836,495 CVs in STEM fields (out of ORCID’s 14 million CVs).Using machine learning methods that infer ethnicity from names, they were able to classify scientists as being “ethnically Chinese”, which was the treatment group. The control group for those analyses was the non-ethnically Chinese complement, which was drawn from graduate students and professors in UK universities.The Pew Research Center reported in 2020 that anti-Chinese sentiment had risen 11 percentage points, from 55% to 66% in the five years since Trump began his first campaign for the presidency, which included significant anti-Chinese rhetoric, and the COVID-19 crisis, which Trump blamed on the Chinese calling it “the China virus”. Glennon and her colleagues also reference the 2021 study, “Racial Profiling among Scientists of Chinese Descent and Consequences for the US Scientific Community”, that found that Chinese scientists “reported considerable fear of US government surveillance” at almost five times the rate of non-Chinese scientists: 50.7% vs 11.7%. An additional chill was Trump’s “China Initiative”. Some 5,000 agents were assigned to the initiative tasked with preventing China from stealing technologies that were vital to America’s economic and military interests. In July 2020, FBI director Christopher A Wray stated that the bureau was “opening a China-related counterintelligence case every 10 hours”. As of September 2021, federal prosecutors had charged 28 researchers under the China Initiative. Of these, there had been about a dozen convictions or guilty pleas. Of the dozen or so Chinese professors or professors of Chinese descent, the government had convicted only four – none for espionage or theft of trade secrets or intellectual property.President Joe Biden ’s justice department closed down the initiative in February 2022.Read the NBER paper : https://bit.ly/4602fKc . Read the University World News report: https://bit.ly/4bLXfKp . 1990 Institute Teachers Workshop on U.S.-China Relations Political campaigns have and continue to portray China through an adverse lens, affecting decades-long efforts to build constructive relations with national and global implications.On June 20, 2024, the 1990 Institute hosted a Teachers Workshop on "U.S.-China Relations: Untangling Campaign Rhetoric and Understanding Policy." APA Justice was one of the co-sponsors for the workshop.China scholars from Yale Law School, the University of Pennsylvania, and New York University’s Steinhardt School spoke at the workshop, providing context with an overview of the history of U.S.-China relations and then delved into issues affecting this global relationship during this election year, including trade, technology, and Taiwan.Watch a recording of the workshop: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8AisB1NZYo (video 1:30:03). Read the curated resources and lesson plans in the 1990 Institute's Reference Library. WPR : Fears of China-owned Farmland in Wisconsin and US are Exaggerated According to Wisconsin Public Radio on July 10, 2024, lawmakers and citizens are raising concerns about Chinese companies purchasing U.S. land. But a new analysis paints a different picture of who owns and leases American farmland.Wisconsin is among more than two-thirds of all states that are considering or have enacted laws limiting or banning foreign ownership of land. A Wisconsin state statute restricts foreign private investment in land. Wendon Zhang , an assistant professor of economics with Cornell University, and two other researchers recently published an article — “ Mapping and Contextualizing Foreign Ownership and Leasing of U.S. Farmland ” — in the 2024 Journal of the American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers. In an interview with Wisconsin Public Radio , Zhang said his recent research found that China and other “adversarial countries” hold zero acres of land in the “Lake Region” of the U.S., a space that includes Wisconsin. His team found that Canada, Denmark and Portugal are the top three holders of Wisconsin’s foreign-held land.“The bottom line is, if you’re concerned about significant Chinese holdings of agricultural land in Wisconsin, the evidence seems to say the contrary,” Zhang said.The U.S. has 3.4 percent of all privately-held agricultural land owned or long-term leased by foreign companies. That percentage in Wisconsin is 2.4 percent. Eighty-five percent of all land in Wisconsin that has a foreign interest is forest land. So it is not cropland, not pasture land. It is actually nearly 400,000 acres of forest land, predominantly with Canadian ownership. When you are looking at the adversary countries — China, Russia, Iran, North Korea and Venezuela — based on the public records voluntarily reported to USDA, all these countries do not hold any agricultural land in Wisconsin.However, Zhang also found that more than 51 percent of Wisconsin’s foreign-held agricultural land is categorized without a prominent country code, meaning investors in a particular property come from multiple countries. Zhang said it’s possible China or other countries might hold shares small enough in some types of holdings to fall outside of what is reported to the government, leaving them underrepresented in USDA data.Read the Wisconsin Public Radio report: https://bit.ly/3S3bwvc . Read the journal article: https://bit.ly/3xTZq0N News and Activities for the Communities 1. APA Justice Community Calendar Upcoming Events: 2024/07/15 APIAVote: RNC Convention, AAPI Briefing &Reception, Milwaukee, WI2024/07/16-17 National Science, Technology, and Security Roundtable - Capstone2024/07/17 C100 Career Ceiling Summit: Creating a Level Playing Field2024/07/25-28 Leadership Convention by NAAAP (National Association of Asian American Professionals) 2024/07/27-28 Asian American Pioneer Medal Symposium and Ceremony2024/08/04 Rep. Gene Wu's Town Hall Meeting2024/08/05 APA Justice Monthly Meeting2024/08/19 DNC Convention, AAPI Briefing & Reception, Chicago, ILThe Community Calendar has moved. Visit https://bit.ly/3XD61qV for event details. Back View PDF July 15, 2024 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter

Newsletter - #41 Meeting Summary; Franklin Tao; Gang Chen; Science Honors And Policy; More #41 Meeting Summary; Franklin Tao; Gang Chen; Science Honors And Policy; More Back View PDF February 8, 2021 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter

Newsletter - #167 2/17 Webinar; CAPAC Statement; Community Call, Town Hall, Sign On; Media Reports #167 2/17 Webinar; CAPAC Statement; Community Call, Town Hall, Sign On; Media Reports In This Issue #167 A Call to Stop Senate Bill 147 and All Alien Land Laws Webinar CAPAC Statement and Congressional Bills Community Activities - Conference Call, Town Hall, Sign-on Letter Media Reports A Call to Stop Senate Bill 147 and All Alien Land Laws Webinar WHAT: Webinar titled "A Call to Stop SB 147 and All Alien Land Laws REGISTRATION: http://bit.ly/3jXSPv9 or scan QR code in poster above WHEN: Friday, February 17, 2023, starting at 5:00 pm ET/2:00 pm PT WHO: Opening Remarks Judy Chu 赵美心 , Chair, Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus Panelists Gene Wu 吳元之 , Representative, Texas House of Representatives Jamal Abdi , President, National Iranian American Council (NIAC) David Donatti , Staff Attorney, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Texas Clay Zhu 朱可亮 , Attorney and Co-Founder, Chinese American Legal Defense Alliance (CALDA) Moderator: Haipei Shue 薛海培 , President, United Chinese Americans (UCA) SPONSORS: 1882 Foundation , APA Justice , United Chinese Americans CONTACT: contact@apajustice.org if you have questions or comments CAPAC Statement and Congressional Bills Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC). On February 15, 2023, CAPAC leadership issued a statement addressing efforts to restrict land and property ownership of foreign nationals from the People’s Republic of China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea: “As CAPAC’s leadership, we are incredibly concerned by efforts to restrict ownership of land and property by immigrants from the People’s Republic of China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea. While we do not oppose limitations on foreign state-owned enterprises, or on entities, companies, or individuals with ties to foreign governments, from making purchases of agricultural land or property, we staunchly object to any legislation—at the federal, state, or local level—that bans an individual from land or property ownership solely based on their country of origin. At this moment of heightened U.S.-China tensions and as we in Congress remain vigilant in protecting our national and economic security, CAPAC’s leadership will continue to raise our voices to ensure that we are not eroding the civil liberties of individuals in our communities. “What alarms us is the impact of anti-China fearmongering on Chinese immigrant communities and the erection of unfair barriers to their pursuit of the American Dream solely because of their country of origin. We speak out now as we have seen policies like this before in our nation’s history. Such policies targeted at individual citizens echo xenophobic alien land laws targeting Asian immigrants—in the 1800s, when anti-Chinese sentiment culminated in the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, or during World War II when tensions with Japan led to the stripping of land ownership rights from Japanese immigrants and the incarceration of 120,000 Japanese Americans. “No one should be prevented from getting a fair shot at building their lives here in America because of their country of origin. We are facing a pivotal moment in history and as we consider the impacts of our actions on Chinese immigrant and Chinese American communities, we urge our colleagues to be mindful of using rhetoric or writing legislation that would further discriminate against our community members. As our nation’s leaders navigate the increasingly complex U.S.-China relationship globally, we encourage nuance and clarity to ensure the rights of our communities domestically are not collateral damage.” PASS Act Introduced in U.S. Congress. On February 2, 2023, Congresswoman Elise Stefanik (R-NY), Congressman Rick Crawford (R-AR), Congressman Jim Costa (D-CA), Senator John Tester (D-MT), and Senator Mike Rounds (R-SD) are introducing the bipartisan Promoting Agriculture Safeguards and Security (PASS) Act, which will "protect our national security by preventing foreign adversaries from taking any ownership or control of the United States’ agricultural land and agricultural businesses." Read the announcement: http://bit.ly/3It9Gzw . Read the language of the bill: https://bit.ly/3IrFdSh Governing.com . THE FUTURE IN CONTEXT: How States Used Land Laws to Exclude and Displace Asian Americans . In the 19th and 20th centuries, more than a dozen states enacted legislation barring Asians from purchasing property. But immigrants and their families used the court system and legal loopholes to fight back. Community Activities - Conference Call, Town Hall, Sign-on Letter Advancing Justice | AAJC Convenes Conference Call. Given the rapidly moving and extraordinary work of community organizations pushing back on the xenophobic Texas Senate Bill 147, Advancing Justice | AAJC is organizing a call on Thursday, February 16th at 3pm CST (4pm EST) to hear from those who have been at the frontlines of this battle in Texas, including Texas State Representative Gene Wu 吳元之 , and others who have been monitoring the situation. The purpose of the call would be to give space to the local Texas organizations and leaders to speak to their efforts on SB 147 and what they think may be helpful from outside organizations; to ensure support from and coordination of efforts across organizations and groups outside Texas; to share resources that are available across local and national groups; and to identify next steps. Register here: http://bit.ly/3YLVJlO Town Hall Meeting in Plano, Texas On February 19, 2023, a Town Hall meeting will be convened at the Collin County Republican Party Headquarters to listen to the Asian American community's concern over the proposed Texas Senate Bills 147 and 552. Texas District 2 Senator Bob Hall (R), District 8 Senator Angela Paxton (R), and District 66 Rep. Matt Shaheen (R) are invited. Sign on Letter by Asian Texan for Justice Opposing SB 147. Asian Texan for Justice has prepared a letter opposing Texas Senate Bill 147 for sign-ons here: https://bit.ly/3KglxT3 . Questions or concerns should be directed to info@asiantexansforjustice.org Media Reports On February 14, 2023, BBC News 中文 reported on "美國德州擬禁華人買房 華裔遊行抗議稱「美國夢碎」." https://bbc.in/3YAdODA On February 13, 2023, South China Morning Post reported on "Citing security risks, US states move to bar Chinese land purchases and projects with China ties." Virginia governor nixes a US$3.5 billion battery plant, and 2,500 new jobs for his state, because Ford Motors has a Chinese partner on the project. Legislative bans on Chinese land ownership, and in some cases even real estate, are pending in three states, and others have limited farmland purchases. https://bit.ly/3E5vui6 On February 11, 2023, Click2Houston reported on "Asian American community members and elected officials speak out against Senate Bill 147." https://bit.ly/3YsAkOv On February 9, 2023, USA Today reported on "Spy fears spark flurry of proposed laws aiming to ban Chinese land ownership." http://bit.ly/3I8u6wg On February 7, 2023, New York Times reported on "How U.S.-China Tensions Could Affect Who Buys the House Next Door." https://nyti.ms/40IuVEq On February 7, 2023, 纽约时报中文网 : " 美中关系阴影难消，得州拟禁止中国公民及企业买房购地." https://nyti.ms/40XETCb On February 7, 2023, 紐約時報中文網 : " 美中關係陰影難消，得州擬禁止中國公民及企業買房購地 ." https://nyti.ms/3EbqNmW Subscribe to The APA Justice Newsletter Complete this simple form at https://bit.ly/2FJunJM to subscribe. Please share it with those who wish to be informed and join the fight. View past newsletters here: https://bit.ly/APAJ_Newsletters . Back View PDF February 16, 2023 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter

During the first APA Justice monthly meeting of 2023, Rep. Judy Chu, Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, reviewed the accomplishments of 2022, highlighted by the end of the "China Initiative" and Sherry Chen's historic settlement. January 9, 2023 During the first APA Justice monthly meeting of 2023, Rep. Judy Chu, Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, reviewed the accomplishments of 2022 which was highlighted by the end of the "China Initiative" and Sherry Chen's historic settlement after 10 years of fighting for justice. "Despite all of these wins, we know the work continues to ensure that we are engaging with our partners, the Administration across federal agencies, and my colleagues at Congress; to ensure that our communities are not facing anti-Asian discrimination and racial profiling. To that end, CAPAC will continue to prioritize calling out blatantly xenophobic anti-China rhetoric and pushing back on policies that unfairly target Chinese American communities, which we unfortunately are expecting to see much more in the year ahead," Rep. Chu said. The APA Justice Task Force was formed in 2015 in response to Rep. Chu's call for a platform to connect elected officials with concerned organizations and individuals. It is dedicated 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. Subscribe to the APA Justice YouTube Channel and watch additional APA Justice videos. During the first APA Justice monthly meeting of 2023, Rep. Judy Chu, Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, reviewed the accomplishments of 2022, highlighted by the end of the "China Initiative" and Sherry Chen's historic settlement. Previous Next Rep. Judy Chu's New Year Greetings and 2022 Review

Newsletter - #172 Alien Land Laws/Related Bills; Erika Moritsugu; US Academic Pre-eminence; John Liu; + #172 Alien Land Laws/Related Bills; Erika Moritsugu; US Academic Pre-eminence; John Liu; + In This Issue #172 Opposition to Alien Land Laws and Related Bills New York Times Features Erika Moritsugu Will China End U.S. Academic Pre-Eminence? NYS Senator John Liu and NYPD Officer Baimadajie Angwang News and Activities for the Communities Opposition to Alien Land Laws and Related Bills According to the San Francisco Standard on March 20, 2023, a committee of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors (SFBOS) has voted to condemn Texas bill SB 147, which is authored by Texas Republican state Senator Lois Kolkhorst and seeks to prohibit citizens and government entities from four countries from buying real estate in Texas over alleged national security concerns.Because the bill targets certain immigrants based on their countries of origin, it has sparked backlash from Chinese American and other immigrant communities nationwide, renewing a vigorous debate on anti-Asian racism and xenophobia .At a meeting in San Francisco City Hall on March 20, 2023, the board’s Land Use and Transportation Committee voted unanimously to pass the resolution . Leading the effort was Supervisor Connie Chan , a Chinese immigrant from Hong Kong. “This bill is dangerous and racist,” Chan said. “We must stand up for our community, not just here where we live, but also all across the nation.” She went on to compare the law with California's own Alien land laws during the early 20th century, which restricted Asian immigrants from property ownership.Representatives from Chinese for Affirmative Action, Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association and other activist groups spoke at the board meeting in support of the resolution. APA Justice and other organizations submitted letters of support to the SFBOS. If passed by the full board, San Francisco will send an official copy of the resolution to leaders in both Texas and California. After strong criticism, Kolkhorst, the Texas state senator, had already changed her bill by exempting permanent residents (green card holders) from the ban. Opponents of the Texas resolution still think it’s still unacceptable, even with the softened tone. Julie Tang , a retired San Francisco judge and a Chinese immigrant, said the amended bill doesn’t change its character.She said that classifying the group of Chinese, Russians, North Koreans and Iranians from buying properties is barring them from enjoying the equal rights that other Americans have, regardless of their citizenship.“That itself is discrimination,” Tang said. “And that in itself is illegal and unconstitutional.”Read the San Francisco Standard report: http://bit.ly/3Z6hexf Texas House Bill No. 4736. According to Yahoo News on March 15, 2023, a Texas State Republican representative introduced a bill to ban undocumented immigrants, along with citizens from China and North Korea, from being admitted to public colleges and universities in Texas. The bill also seeks to ban undocumented students from Iran and Russia. Read the Yahoo News report: https://yhoo.it/3TtnUnX Texas House Bill 2206. According to Texas Legislature Online, a Texas State Republican representative introduced a bill to prohibit the use of certain social media platforms developed or provided by China, Iran, North Korea or Russia. The bill was referred to the Texas House State Affairs Committee on March 9 and is scheduled to have a public hearing on March 22. Read the Texas Legislature Online: https://bit.ly/3n6Msan Texas House Bill 4736. According to Texas Legislature Online, a Texas State Republican representative introduced a bill to forbid education institutions to admit citizens of China, Iran, North Korea or Russia on March 10, 2023. Read the Texas Legislature Online: https://bit.ly/42qiqyn New York Times Features Erika Moritsugu On March 13, 2023, New York Times published a report titled "At White House, Asian American Liaison Juggles Celebrations and Crises," featuring Erika Moritsugu , the first White House A.A.P.I. liaison in charge of both promoting the community’s representation and responding to its tragedies at a time of rising racism.Erika Moritsugu was two days in to a visit to Park City, Utah, to celebrate the first community space for Asian Americans at the Sundance Film Festival when she was called away to Monterey Park, Calif., where a mass shooting on the eve of Lunar New Year ultimately left 11 people dead.Overdressed in the wool layers and puffer coat she had packed for her original trip, Ms. Moritsugu, 51, was forced to switch gears quickly: from cheerleading mode in ski country to caretaker in the suburbs of Los Angeles.“I can’t imagine how excruciating it must be, how painful and how hurtful this must be for those of you who have lost friends and neighbors and aunties and uncles and grandmas,” she said at a Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors meeting two days after the shooting in January, pausing to regain her composure. “I share my grief with you as we mourn the tragic death of our brothers and sisters.”“This work is so hard because it’s really, really important,” Ms. Moritsugu, the child of fourth-generation Japanese and fifth-generation Chinese immigrant parents, said in an interview. “People warned me when I was appointed that I would need to be very attentive and careful because this isn’t something that you can analyze with a clinical distance.” Ms. Moritsugu, who reports to the White House chief of staff, previously served in the Obama administration as an assistant secretary at the Department of Housing and Urban Development. She also served for about six years as a senior Democratic aide on Capitol Hill, including for the late Senator Daniel K. Akaka of Hawaii and as legal counsel to Senator Tammy Duckworth . Between her time on Capitol Hill and her appointment to the White House, she worked for the Anti-Defamation League and the National Partnership for Women & Families. These days, she spends her time jetting to speaking engagements in cities across the country, between her office and the East and West Wings, and occasionally to Capitol Hill to chat with lawmakers and attend meetings of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus. For too long, Asian Americans made up “an invisible story that was just swept under the rug or ignored and erased until someone needed to be scapegoated,” Ms. Moritsugu said. “It’s nearly impossible for us to be invisible anymore.”Read the New York Times report: https://nyti.ms/3n7lHlS Will China End U.S. Academic Pre-Eminence? According to an opinion by University of Texas Austin Professor Steven Mintz published by Inside Higher Ed on March 19, 2023, if any single theme can be said to dominate foreign affairs commentary in the United States, it’s the many threats to U.S. global pre-eminence: from climate change and extreme weather events. From cybersecurity attacks and disinformation campaigns. From threats to the dollar’s dominance as a global reserve currency. From economic espionage and intellectual property theft. From nuclear proliferation and infrastructure and supply chain attacks.Add another challenge to the list: China’s threat to American academic primacy.In 2010, the Columbia sociologist and former provost Jonathan Cole published The Great American University , a full-throated defense of the United States’ elite research universities. The book described these institutions as national treasures that were indispensable to the nation’s economic dynamism, technological prowess and global position as a great power.But Cole advanced two other arguments that made his book as cautionary as celebratory. The first was that the elite American research universities’ rise to global pre-eminence was a recent, highly contingent development that was largely a byproduct of the influx of foreign scholars during the 1930s and 1940s and the ravages wrought on European universities by World War II. The academy should be on notice: what can go up can also go down.His second key contention was that the elite research university—and therefore American pre-eminence—was far more fragile and vulnerable than the public or policy makers assumed. The list of challenges that he listed no doubt sounds familiar today: foreign competition for talent, restrictive visa policies, ideological constraints on academic inquiry, public disinvestment, endowment volatility and a misguided populist war against academic excellence.Now , a dozen years later, William C. Kirby , a former dean of Harvard’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences and a professor of China studies and business administration, has written a worthy successor to Cole’s admonition. The central question that Kirby asks in Empires of Ideas: Creating the Modern University from Germany to America to China is summed up by a chapter title—“Can China Lead the World of Universities?” Spoiler alert: “Perhaps.”Professor Mintz's takeaways from Kirby’s book: Universities can improve rapidly. But they can also decline quickly. Decline came from without, but also from within: from campus politicization and polarization, from a retreat from high academic standards and from the failure to retain and hire the most promising and productive scholars. Ambition is important and sustained ambition can make a big difference. But ambition is not enough. Quality scholars, by themselves, are insufficient. Great universities aren’t just an agglomeration of productive scholars; they are intellectual leaders. The relationship between elite education and national power and world leadership is dialectical. No great power is without a great university and, conversely, great powers cultivate great universities. Great powers understand that intellectual and cultural leadership is a key component of power; they understand that great powers are pacesetters in culture and education. Great universities attract talent from around the world and when some of those graduates return home, they carry with them ideas that they learned overseas. But the relationship between elite education and national power takes other forms. Elite universities produce a disproportionate share of leaders, while the research that their faculty undertake informs government policy. In turn, these institutions depend heavily on government funding. Read the Inside Higher Ed opinion: http://bit.ly/42pIFox NYS Senator John Liu and NYPD Officer Baimadajie Angwang On March 18, 2023, New York State Senator John Liu and New York Police Department (NYPD) Officer Baimadajie Angwang joined an AAPI history in K-12 legislation event. State Senator Liu represents a broad area of northeast Queens. He is chairperson of the New York State Senate's Committee on New York City Education and has sponsored State Senate Bill S6359A that requires public elementary and high schools to provide instruction in Asian American history and civic impact.According to a report by Gothamist on May 26, 2022, State Senator Liu said in the introducing the bill that the anti-Asian sentiment may be fueled by long-standing “ignorance” of the political and historical contributions of AAPI people. “This anti-Asian hate that we've seen so much of, it didn't just happen the last couple of years. It's been happening ever since the beginning of this country, ever since the first Asian Americans arrived at our shores,” Liu said. “Asian Americans have been scapegoats for a lot of things in our entire history, whether it be economic recession, international warfare, global pandemic – we get blamed,” Liu said. “And the reason we get blamed, and therefore hated and attacked, is because of ignorance.”NYPD Officer Angwang is a naturalized U.S. citizen of Tibetan ethnicity who served in Afghanistan as a marine and an Army reservist. However, he still fell victim to the now-defunct "China Initiative" and was accused of spying for China. Although his case was dismissed in January 2023, Angwang's case still appears in the FBI Transnational Repression webpage. His story is told here: https://bit.ly/3RIqXId "Even in this room, there is a lot to write about," State Senator Liu before introducing Officer Angwang in the March 18 event. "When members of the Chinese American community get into certain positions of significance, whether it be Dr. Wen Ho Lee , we have a police officer Angwang here, it is easy to blame the Asian guy. This guy after serving in the NYPD for so many years, including the Flushing community, suddenly out of the blue, they accuse him of being a spy for China. He is my friend. This is the kind of things that our communities continue to go through. All this anti-China rhetoric now. I am an American and my loyalty is with the United States of America. But all this talk about China is having an impact on people like you. So we have to pay much more attention to what's happening."Watch the video of the event: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pu0FyFQc_6s (13:23) News and Activities for the Communities 1. The Summit Tunnel: Diversity and Pride in Building the American Nation The 1882 Foundation and Culture Caucus will host an event at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC on Tuesday, March 21, starting at 6:00 pm ET. The Pacific Railroad Act was signed into law by President Lincoln in 1862. It set into motion a national effort to construct America’s first transcontinental railroad, and to undertake the century’s greatest engineering feat to cross the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Through a short film, lecture, and discussion, the program will show the visual magnificence of the crossing and its monumental historical significance. It will discuss the shameful, continuous defacement of the site which has led the National Trust for Historic Preservation to list it as one of the nation’s most endangered historic places. Up to 2,000 Chinese workers lost their lives building the railroad. The site is a sacred place for them as it is for native Americans and pioneers who also sacrificed and struggled to build the American nation. Register for the event: https://bit.ly/3JsEP5r 2 . The President's Advisory Commission on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders The President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders (AANHPI) held its fifth public meeting at the White House on March 14, 2023. Commissioners deliberated and voted on additional recommendations to promote equity, justice, and opportunity for AANHPI communities for submission to President Biden. A final report is being prepared for expected release in October 2023. Watch the video of the meeting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uGaDQVTQXo (7:16:11) Subscribe to The APA Justice Newsletter Complete this simple form at https://bit.ly/2FJunJM to subscribe. Please share it with those who wish to be informed and join the fight. View past newsletters here: https://bit.ly/APAJ_Newsletters . Back View PDF March 21, 2023 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter

Newsletter - #2 SCMP Report, NSF Exclusive, Injunction Against ICE Directive Filed, And More #2 SCMP Report, NSF Exclusive, Injunction Against ICE Directive Filed, And More Back View PDF July 9, 2020 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter

60 top scientific organizations are calling for balance between an open scientific environment and economic and national security. September 4, 2019 On September 4, 2019, 60 top science, engineering and international education organizations - representing hundreds of thousands of scientists, engineers and educators around the world - sent an open letter to five top federal officials in charge of science programs, calling for fairer treatment of foreign-born scientists in the face of policies that could put a chill on the participation of foreign nationals in the scientific enterprise. The letter was addressed to Dr. Kelvin Droegemeier , Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy at the White House; Dr. France Córdova, Director of the National Science Foundation; Dr. Francis Collins , Director of the National Institute of Health; Dr. Chris Fall, Director of the Office of Science at the Department of Energy; and Dr. Michael Griffin , Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering. "Finding the appropriate balance between our nation’s security and an open, collaborative scientific environment requires focus and due diligence," the letter said. "Any response should consider the impact on both the overall scientific enterprise and on individual scientists and its development should include the input of the science and engineering community." Otherwise, "many scientists—both U.S. citizens and foreign nationals—who properly follow codes of conduct, regulations, policies and laws, may inappropriately be harmed in response to the misconduct and illegal actions of others." The co-signers of the letter ask the federal officials to "consider a wide range of stakeholder perspectives as your agencies work together through the new NSTC ( National Science and Technology Council ) Joint Committee on Research Environments to develop policies and procedures that address issues related to international researchers’ participation in the U.S. scientific enterprise, and we would welcome the opportunity to work with you." multisociety-letter-on-foreign-influence_9-4-2019 .pdf Download PDF • 73KB 60 top scientific organizations are calling for balance between an open scientific environment and economic and national security. Previous Next Top Scientific Organizations Call for Fairer Treatment of Foreign-born Scientists

Warrantless Surveillance This item is connected to a text field in your content manager. Double click the dataset icon to add your own content. The numbers Calls per hour 111 Feedback submitted 22 Average feedback per call 21 As of May 28, 2023, there are 33 states known to have introduced some form of alien land and property bills in the current or recent legislative session. A few have passed and signed into state law; some have died; others are still pending. State-by-state links to the legislations and a companion map are provided below as community resources. They are collected from multiple sources including research by APA Justice, Advancing Justice | AAJC, Committee of 100, National Agricultural Law Center, Project South, media reports, and crowdsourcing. Due to the dynamic nature of these developments, we plan to update the information periodically. We anticipate the introduction or continuation of alien land and property bills into future state legislative sessions. Title Oct. 4th 2023 Tracking Bills Read More Latest developments

Newsletter - #355 10/6 Meeting: Yanping Chen Prevails; AAUP/Landmark Ruling; Defend Academics Webinar; + #355 10/6 Meeting: Yanping Chen Prevails; AAUP/Landmark Ruling; Defend Academics Webinar; + In This Issue #355 · 2025/10/06 APA Justice Monthly Meeting · Dr. Yanping Chen Prevails in Appeals Court Decision · Landmark Ruling: AAUP v Rubio (1:25-cv-10685) · Defending Academics and Institutions in Foreign Interference and Research Security Matters · News and Activities for the Communities 2025/10/06 APA Justice Monthly Meeting The next APA Justice monthly meeting will be held Monday, October 6, 2025, starting at 1:55 pm ET.In addition to updates from: · Judith Teruya , Executive Director, Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) · Joanna YangQing Derman , Program Director, Advancing Justice | AAJC · Gisela Perez Kusakawa , Executive Director, Asian American Scholar Forum (AASF) We are honored by and welcome the following distinguished speakers: · Mike German , Retired Fellow, Liberty & National Security, Brennan Center for Justice · Margaret Lewis , Professor, Seton Hall University School of Law · Pat Eddington , Senior Fellow, Homeland Security and Civil Liberties, Cato Institute 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 . Dr. Yanping Chen Prevails in Appeals Court Decision According to Courthouse News Service , a three-judge panel of the DC Circuit Appeals Court upheld a contempt finding against former Fox News reporter Catherine Herridge for refusing to reveal the government source who leaked FBI records about Chinese American scientist Dr. Yanping Chen 陈燕平 .The court rejected Herridge’s claim of reporter’s privilege, ruling that Dr. Chen had met the legal test by showing the source’s identity was central to her Privacy Act case and that Dr. Chen had exhausted other reasonable avenues to obtain it. Dr. Chen, never charged despite FBI scrutiny, argues Herridge’s reporting falsely suggested espionage. The Circuit Court also affirmed the District Court’s imposition of an $800 a day fine if Herridge continues to refuse to comply, though the contempt penalty will effectively remain stayed if Herridge pursues a petition for rehearing and/or en banc reconsideration in the Circuit Court. Dr. Chen, an immigrant from China, became a U.S. citizen in 2001 and founded the University of Management and Technology in Arlington, Virginia, in 1998. Dr. Chen is a cardiologist and received a a Ph.D. in Public Policy from George Washington University.Starting in 2010, Dr. Chen became the focus of a Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) investigation for alleged discrepancies in her immigration forms. After 6 years of investigation including searches of her home and office, Dr. Chen was told that no charges will be filed against her in 2016. However, beginning in February 2017, Fox News , in stories led by reporter Catherine Herridge, aired a series of negative reports about Dr. Chen using heavily leaked materials from the FBI investigation. On December 21, 2018, Dr. Chen filed a privacy lawsuit against the FBI and the Departments of Justice, Defense, and Homeland Security. Dr. Chen conducted extensive discovery, including depositions and subpoenas, but could not identify the leaker. Dr. Chen subpoenaed Fox News and Herridge to force her to disclose the source of her reports. On August 8, 2022, Fox News and Herridge filed motions to quash the subpoena, citing journalists’ First Amendment protections, but the district court denied Herridge's motion. The district court ordered Herridge to disclose her sources.After Herridge was deposed and refused to disclose her source, on February 29, 2024, Judge Christopher Cooper held Herridge in civil contempt and imposing a fine of $800 per day until Herridge reveals her source. The court agreed to stay the imposition of fine to give Herridge time to seek an appeal.Herridge appealed. On July 29, 2024, the Asian American Legal and Education Defense Fund (AALDEF) and a coalition of 11 organizations, including APA Justice, filed a 43-page amicus brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals in support of Dr. Chen. The brief addressed issues of racial prejudice and the negative stereotyping of Asian Americans, particularly in the context of government actions against Dr. Chen. The U.S. Appeals Court for the District of Columbia Circuit held a hearing on oral arguments on Herridge's appeal on November 18, 2024. On September 30, 2025, a three-judge panel of the Appeals Court unanimously ruled Herridge cannot assert qualified privilege to quash a subpoena for her source, upholding the district court decision. The three judges are: Gregory Katsas , a Donald Trump appointee; Harry Edwards , a Jimmy Carter appointee; and Michelle Childs , a Joe Biden appointee. Andy Phillips , Dr. Chen’s attorney of Meier Watkins, welcomed the panel’s decision in an email to Courthouse News Service .“Two federal courts have now agreed that Catherine Herridge has no privilege to continue to shield the identity of a federal official who broke the law and leaked protected material to Ms. Herridge,” Phillips wrote. “Dr. Chen looks forward to continuing to pursue redress for the government’s egregious violation of her rights.” For more information about Dr. Chen's case, visit this APA Justice web page . Landmark Ruling: AAUP v Rubio (1:25-cv-10685) According to CNN , New York Times , The Guardian , and multiple media reports, a federal judge has ruled on September 30, 2025, that the Trump administration’s policy to detain and deport foreign scholars over their pro-Palestinian views violates the US constitution and was designed to “intentionally” chill free speech rights. The opinion rules against the Trump administration’s immigration policy, and executive orders, and harshly critiques President Donald Trump’s approach to using his power.The case, American Association of University Professors v. Rubio (1:25-cv-10685) , was brought by the national AAUP; its Harvard, Rutgers and New York University chapters; and the Middle East Studies Association (Mesa).Judge William G Young of the District of Massachusetts, a Ronald Reagan appointee, issued an extraordinary 161-page ruling . In a set of large, bolded print on the first page of the opinion before even its formal header, Judge Young makes public a photocopy of a postcard he received in his judicial chambers in June.The handwriting, chillingly, says “Trump has pardons and tanks … what do you have?”Judge Young's response: "Dear Mr. or Ms. Anonymous, Alone, I have nothing but my sense of duty. Together, We the People of the United States – you and me – have our magnificent Constitution. Here’s how that works out in a specific case – “At the end of his official opinion, Judge Young added, "I hope you found this helpful. Thanks for writing. It shows you care. You should." He invited the person to visit the courthouse and observe "the Constitution is most vibrantly alive, for it is well said that 'Where a jury sits, there burns the lamp of liberty.'"Judge Young signed the opinion merely as "Judge of the United States," a style reportedly not seen since before the Civil War.In his concluding remarks, Judge Young reflected on the broader implications of the case, criticizing the Trump administration's disregard for constitutional norms and its fixation on retribution against dissenting voices. He underscored the importance of protecting free speech as a cornerstone of American democracy and expressed concern about the erosion of constitutional values.The court scheduled a hearing to determine the appropriate remedy for the violations, emphasizing the need to safeguard the rights of all individuals lawfully present in the United States. Defending Academics and Institutions in Foreign Interference and Research Security Matters WHAT : Defending Academics and Institutions in Foreign Interference and Research Security Matters WHEN : October 10, 2025, 1:00 pm - 2:30 pm ET WHERE : · In person: One Logan Square, Philadelphia, PA, 19103 · Virtual: please register HOST : Federal Criminal Law Committee (FCLC) Moderator: Abe Rein , Chair of Post & Schell’s White Collar Defense & Investigations Group (and FCLC Chair) Speakers: · Gisela Perez Kusakawa , Executive Director of the Asian American Scholar Forum · Michael Vernick , Partner and Head of the Government Contracts Group at Akin Gump · Jennifer Beidel , Member, White Collar Group at Dykema DESCRIPTION : “China Initiative” redux? In this era of academic global engagement, the federal government’s increasing focus on scrutinizing foreign ties leads to new levels of enforcement against researchers and their institutions. These matters, increasingly prioritized by DOJ, present unique challenges, from dealing with difficult scientific concepts (and explaining them to agents and prosecutors) to analyzing potential immigration consequences, to working with experts unused to legal proceedings.Admission is $15 for FCLC members and $25 for non-members. MORE INFORMATON/REGISTRATION : https://bit.ly/42RMEfr News and Activities for the Communities 1. APA Justice Community Calendar Upcoming Events: 2025/10/06 APA Justice Monthly Meeting2025/10/07 Conversations, Recollections, Pioneers and Heros: David Henry Hwang2025/10/10 Defending Academics and Institutions in Foreign Interference and Research Security Matters2025/10/16 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 HearingVisit https://bit.ly/3XD61qV for event details. 2. C100 Conversations: David Henry Hwang WHAT : Conversations, Recollections, Pioneers and Heros: David Henry Hwang WHEN : October 7, 2025, 6:00 pm - 6:45 pm ET WHERE : Online event HOST : Committee of 100 Moderator: Peter Young , CEO and President of Young & Partners; Committee of 100 New York Regional Chair and Board Member Speaker : David Henry Hwang , playwright, librettist, and screenwriter DESCRIPTION : David Henry Hwang is an American playwright, librettist, screenwriter, and theater professor at Columbia University in New York City. He has won three Obie Awards for his plays FOB, Golden Child, and Yellow Face. He has one Tony Award (M. Butterfly) and three other nominations (Golden Child, Flower Drum Song, and Yellow Face), as well as a Grammy Award (Ainadamar) and one other nomination (Soft Power). Three of his works (M. Butterfly, Yellow Face, and Soft Power) have been finalists for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. REGISTRATION : https://bit.ly/4nLsnAf # # # 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 6, 2025 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter

Newsletter - #273 NIH Statement; AA Voters; Pandas; Everything National Security; Perils of Vilifying+ #273 NIH Statement; AA Voters; Pandas; Everything National Security; Perils of Vilifying+ In This Issue #273 · NIH Support Statement Falls Short · NYT Reports: Asian Americans and Asian American Voters Carry More Weights · The Pandas Are Back in San Diego and Coming to Washington DC · Foreign Affairs : How Everything Became National Security · TIME : The Perils of Vilifying Chinese Migrants · News and Activities for the Communities NIH Support Statement Falls Short On August 15, 2024, Dr. Monica M. Bertagnolli , Director of National Institutes of Health (NIH), issued a statement expressing support for Asian American, Asian immigrant and Asian research colleagues. According to the statement, the NIH has taken steps to address serious threats to the integrity of NIH-funded research, particularly those linked to the government of the People's Republic of China. While these actions have reduced violations related to peer review confidentiality and reporting foreign support, they have also created an unintended difficult climate for Asian American, Asian immigrant, and Asian research colleagues.NIH acknowledges the invaluable contributions of Asian researchers and is committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive research community. The NIH emphasizes that its efforts to address foreign interference are applied in a nondiscriminatory manner and do not target individuals based on ethnicity, race, or national origin.Moving forward, the NIH is working with stakeholders, universities, and professional organizations to repair relationships with Asian researchers. These efforts include research security training, guidelines for foreign talent program recruitment, and tools to protect the integrity of NIH-funded research while promoting international scientific collaboration.Read the NIH statement: https://bit.ly/4dFphIU APA Justice welcomes the NIH's commitment to work with the Asian scientific community to repair relationships. This action is long overdue. However, NIH must also implement an open and fair due process and procedures to prevent administrators from overreacting and unjustly targeting researchers in the name of security or caution.The China Initiative was launched in apparent coordination with the NIH's August 2018 warning to 10,000 grantee institutions about "threats to the integrity of U.S. biomedical research." The first wave of dismissals, some lacking due process and disproportionately targeting Asian researchers, began at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in the spring of 2019. On March 23, 2023, Science reported on NIH’s “China initiative” upended hundreds of lives and destroyed scores of academic careers: https://bit.ly/3ZbJL4B . According to NIH as of June 9, 2024 , it has identified more than 250 scientists, mostly of Asian descent, who it says have failed to disclose work in China that overlaps with their NIH-funded research or broken other rules. NIH says 112 scientists have lost their jobs as a result.Despite the China Initiative ending two and a half years ago, the scientific community was once again shocked on July 10, 2024 by the tragic passing of a prominent Chinese American researcher in neurology and genetics after her lab at the Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine was shut down.APA Justice takes exception to the choice word of "unintended" in the NIH statement. NIH made mistakes that had grave consequences to individuals, communities, and U.S. leadership in science and technology. A more direct acknowledgment of the impact without relying on "unintended" could demonstrate a stronger commitment to addressing the issue and ensuring that future actions are carefully considered to avoid similar outcomes. Accountability, corrective actions, and a continuing dialogue with the Asian American communities are still needed from NIH. On August 16, 2024, Science reported that the NIH director expressed support for Asian researchers 6 years into the "China initiative," but some say the agency should apologize and acknowledge racial targeting. Gisela Kusakawa , Executive Director of Asian American Scholar Forum, said: “When policies are written down and specified, that helps increase transparency and reduce issues of racial biases.”Some scientists told Science that they are disappointed NIH denies any racial profiling and did not apologize or acknowledge that, in some cases, NIH’s probe has needlessly destroyed careers and lives. Many of the instances investigated, says Peter Zeidenberg , an attorney who represented some of the accused scientists, “were simple mistakes made out of ignorance of confusing and evolving reporting requirements for which NIH provided no training.”“I am disappointed that Chinese American scientists whose labs were shut for 2 or more years or forced into early retirement because of [NIH’s] overzealous prosecution have not received any apology or compensation,” says Yan Chen , an information scientist at the University of Michigan. University of Houston electrical engineer Steven Pei worries new guidelines aren’t enough. “NIH must also implement open and fair due process and procedures to prevent administrators from overreacting and unjustly targeting researchers in the name of security or caution,” says Pei, who co-leads the nonprofit Asian Pacific American Justice Task Force. “This is a very important step toward rebuilding trust by Asian and Asian American scientists,” says Yale University pathologist Qin Yan . “I look forward to continued dialogue and measures to support the scientists who were unfairly impacted by the past actions of government agencies.” The Committee of 100, a nonprofit group of prominent Chinese Americans, adds: “We commend the NIH for recognizing this harm and agree that moving forward, our focus should be on fostering an inclusive, welcoming, and collaborative environment for all scientists and researchers, including those of Chinese and Asian descent.”Read the Science report: https://bit.ly/4cCSBPG NYT Reports : Chinese Americans and Asian American Voters Carry More Weights The New York Times recently published two articles highlighting the growing role of Chinese Americans and Asian Americans voters. In one article titled Asian American Voters Could Be Key Swing Voters of 2024 , it pointed out that Asian American voters have historically leaned Democratic, but recent trends suggest a more nuanced and independent voting pattern. The 2020 election highlighted the significance of Asian American voters, particularly in battleground states. Both parties recognize the untapped potential within the Asian American electorate. However, despite growing outreach efforts, many Asian Americans report not being contacted by either party, indicating room for further engagement. As Asian Americans continue to grow in numbers and political influence, they are likely to play an increasingly pivotal role in future elections.Another article In the Race for San Francisco Mayor, Chinese Voters Take Center Stage examined how the upcoming mayoral election in San Francisco has prompted candidates to intensify their efforts to engage with Chinese American voters. In a city where people of Chinese descent make up over one-fifth of the population, mayoral hopefuls are vying for the attention and support of these voters, who have become more politically active in recent years. The Chinese community played a key role in two 2022 recall elections that removed progressive school board members and a liberal district attorney.Mayor London Breed , who is seeking re-election, is making a concerted effort to win over Chinese voters. She has highlighted her administration's achievements, such as a decline in crime rates, including anti-Asian attacks, and her tough-on-crime agenda. Breed has also focused on improving relations with China, including lobbying for the restoration of direct flights to San Francisco and advocating for bringing giant pandas to the city's zoo. Challengers to Breed, such as Aaron Peskin and Ahsha Safaí , both members of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, have also been working to secure support from Chinese voters. They have longstanding ties within the community and represent districts with large Chinese populations. Juan Zhang , editor at US-China Perception Monitor, contributed this report. The Pandas Are Back in San Diego and Coming to Washington DC According to San Diego Union Tribune , Washington Post , and multiple media reports, a long line of admirers formed at the San Diego Zoo to greet the first two giant pandas to enter the United States in 21 years on August 8, 2024. On loan from China, Yun Chuan, a 5-year-old male, and Xin Bao, a 4-year-old female, made their public debut to an adoring crowd. Yun Chuan’s mother, Zhen Zhen, was born at the San Diego Zoo in 2007, and his grandmother Bai Yun was a mainstay of the zoo from her arrival in 1996 until her return to China in 2019.Not only are the zoo’s newest residents the “furriest, cutest San Diegans,” according to Mayor Todd Gloria , these pandas are diplomats, symbolizing hope for future generations of their species. Chinese dignitaries and local elected officials, including Gov. Gavin Newsom , welcomed the pandas to San Diego with a private ceremony, complete with entertainment from traditional Chinese dancers and singers. Gov. Newsom declared August 8 as California Panda Day.Their arrival marks a renewal of the “panda diplomacy” between China and the United States. For decades, China has sent pandas to zoos around the world, generally on limited loans, as a diplomatic tool to build alliances and goodwill. But relations between the two nations have soured in recent years. The last time China sent pandas to the United States was to the Memphis Zoo in 2003, and the National Zoo’s famous pandas were recalled to China last year. Lei Guang , executive director of the 21st Century China Center at the University of California at San Diego, cautioned that people shouldn’t attach too much political or diplomatic significance to the animals. “The return of giant pandas is a positive development in what is otherwise still a bleak relationship between the U.S. and China. Instead, he saw the pandas as the symbol of what is possible when the two countries cooperate, allowing researchers to study the animals and work on their conservation. The National Zoo in Washington DC will get two new adolescent pandas by the end of the year. The 2-year-old bears are named Bao Li and Qing Bao. Both were born at the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda in Sichuan. Bao Li has D.C. roots, though: His mother, Bao Bao, was born at the National Zoo in 2013 and was a local celebrity before being sent to China in 2017. Bao Li’s grandparents, Tian Tian and Mei Xiang, lived at the National Zoo for 23 years before being returned to China last year. Read the San Diego Union-Tribune report: https://bit.ly/3YP2JS9 . Read the Washington Post report: https://wapo.st/3M9Bj1q . Foreign Affairs : How Everything Became National Security According to a Foreign Affairs opinion, labeling something a matter of “national security” in American politics automatically elevates its importance. Of course, not everyone agrees on which issues fall into the national security bucket. And the American definition of national security has fluctuated wildly over time. In the years between the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union and the 9/11 attacks of 2001—an era in which the United States seemed to have few immediate rivals—even security scholars had difficulty defining the meaning of national security. Unsurprisingly, they could not reach a consensus. Since the subsequent “war on terror,” however, the national security bucket has grown into a trough. From climate change to ransomware to personal protective equipment to critical minerals to artificial intelligence, everything is national security now.It is true that economic globalization and rapid technological change have increased the number of unconventional threats to the United States. Yet there appears also to be a ratchet effect at work, with the foreign policy establishment adding new things to the realm of national security without getting rid of old ones. Problems in world politics rarely die; at best, they tend to ebb very slowly. But if everything is defined as national security, nothing is a national security priority. Without a more considered discussion among policymakers about what is and what is not a matter of national security, Washington risks spreading its resources too thin across too broad an array of issues. This increases the likelihood of missing a genuine threat to the safety and security of the United States. Whoever is sworn in as president next January will need to think about first principles in order to rightsize the definition of national security. Otherwise, policymakers risk falling into a pattern of trying to do everything, ensuring that they will do nothing well. Read the Foreign Affairs opinion: https://fam.ag/4dlk2P3 TIME : The Perils of Vilifying Chinese Migrants According to TIME on August 13, 2024, with intense political debate focused on the U.S. southern border, an unexpected trend has captured a great deal of attention. Chinese migrants are among the fastest growing national populations crossing the border, and their numbers have increased exponentially since 2022. In 2023, approximately 37,000 Chinese nationals entered the United States this way, compared to less than 2,000 the year before. In the first five months of 2024, over 24,000 Chinese migrants were apprehended on the Southern border. The journey over land through Mexico—or via a complex, multi-stop route that leaves them in Baja, Calif.—is not easy. But many migrants say they are motivated to undertake it because of the economic challenges facing middle-class Chinese citizens and small business owners in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and China’s strict Zero-COVID policy. Others highlight increasing political oppression, stemming both from increased monitoring of dissidents connected to Hong Kong or opposition movements as well as increased controls over public discourse since President Xi Jinping began his unprecedented third term in power.In the United States, conservative media, think tanks, and politicians increasingly question these stated motives, expressing concerns instead that the Chinese Communist Party is “sending” migrants as spies, to form an army, or to otherwise sabotage U.S. national security.None of this rhetoric about a Chinese “invasion” or “threat” is new. There is a long history of anti-Chinese and anti-Asian rhetoric in the United States. In the past, such rhetoric has led to violence and discrimination. Using it now—despite the lack of evidence that China or the CCP is using the border to "infiltrate" the country—threatens to stoke backlash against Chinese migrants and Asian Americans, as well as further damage the U.S. diplomatic relationship with China. The assumption that Chinese Americans were unique and different from other ethnic groups in the United States kept the “perpetual foreigner” syndrome alive, allowing many Americans to assume that people of Chinese descent, citizens or not, would always remain more loyal to China than the United States.The assumption that Chinese Americans or Chinese migrants with access to technical and scientific information must be using it on behalf of China has not declined in the last three decades.In 2018, the U.S. Department of Justice launched its “China Initiative,” seeking to uncover unlawful technology and scientific transfers to China, investigating ethnic Chinese professors and researchers in the United States and subjecting them to what was often unwarranted scrutiny. The program was ended in 2022 with the admission that it frequently targeted ethnic Chinese people and subjected them to suspicion and harassment without clear evidence that they had done anything wrong.Protecting U.S. national security is important, and immigration law and policy can play an important role in that. However, it is possible to manage even irregular entries on the Southern border without resorting to the language of “invasion” and peril that has done so much damage to Chinese immigrant and Chinese American communities in the past and present. Read the TIME report: https://bit.ly/3SNh5yz News and Activities for the Communities 1. APA Justice Community Calendar Upcoming Events: 2024/08/19 APIAVote DNC Convention Reception2024/08/20 APIAVote DNC Convention Briefing2024/09/01 Rep. Gene Wu's Town Hall Meeting2024/09/09 APA Justice Monthly Meeting2024/09/19 1990 Teachers Workshop: Asian American Identity2024/09/19-20 AANHPI Unity Summit2024/10/06 Rep. Gene Wu's Town Hall Meeting2024/10/07 APA Justice Monthly MeetingThe Community Calendar has moved. Visit https://bit.ly/3XD61qV for event details. 2. AAGEN: SES Leadership Development Program Class of 2024-2025 The Asian American Government Executives Network (AAGEN) Senior Executive Service (SES) Leadership Development Program is accepting applications for its 2024-2025 Class through September 10, 2024. The program offers executive development courses, coaching in mock interviews, individual mentoring, and career counseling for candidates to gain the skills to effectively compete for SES positions. Each candidate will be assigned an SES mentor who will provide guidance throughout the program. The next class will commence December 9-11, 2024 and the program will continue through September 2025. The training sessions will be held in the Washington, DC metro area. Participants should expect a quarterly time commitment of 2-3 days of classes and other sessions, plus at least one mentoring session. Additional activities, as assigned by the SES mentor and trainers, will be completed on the participant’s own time.For more information about the AAGEN program, please visit http://www.aagen.org/SESDevelopmentProg Back View PDF August 19, 2024 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter

Newsletter - #18 09/30 Webinar Reminder; 10/05 APA Justice Meeting; More Webinars #18 09/30 Webinar Reminder; 10/05 APA Justice Meeting; More Webinars Back View PDF September 29, 2020 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter

Newsletter - #223 12/4 Meeting; China Initiative/Section 702; Call for WH Apology; Student Exchanges; + #223 12/4 Meeting; China Initiative/Section 702; Call for WH Apology; Student Exchanges; + In This Issue #223 · 2023/12/04 APA Justice Monthly Meeting · No More "China Initiative" or Section 702 Warrantless Surveillance · Call for a White House Statement of Apology on the Chinese Exclusion Act · NYT: Can U.S.-China Student Exchanges Survive Geopolitics? · News and Activities for the Communities 2023/12/04 APA Justice Monthly Meeting The next APA Justice monthly meeting will be held via Zoom on Monday, December 4, 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), confirmed speakers are: · Matt Jones , Partner, WilmerHale LLP. Matt represents Dr. Yanping Chen 陈燕平 , a naturalized U.S, citizen and founder of the University of Management and Technology in Arlington, Virginia. Matt spoke about Dr. Chen's case at the November 2022 APA Justice monthly meeting . He will give us an update on the latest development. · Michael Bloch , Partner, Bloch and White LLP. Michael represents Baimadajie Angwang 昂旺 , an ethnic Tibetan from China who served in Afghanistan as a U.S. marine and later joined the New York Police Department (NYPD) as an officer. He is a naturalized U.S. citizen. Angwang was arrested in September 2020, charged with acting as an illegal agent of the Chinese government under the now-defunct "China Initiative." Michael will give us an update on Angwang's case. A Q&A and discussion session will follow the reports by Matt Jones and Michael Bloch. Confirmed discussants include: · Bethany Li , Legal Director, Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) · Paula Madison 罗笑娜, Retired, NBCUniversal Executive; Entrepreneur; Journalist · Brian Sun 孙自华, Partner, Norton Rose Fulbright US LLP · Helen Zia 谢汉兰, Activist, Author, and Former Journalist Brian Sun was part of the legal team representing Dr. Wen Ho Lee 李文和 in the criminal trial in 2000. Brian later represented Dr. Lee and won a settlement in a civil lawsuit when Dr. Lee sued the government under the Privacy Act in 2006. Helen Zia co-authored with Dr. Lee and published a book titled " My Country Versus Me " in 2002.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 No More "China Initiative" or Section 702 Warrantless Surveillance 1. No More "China Initiative" - Sign-on Letter There is a recent proposal in the US House Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and related agencies (CJS) to reinstate the "China Initiative." The "China Initiative" was launched under the Trump Administration on November 1, 2018. It led to the racial profiling and unjust prosecution of U.S.-based Chinese American and immigrant scholars, scientists and researchers. It upended the careers and lives of many, as well as reports such as this Proceedings of National Academy of Science report showing that it created a chilling effect on Asian Americans deterring many from engaging in ordinary activities, like traveling or corresponding with loved ones, for fear of being wrongfully targeted. The "China Initiative" officially ended under the Biden Administration on February 23, 2022. On March 23, 2023, Science described how The National Institutes of Health (NIH) conducted its own “China initiative” that has upended hundreds of lives and destroyed scores of academic careers. Plainly put, it is unacceptable for Congress to bring it back.A coalition letter has been prepared to urge Congress to oppose bringing the "China Initiative" back from the dead. Like-minded organizations are urged to sign on by December 7, 2023. APA Justice is a co-signer of the coalition letter.For more information and support, contact Gisela Perez Kusakawa at gpkusakawa@aasforum.org , Joanna Derman at jderman@advancingjustice-aajc.org , or Kenny Nguyen at knguyen@stopaapihate.org . Read the open letter to Congress: https://bit.ly/3uCGBgx . Read about the "China Initiative:" https://bit.ly/2ZC12up 2. No More Section 702 Warrantless Surveillance On November 28, 2023, a national coalition of 92 civil rights and racial justice organizations sent a letter to all 535 members of Congress, opposing reauthorizing of FISA Section 702 in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) of 2024. APA Justice is a co-signer of the letter. "Reporting indicates certain Congressional leaders are pushing not only to briefly extend this spying power to provide more time for Congress to debate how it should be reformed, but are further considering reauthorizing legislation, likely for a longer period, from the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI). Not only was this legislation not included in either NDAA passed by the House or Senate, it has yet to even be introduced or its legislative text published," the letter said. In addition, · Public outlines of the HPSCI legislation reveal that it would serve to expand surveillance of people in the United States in several alarming ways, from targeting immigrants to reviving provisions of the PATRIOT Act that expired years ago. · It would fail to address alarming threats to civil rights, like the government’s purchase of massive amounts of data about American communities without court orders, while depriving members of Congress the opportunity to meaningfully address these threats. · The HPSCI bill would reauthorize Section 702 without in any way addressing the vast majority of the government’s abuses of the authority — abuses that are actively undermining civil rights. In conclusion, Section 702 must not be reauthorized without a meaningful opportunity for members of Congress to reform the authority and other related warrantless surveillance practices. Including in must-pass legislation any extension would sell out the communities that have been most often wrongfully targeted by these agencies and warrantless spying powers generally. Adding legislation to reauthorize Section 702 during conference that has not been debated by either House or Senate Judiciary Committee or either chamber would amount to a profound procedural and substantive failure. Stop AAPI Hate urges like-minded organizations and individuals to amplify the coalition letter by making use of a Social Media Toolkit with sample language and graphics.For more information, contact Andy Wong at andywong@caasf.org . Read the coalition letter: https://bit.ly/410Sf0Y . Read the WIRED report on this topic: https://bit.ly/3uBqJLj . Concerned individuals may also send their opposition of warrantless surveillance to their Congressional members here: https://bit.ly/3EFkg3R . Call for a White House Statement of Apology on the Chinese Exclusion Act On December 17, 2023, it will be the 80th anniversary of the repeal of the Chinese Exclusion Act. This date holds great significance for the Chinese and Asian Pacific American communities across the country, as it marks the end of a dark era of discrimination and injustice. For more than two generations, the Chinese Exclusion Act tore apart families, denied the Chinese their citizenship and thus their voting rights, and subjected them to discrimination, hate, riots, and even murder. The Chinese community in America, as a result, suffered greatly, and the scars of this legislation continue to be felt to this day. In 2022, on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the signing of Executive Order 9066 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt , the White House issued a well-received presidential proclamation apologizing for the harm caused to Japanese Americans. This gesture of remorse came 34 years after the US Congress passed a law in 1988 to apologize and provide reparations to the Japanese American community. United Chinese Americans (UCA) has organized an open letter to President Joe Biden, calling for the White House to issue a statement of apology on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the repeal of the Chinese Exclusion Act. Like-minded individuals and organizations are urged to sign on to the letter. APA Justice co-signed the letter.Read and sign on to the UCA letter: https://bit.ly/3T5jxRG NYT: Can U.S.-China Student Exchanges Survive Geopolitics? According to the New York Times on November 28, 2023, at a college fair organized by the United States Embassy, the students and their parents hovered over rows of booths advertising American universities. As a mascot of a bald eagle worked the crowd, they posed eagerly for photos.But beneath the festive atmosphere thrummed a note of anxiety. Did America still want Chinese students? And were Chinese students sure they wanted to go to America?Students have been traveling between China and the United States for generations, propelled by ambition, curiosity and a belief that their time abroad could help them better their and their countries’ futures. The first Chinese student to graduate from an American university, Yung Wing , arrived at Yale in 1850 and later helped send 120 more students to America.For the last three years, the number of Chinese students in the United States has fallen. The number of American students in China, meanwhile, plummeted during the pandemic to a mere 350 as of this year compared to more than 11,000 in 2019.Both Beijing and Washington have acknowledged the importance of restoring exchanges. During his trip to San Francisco this month, China’s leader, Xi Jinping , declared that China was “ready to invite” 50,000 Americans to study in China over the next five years. The American ambassador to China, Nicholas Burns , has insisted that the United States welcomes Chinese students. But the official rhetoric belies obstacles that both governments have continued to erect, driven by the same nationalism and concerns about national security that have derailed other parts of the relationship. Chinese propaganda regularly depicts the United States as dangerously crime-ridden, and many Chinese are also worried by increased reports of visa denials or border interrogations in the U.S. upon arrival. For Americans, the appeal of visiting China has dimmed under Mr. Xi, an authoritarian leader who has stoked anti-foreign sentiment. The U.S. government has also prohibited some American students from studying there, and some language-learning programs that it funds have moved from mainland China to Taiwan. Scholarly collaborations at all levels have been eroded by the geopolitical tensions. Chinese university students are still a robust presence in the United States, with nearly 290,000 in the 2022-23 school year. But many Chinese are concerned about programs like the Justice Department’s now-scrapped China Initiative, which critics said discriminated against scientists of Chinese descent.Other students have had visas revoked or denied under a Trump-era order known as Proclamation 10043 , upheld by the Biden administration, that bans students from certain Chinese universities from graduate study in the United States. Washington says those universities — the list is not public — have ties to China’s military.By making Chinese students feel unwelcome, the United States is hurting one of its historic strengths. The flow of Americans to China has always been much smaller. But Washington recognized the importance of increasing it. In 2010, President Barack Obama launched an initiative to send 100,000 American students to China over five years, who the State Department said would be “the next generation of American experts on China.”The Biden administration has also not reinstated the Fulbright program in China, which President Donald J. Trump suspended. Read the New York Times report: https://nyti.ms/47VlAvQ News and Activities for the Communities 1. APA Justice Community Calendar Upcoming Events: 2023/12/02 A Virtual Fireside Chat 2023/12/03 Rep. Gene Wu 's Weekly town hall meeting2023/12/04 APA Justice December 2023 monthly meeting 2023/12/05 The Role of Chinese Students in America2023/12/06 1882 Foundation Lecture and Reception: We are Americans 2023/12/10 Rep. Gene Wu 's Weekly town hall meeting2023/12/12 Community Briefing on Section 702 Visit https://bit.ly/45KGyga for event details. 2. A Growing Virginia Asian American Pacific Islander Caucus On November 28, 2023, the Virginia Asian American Pacific Islander Caucus (VAAPI Caucus) hosted a stakeholder listening session ahead of the 60-day Virginia state legislative session starting on January 10, 2024. State Delegate Kathy Tran serves as the Chair of VAAPI Caucus. State Senator Ghazala Hashmi is Vice Chair. The 2024 VAAPI Caucus has 8 members - 3 state senators and 5 state delegates. 3. UCA Virtual Fireside Chat - Journey to Public Service WHAT: Webinar on "A Virtual Fireside Chat with Representatives Ya Liu, Lily Qi and Chao Wu" WHEN: Saturday, December 2, 2023, 7:00 pm ET/04:00 pm PTDESCRIPTION: https://bit.ly/3sPpEPDHOST : United Chinese Americans (UCA)MODERATOR: Haipei Shue , President of UCA SPEAKERS: · Ya Liu, Member, North Carolina House of Representatives · Lily Qi, Member, Maryland House of Delegates · Chao Wu, Member, Maryland House of Delegates REGISTRATION: https://bit.ly/3N5JY5W 4. The Serica Initiative Continues; The China Project Ends On November 7, 2023, The China Project (formerly SupChina) announced its shutdown due to many accusations in both the U.S. and China of working for nefarious purposes for the government of the other. Launched in 2016 with the aim of informing the world about China with a breadth and depth that general interest news organizations cannot devote to one country. It has incurred enormous legal costs and made it increasingly difficult to attract investors, advertisers, and sponsors. On November 29, 2023, The Serica Initiative , The China Project’s New York-based sister nonprofit organization, announced that it will carry forward the mission to both advocating for greater Asian American inclusion and advancing positive social impact in U.S.-China relations. Back View PDF December 2, 2023 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter