Newsletter - #81 DOC Internal Review Report; 09/13 Meeting; APS Webinar; Yellow Whistles And More #81 DOC Internal Review Report; 09/13 Meeting; APS Webinar; Yellow Whistles And More Back View PDF September 7, 2021 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter

A group of Chinese citizens who live, work, study, and raise families in Florida filed a lawsuit to combat Florida’s discriminatory property law, SB 264. May 22, 2023 Legal Docket : SHEN v. SIMPSON (4:23-cv-00208) On May 22, 2023, a group of Chinese citizens who live, work, study, and raise families in Florida, as well as a real estate brokerage firm in Florida that primarily serves clients of Chinese descent, filed a lawsuit to combat Florida’s discriminatory property law, SB 264. Signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, the legislation unfairly restricts most Chinese citizens — and most citizens of Cuba, Venezuela, Syria, Iran, Russia, and North Korea — from purchasing homes in the state. Unless the courts act, the law became effect on July 1, 2023. The plaintiffs are represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Florida, DeHeng Law Offices PC 德恒律师事务所, the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF), and Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP , in coordination with the Chinese American Legal Defense Alliance 华美维权同盟 (CALDA). The lawsuit argues that SB 264 will codify and expand housing discrimination against people of Asian descent in violation of the Constitution and the Fair Housing Act. It will also cast an undue burden of suspicion on anyone seeking to buy property whose name sounds remotely Asian, Russian, Iranian, Cuban, Venezuelan, or Syrian. Gov. DeSantis has argued that this law is necessary to protect Florida from the Chinese Communist Party and its activities. But this misguided rationale unfairly equates Chinese people with the actions of their government, and there is no evidence of national security harm resulting from real estate ownership by Chinese people in Florida. Florida’s dangerous new law recalls similar efforts over the past century to weaponize false claims of “national security” against Asian immigrants and other marginalized communities. In the early 1900s, politicians across the country used similar justifications to pass “ alien land laws ” prohibiting Chinese and Japanese immigrants from becoming landowners. These racist policies not only hurt immigrants financially, but also severely exacerbated violence and discrimination against Asian communities living in the United States. Over time, these laws were struck down by the courts or were repealed by state legislatures because they violated the Constitution’s equal protection guarantees. A group of Chinese citizens who live, work, study, and raise families in Florida filed a lawsuit to combat Florida’s discriminatory property law, SB 264. Previous Next Lawsuit Against Florida Senate Bill 264

Newsletter - #137 East Tennessee US Attorney; Chinese Student Visas Plummet; Denver History; Opinion #137 East Tennessee US Attorney; Chinese Student Visas Plummet; Denver History; Opinion Back View PDF August 15, 2022 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter

Newsletter - #258 6/3 Monthly Meeting; Chinese Students; Clear&Fair Law Enforcement; 6/6 Forum with FBI+ #258 6/3 Monthly Meeting; Chinese Students; Clear&Fair Law Enforcement; 6/6 Forum with FBI+ In This Issue #258 · 2024/06/03 APA Justice Monthly Meeting · Bloomberg: Expulsions of Chinese Students Spread Confusion from Yale to UVA · An Urgent Call for Clear and Fair Law Enforcement Guidelines and Procedures for Research Security · 06/06: An Open and Public Community Forum with The FBI · News and Activities for the Communities 2024/06/03 APA Justice Monthly Meeting The next APA Justice monthly meeting will be held via Zoom on Monday, June 3, 2024, starting at 1:55 pm ET.In addition to updates by Nisha Ramachandran , Executive Director, Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC); Joanna YangQing Derman , Director, Advancing Justice | AAJC; and Gisela Perez Kusakawa , Executive Director, Asian American Scholar Forum (AASF), confirmed speakers are: · Tam Dao , Assistant Vice President for Research Security, Office of Innovation, Rice University, will report on the future of the National Science Foundation (NSF)’s Research on Research Security program · Haipei Shue , President, United Chinese Americans, will report on the 2024 Chinese American Convention · Jeremy Wu , Co-Organizer, APA Justice, will preview an alpha version of a web page on the story of exonerated Professor Anming Hu · Anming Hu , Professor, University of Tennessee at Knoxville, will give an update of his situation and his family since the end of his ordeal under the China Initiative. 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 . Bloomberg: Expulsions of Chinese Students Spread Confusion from Yale to UVA According to Bloomberg on May 29, 2024, Customs agents at US airports have barred entry to at least 20 students and scholars with valid visas since November in ‘more insidious’ version of disbanded China Initiative. Susan , a second-year Ph.D. student in biomedical imaging at the University of Virginia, faced relentless questioning from a U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agent upon her return from visiting her parents in China. Accused of ties to the Chinese Communist Party, her student visa was abruptly canceled, forcing her to purchase a $1,400 ticket back to Beijing and barring her from the U.S. for five years. Her experience is part of a broader trend where at least 20 Chinese students from prestigious universities have had their visas revoked since November. The Chinese government and lawyers confirmed these accounts, highlighting the lack of transparency and public accountability in these decisions. These actions contradict the efforts to foster educational and cultural exchanges endorsed by U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping .The expulsions reveal internal divisions within the Biden administration, where Customs agents under the Department of Homeland Security are canceling visas approved by the State Department. The Biden administration ended the controversial China Initiative but has continued similar practices covertly, impacting Ph.D. students and researchers without public scrutiny. Susan and others, like Meng Fei , a fifth-year Ph.D. student at Yale, have faced racial and gender discrimination, with their exclusions linked to vague national security concerns under Presidential Proclamation (PP) 10043 . This proclamation targets students with alleged ties to Chinese military-civil fusion, yet the specifics remain undisclosed, causing confusion and fear among affected students. Universities like the University of Virginia and Yale are striving to support their students by seeking clarity and providing legal assistance. However, the ongoing lack of clear guidelines and coordination between federal agencies leaves many students in limbo, disrupting their academic and personal lives. As the U.S. grapples with balancing national security and academic freedom, the impact on foreign-born researchers like Susan underscores the need for transparent and consistent policies to ensure fairness and uphold the integrity of educational exchanges. Two years ago, the Biden administration ended a controversial Trump-era policy known as the China Initiative that purported to root out spies but resulted in more ruined careers than successful prosecutions. Now that program has been succeeded by a piecemeal effort — one that’s largely hidden from public view. Instead of targeting prominent academics, Customs agents are expelling Ph.D. and postdoctoral students, as well as company employees, by secret administrative actions with no public accountability or right to appeal. Marta Meng , founder of the Meng Law Group in Covina, California, who represents Susan and three other expelled students seeking to overturn their bans, said no reason was given to her clients or in transcripts of the airport interviews that she has reviewed. Dan Berger , Meng Fei's lawyer, said he can’t understand why his client would have been subject to PP 10043, as nothing in her background indicates ties to any of the banned universities or to state funding, and her visa was renewed by the State Department just last year. That’s a problem for learning institutions, said Toby Smith , who handles government relations and public policy at the Association of American Universities, which acts on behalf of 71 research universities including the University of Virginia, Yale and other schools with recently banned students. “Despite asking for additional clarity, the specific items that would result in visa denial for Chinese graduate students under Proclamation 10043 have never been disclosed to our universities,” he said. “So we have been left only to speculate as to what might spark such denials.” The secrecy makes what’s going on “much more insidious now,” said Gisela Perez Kusakawa , executive director of the Asian American Scholar Forum , a nonprofit organization that promotes academic freedom. “The end of the China Initiative wasn’t the end, they’re just not calling it that anymore,” said Ivan Kanapathy , senior vice president at Beacon Global Strategies, a national security advisory firm in Washington, and a former National Security Council official in the Trump administration. When the Biden administration ended the China Initiative, it said that a 2021 national security memorandum about vetting foreign students would remain in effect. It instructs the State Department to work with Homeland Security to ensure that the granting of visas reflects “the changing nature of risks” to US research. But it doesn’t specify what those risks are or how the agencies should be coordinating enforcement. “The question is, who is coordinating the whole thing, the guidelines and procedures for law enforcement,” said Steven Pei , an electrical engineering professor at the University of Houston and co-organizer of the Asian Pacific American Justice Task Force , which advocates against racial discrimination. “We are trying hard to balance national security, US competitiveness with China in high tech and civil rights,” he said. “But this top-level policy has not trickled down.”Read the Bloomberg report: https://bloom.bg/3wRL4O3 An Urgent Call for Clear and Fair Law Enforcement Guidelines and Procedures for Research Security Neal Lane* , Steven Pei* , and Jeremy Wu* posted a public commentary, calling for the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and other federal law enforcement agencies to coordinate their policies using comparable principles and set clear, fair guidelines and procedures. Our scientific success is rooted in core values, including collaboration, honesty, transparency, integrity, the fair competition of ideas, and the protection of intellectual capital. Some foreign entities do not share these values and are working to illicitly acquire our research and innovation. This necessitates laws – and law enforcement.But it is vital that law enforcement guidelines and procedures be clear and fair for maintaining public trust, upholding individual rights, and promoting accountability and consistency within the justice system. Otherwise, we can expect our competitive edge in science and technology to wane, as well as our standing as a leading democracy.With its sharp focus on research security, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) has set a balanced path to guide policies of federal agencies that support research. There is a similar need for the FBI, HSI, and other federal law enforcement agencies to coordinate their policies using comparable principles and set clear, fair guidelines and procedures.Given OSTP’s unique role and capability within the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC), it should also coordinate with all key law enforcement agencies to close the apparent gap in communication between national science and technology policy set by NSTC and agents at the forefront of law enforcement. In doing so, it can protect America’s security and economic competitiveness while minimizing the unintended negative impact and associated chilling effects on the science and technology community. * Dr. Neal Lane is Senior Fellow in Science and Technology Policy, Baker Institute, Rice University, and Former Director, Office of Science and Technology Policy at the White House. Dr. Steven Pei is Co-Organizer of APA Justice; Founding Chair of United Chinese Americans; and Professor at the University of Houston. Dr. Jeremy Wu is Co-Organizer of APA Justice; Member of Committee of 100; and Retired from the Federal Government. Read the full commentary: https://bit.ly/3yDRaSB 06/06: An Open and Public Community Forum with The FBI On June 6, 2024, the Baker Institute and the Office of Innovation at Rice University, the Texas Multicultural Advocacy Coalition, and APA Justice will co-host a hybrid forum titled " A Dialogue Between the Academic and Asian American Communities and the FBI ." Registration for in-person attendance and Zoom webinar is now open. In 2022, the Department of Justice ended its China Initiative — a strategy to counter Chinese espionage and threats to U.S. research security — after academic and civil rights groups raised concerns about bias and damage to the United States’ scientific enterprise. However, there were several recent media reports of border entry issues for Chinese graduate students and academic researchers who are green card-holders and even American citizens. This event brings together Jill Murphy, deputy assistant director of counterintelligence at the FBI, and the leadership of the FBI’s Houston field office for a dialogue with members of the academic and Asian American communities. It will examine gaps between national science and technology policy and its implementation. It will also explore the possibility of establishing a regular communication channel between the academic and Asian American communities with FBI field offices. Register to join the forum in person: https://bit.ly/4aFwvuK . Register to join the forum via Zoom: https://bit.ly/3wjg759 . News and Activities for the Communities 1. APA Justice Community Calendar Upcoming Events: 2024/05/31 A Discussion on the History of Discrimination Against Asian Americans2024/06/03 APA Justice Monthly Meeting2024/06/06 A Dialogue Between Academic/AAPI Communities with The FBI2024/06/20 U.S.-China Relations: Untangling Campaign Rhetoric & Understanding Policy – Teachers Workshop2024/06/20-22 Social Equity Leadership ConferenceVisit https://bit.ly/45KGyga for event details. 2. MOCA Forum: A Discussion on the History of Discrimination Against Asian Americans WHAT: A Discussion on the History of Discrimination Against Asian Americans WHEN: May 31, 2024, 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm ET WHERE: 215 Centre Street, New York, NY HOST: Museum of Chinese in America MODERATOR: Scott Wong. Reporter, NBC News SPEAKERS: · Christopher P. Lu, U.S. Representative to the United Nations for Management and Reform · Mark Takano, Member, U.S. House of Representatives DESCRIPTION: From the Chinese Exclusion Act and Japanese incarceration to recent hate crimes, a discussion on the history of discrimination against Asian Americans. REGISTRATION: https://bit.ly/3yG2ltY 3. WHIAANHPI Celebrates 25th Anniversary On June 7, 1999, President Bill Clinton signed Executive Order 13125 establishing a White House Initiative and presidential advisory commission dedicated to improving the lives of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. Over the course of 25 years and five presidential administrations, the size and scope of these entities have evolved. But the full story of how they came to be has rarely been told. On May 17, 2024, The White House Initiative on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders (WHIAANHPI) posted a documentary video titled "Lasting Legacies - The White House Initiative on AA and NHPIs Turns 25” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9nw4TL80yI (10:29) 4. Two New Pandas Coming to Washington DC According to multiple media reports, months after the nation’s capital bid an emotional farewell to its giant pandas, the National Zoo is expecting a renewed surge in panda-mania with the announcement that two more of the furry black-and-white icons will be coming to Washington DC.A fresh agreement had been struck with the Chinese government, and a pair of adult pandas would be arriving from China by the end of the year. The incoming pair are Bao Li and Qing Bao. Both are two years old.Pandas have been a symbol of U.S.-China friendship since Beijing sent a pair to the National Zoo in 1972, ahead of the normalization of bilateral relations. Later, Beijing loaned pandas to other U.S. zoos, with proceeds going back to panda conservation programs. Back View PDF May 31, 2024 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter

Newsletter - #348 Special Edition: Shutdown of Corporation of Public Broadcasting #348 Special Edition: Shutdown of Corporation of Public Broadcasting In This Issue #348 Special Edition: Shutdown of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting Author: Madeleine Gable, APA Justice Communications Associate On July 24, 2025, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the GOP-backed Rescissions Act of 2025, cutting about $1.1 billion in previously approved funding allocated to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) over the next two years. A week later, CPB President Patricia Harrison announced the organization would shut down, with most of its 100 employees leaving by the end of September. Despite widespread public opposition, including letters and petitions, the shutdown advances, threatening the future of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), the National Public Radio (NPR), and hundreds of local stations nationwide, significantly impacting Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) communities. What is the CPB? Established in 1967 under the Public Broadcasting Act, the CPB is a private nonprofit corporation supporting noncommercial, educational, and accessible broadcasting. Beyond funding PBS and NPR, the CPB provides support to over 1,500 local radio and TV stations. Many of the rural networks are the only broadcasting stations in the area.Former President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the act as part of Great Society legislation , initiatives intended to reduce poverty and promote social equity. Early broadcasters, often based at universities and land-grant schools, provided continuing education programs, which eventually expanded to include children’s programming, documentary films, and feature stories.The CPB allocates more than $400 million to over 500 public-media organizations nationwide. In particular, its funding has a much greater impact on stations that serve local communities than it does on PBS and NPR. In fact, the CPB funds 15% of the budget for PBS and only 1% of the budget for NPR. The vast majority of the CPB’s funds are allocated directly to local TV and radio stations, and 31% of the CPB’s grants were allocated directly to rural networks in 2023. According to CPB analysis, more than half of the rural stations it supported relied on federal funding for at least 25% of their budget. Consequences of the Shutdown At its inception, the CPB was designed to ensure nonpartisanship by creating a degree of separation between its operations and the lawmakers responsible for approving the annual federal budget. Recently, the CPB, and especially NPR and PBS, have garnered criticism for alleged liberal bias. Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene vehemently called for the defunding of the CPB because NPR and PBS had become “echo chambers for a narrow audience of mostly wealthy white urban liberals and progressives who generally look down on and judge rural America.” On Truth Social in April, President Donald Trump referred to NPR and PBS as “radical left monsters that so badly hurt our country.” 1. Loss of Local/Rural Representation and Voice Both Rep. Greene and President Trump’s statements underscore the irony of shuttering the CPB. The shutdown would hit rural, low-income areas hardest, places where local stations are often the sole source of essential information, leaving these communities at a significant disadvantage. With the loss of funding, smaller, public radio stations will be forced to rely more heavily on national programming, thereby reducing the diversity of perspectives on the air. As Emily Cohen , station manager of KHOL in Jackson, Wyoming, observed , “If you take away the funding that’s supporting local coverage, it could potentially make polarization worse.”Such smaller, rural broadcasting stations include Allegheny Mountain Radio (AMR), a network of three radio stations in West Virginia and Virginia that serve as the area’s only broadcasters. Located within the National Radio Quiet Zone, a 13,000 square-mile region where airwaves are restricted due to a nearby radio telescope, AMR operates at a frequency low enough to avoid interference. More than 60% of its annual budget is funded by the CPB; any reduction in this funding would seriously harm residents who may otherwise lose access to local broadcasting. Josh Shepperd , associate professor at the University of Colorado, suggests “20% of the country is effectively going to lose any concept of itself as a place within the next 10 years without public media.” He added local communities are “all going to have national ideology on the local level, and no local memory and no local experience.” 2. Reduced Access to Critical Information and Services Importantly, the shutdown of the CPB will severely dampen the efficacy of local alert systems, endangering the lives of those who rely on local broadcasting systems for emergency messages. In rural communities that lack reliable internet, radio is often a more effective means of disseminating emergency alerts. While the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has the ability to send emergency messages directly to people’s cellphones, radio stations can cover a larger geographical area and are more reliable than cell towers.In the Permian Basin in southwest Texas, radio is often the only outlet available to provide residents with emergency information in times of natural disaster. Marfa Public Radio and KPBT-TV (also known as Basin PBS) are two of the stations that primarily serve this area. 30% of Marfa Public Radio’s budget is funded by the CPB, while 48% of KPBT-TV’s comes from the CPB. Directors of both of these stations have expressed their concerns about continuing to operate as their budgets must now be fully funded by donors.Mendocino-based NPR member station KZYX in California serves roughly 130,000 listeners. Andre de Channes , KZYX’s general manager and director of operations, worried about fire safety as the station provides service to many off-the-grid rural areas without access to internet or cell service. Residents of those areas rely primarily on KZYX for emergency information. KZYX has lost 25% of its operating budget. 3. Impact on Cultural Programming In addition to limited diversity of programming and reduced access to critical information and services, the shutdown of the CPB will also profoundly impact cultural programming, particularly because local stations broadcast the majority of such content. Jack Jones is the acting station manager of KGVA, a tribal radio station on the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation in northern Montana, which receives 85% of its funding from the CPB. Much of the rest of its funding is allocated by the reservation’s college, which also faces a severe funding crisis. According to Jones, KGVA daily broadcasts feature educational programming, words of the day in Aaniiih and Nakota languages, interviews with tribal elders, Native American drum groups, and local high school basketball games. Republican Senator from South Dakota Mike Rounds noted that tribal radio stations are crucial for "delivering critical emergency alerts and public safety information.” Jones remains concerned that the shutdown of the CPB will deprive listeners of both vital cultural programming and essential public safety information. Loris Taylor , President and CEO of Native Public Media, warned that the “cost of silence” from shuttering tribal radio stations also includes the loss of emergency alerting capabilities and the collapse of civic engagement coverage. Perhaps most importantly, Taylor says defunding tribal stations "turns off a pathway to participation, representation, and leadership for Native youth.” The CPB shutdown also threatens the more than 1,000 public radio stations that play independent music, as the CPB funding often covers all music licensing fees for public radio stations. Without that funding, public radio stations would have to renegotiate those deals individually. NPR President and CEO Katherine Maher recently estimated that 96% of all classical music broadcast in the U.S. is on public radio stations. Impact on AANHPI Communities 1. Cultural Programming at Risk Beyond local stations, CPB funding also supports national and digital platforms that amplify AANHPI voices.To celebrate AANHPI Heritage Month in 2024, the CPB published a comprehensive guide to its programming exploring and celebrating the history and culture of AANHPI individuals and communities. Examples include PBS’s “ The Composer is Yoo ” and Photographic Justice: The Corky Lee Story , Dear Corky , WORLD’s “ Chinatown Auxiliary ” and In Search of Bengali Harlem , NPR’s Tiny Desk Japan and Tiny Desk Korea , and PBS’s five part documentary series Asian Americans .Other PBS stations offering extensive, culturally rich programming about Asian Americans include PBS Hawai’i , KQED , and PBS SoCal . The latter aired “ Snapshots of Confinement ,” a locally-produced documentary chronicling the experiences of Japanese Americans at internment camps during World War II.Other radio and online platforms uplifting AANHPI voices include NPR Live Sessions , Seattle’s KEXP , LAist Studios and NPR’s Inheriting , StoryCorps , and the American Archive of Public Broadcasting . 2. Arts and Story Telling The Serica Initiative , a nonprofit in New York City, raises awareness of the Asian diaspora in America through storytelling, dialogue, and the power of convening. According to CEO and founder Anla Cheng , a key partner of Serica's is The WNET Group in New York and a past recipient of CPB funds. Together, Serica and ALL ARTS — the arts and culture hub created by The WNET Group — have co-produced a series of short videos highlighting the impact of AAPIs; most recently, their series " Climate Artists " (which featured artists centering climate change and sustainability in their work, including architect and designer Maya Lin ) was nominated for three NY Emmy Awards; a fourth Emmy nomination was for their video " Voices Rising: What's Next for Asian Americans in the Arts? ", which was also co-produced with ALL ARTS and featured such speakers as playwright David Henry Hwang (Golden Child, Yellow Face) as well as actors Rosalind Chao (Three Body Problem) and BD Wong (Jurassic Park, Law & Order: SUV). Cheng highlighted that reductions in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) funding, academic research grants, and resources supporting AAPI communities will have far-reaching effects throughout the entire community. She also emphasized that the willingness to support one another remains stronger than ever, with emotional and creative contributions often being just as valuable as financial support, making the phrase “Collectively, We are Stronger” a reality. 3. Asian American Films and Festivals Two of the country’s largest Asian American Film Festivals, CAAMFest and the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, also risk losing a significant portion of their funding. CAAM , the Center for Asian American Media, originated through the efforts of Loni Ding and others to secure funding from the CPB to create the National Asian American Telecommunications Association in 1980, later renamed CAAM. CAAMFest, an offshoot of CAAM, debuted in 1982 as the San Francisco Asian American International Film Festival before adopting its current name in 2013. Since then, it has been held annually, except in 1985. According to Grace Yu of the 1990 Institute , CAAM remains the primary organization recognized by the CPB representing Asian Americans. CAAM’s Executive Director Don Young warned that the group faces a major financial crisis following President Trump’s funding cuts, which threaten 40% of its total budget. While the most severe restrictions were not applied directly to the film festival, they will significantly disrupt CAAM’s core work of funding, producing, distributing, and showcasing film, television, and other digital media. The festival itself is not the main target of the cuts, but it remains vulnerable to their ripple effects.Young underscored the importance of documentary filmmaking as a “fundamental influence to help the Asian American community discover our voice and to provide greater shared understanding of Asian America to the broader public.” Despite the financial strain, Young reaffirmed that “CAAM’s commitment to storytelling for the public good, and not corporate profits, will continue,” with an emphasis on public media, sustainability, and innovation. Similarly, the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival forecasts it will lose 10-20% of its funding, much of which stems from the National Endowment of the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the CPB. Francis Cuillado , executive director at Visual Communications, noted that their archive will bear the greatest impact. The archive works to “preserve and digitize film, photographs and other media” in order to create a freely accessible library. Presented by Visual Communications, the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival first debuted in 1983 and has presented over 5,000 films, videos, and digital mediaworks by Asian and Pacific Islander artists. The festival also features seminars, panels, and in-person guest appearances.With the imminent shutdown, all of the above programming faces significant disruption or cancellation. Even organizations not directly affected will feel the loss of a broader network, frequent collaborators, and reliable source material, further hindering the production and dissemination of Asian American programming. Economic and Employment Impact The CPB shutdown will also significantly impact employment and local economies. The CPB estimates nearly 6,000 people are employed by rural stations that it supports. All of those employees face the risk of severe pay cuts due to the shutdown, in addition to the threat of losing their jobs.As Montana’s KGVA stands to lose $100,000 in funding, station manager Jack Jones plans to phase out all programming that requires someone in the studio, cutting the station’s budget down to just $30,000 for licensing fees and station upkeep. Jones says he plans to “start letting people go” as salaries are their largest expense. KGVA only employs one part-time worker, a summer disc jockey. When The New Yorker journalist Oliver Whang noted that Jones himself was the only other employee who could be let go, Jones paused, then quipped “yeah.” "The Race to Rescue PBS and NPR Stations" According to the New York Times on August 19, 2025, philanthropists from the Knight Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation, the Schmidt Family Foundation, Pivotal Ventures, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation announced they have committed $26.5 million to support the most at-risk public radio and TV stations. In their definition, these stations include those who have historically received more than 30% of their support from the CPB. They hope to reach $50 million for the Public Media Bridge Fund by the end of this year through additional fundraising. According to Maribel Pérez Wadsworth , president and CEO of the Knight Foundation, philanthropy could not provide a substitute for the federal funding in the long term. A broad overhaul of the public radio system is needed, and many stations will need to merge or pool their resources to save costs. Additional Resources 2025/08/07 The New Yorker: What Happens to Public Media Now? https://www.newyorker.com/news/the-lede/what-happens-to-public-media-now 2025/08/06 Christian Science Monitor: As Corporation for Public Broadcasting shuts down, what will that mean on airwaves? https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2025/0806/corporation-for-public-broadcasting-npr-pbs 2025/08/05 Forbes: Will NPR And PBS Go Away? How CPB Shutting Down Affects Them https://www.forbes.com/sites/andymeek/2025/08/05/will-npr-and-pbs-go-away-how-cpb-shutting-down-affects-them/ About the author: Madeleine Gable is a junior at New York University, studying International Relations, Economics, and Chinese. She will spend the upcoming fall semester at NYU Shanghai and has been working with APA Justice since October 2024. News and Activities for the Communities 1. APA Justice Community Calendar Upcoming Events: 2025/09/06 The 2025 Asian American Youth Symposium2025/09/08 APA Justice Monthly Meeting2025/09/08 Committee of 100 Conversations – “Recollections, Pioneers and Heroes” with Janet Yang2025/09/09 China Connections — Chinese Encounters with America: Profiles of Changemakers Who Shaped China2025/09/16-17 2025 AANHPI Unity Summit2025/09/23 Committee of 100: Is Deglobalization Inevitable?Visit https://bit.ly/3XD61qV for event details. 2. C100: Is Deglobalization Inevitable? On September 23, 2025, the Committee of 100 and the Foreign Policy Association will co-host a keynote fireside chat and debate on the topic of "Is Deglobalization Inevitable?" Nobel Prize-winning economist Professor Joseph Stiglitz at Columbia University will open with a fireside chat on the evening’s central issue, followed by a lively debate between two leading experts: Walden Bello , Professor, State University of New York at Binghamton and Kyoto University (and credited with coining the term “deglobalization”), and Professor Edward Ashbee, Professor, Copenhagen Business School. They will present opposing views in a traditional debate format—opening statements, rebuttals, and closing remarks. Peter Young, Committee of 100 Member and Board Member, CEO of Young & Partners, will serve as moderator. The in-person event at the Yale Club of New York City is by invitation only. The virtual invitation is open to the public; register to attend at https://bit.ly/3Jnwi7z Contact events@committee100.org for more information. # # # 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 August 21, 2025 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Session launched the China Initiative to combat national security threats and economic espionage emanating from the People’s Republic of China. Without a definition of what constitutes a China Initiative case, it drifted to profile and stigmatize Asian Americans and individuals of Asian descent, creating severe damage and a chilling effect on scientific collaboration and harming U.S. leadership in science and technology. November 1, 2018 Table of Contents Overview FBI Director’s Profiling Approach NIH’s Own “China Initiative” Criminalizing China The Ethnic Targeting of Chinese Scientists Links and References Overview On November 1, 2018, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Session announced the launch of the China Initiative to combat national security threats and economic espionage emanating from the People’s Republic of China (PRC). “This Initiative will identify priority Chinese trade theft cases, ensure that we have enough resources dedicated to them, and make sure that we bring them to an appropriate conclusion quickly and effectively.” Sessions said. President Donald Trump fired Sessions less than a week later, but the China Initiative remained in operation for 1,210 days until it was ended by the Joe Biden Administration on February 23, 2022. The Department of Justice (DOJ) had no definition of what constitutes a China Initiative case. DOJ created an online report on what it considered to be Chinese Initiative cases. The online report was last updated on November 19, 2021, three months before the initiative officially ended. According to MIT Technology Review , there have been 77 known China Initiative cases impacting 162 individuals. Based on a comprehensive analysis of the cases, MIT Technology Review concluded that the initiative had increasingly charged academics with “research integrity” issues. Nearly 90% of the defendants charged were of Chinese heritage, lending credence to wide-spread allegations that scientists and researchers of Chinese origin were racially profiled and targeted under the China Initiative despite denials by the government. The DOJ China Initiative cases included only indictments and prosecutions. It did not include investigations or surveillance by the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) and other federal law enforcement agencies and grant agencies such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH). NIH ran its own China Initiative. By March 23, 2023, a year after the official end of the China Initiative, NIH’s own “China initiative” had upended hundreds of lives and destroyed scores of academic careers. In contrast to the very public criminal prosecutions of academic scientists under the China Initiative, NIH’s version was conducted behind closed doors. FBI Director’s Profiling Approach The first thunder of the New Red Scare came on February 13, 2018, when FBI Director Christopher Wray testified in a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing and targeted all students, scholars and scientists of Chinese origin as a national security threat to the United States. Wray responded to a question in the hearing, “I think in this setting I would just say that the use of nontraditional collectors, especially in the academic setting, whether it’s professors, scientists, students, we see in almost every field office that the FBI has around the country. It’s not just in major cities. It’s in small ones as well. It’s across basically every discipline.” Asian American advocates were outraged by Wray’s presumption that every Chinese professor, scientist, and student was guilty of collecting intelligence for the Chinese government until proven innocent. Conflating the stereotype of “perpetual foreigners” and the loyalty of Asian Americans to the United States, Wray pledged to pursue a “whole-of-society” approach to address the threat of China. His use of the term “non-traditional collectors” for spies parallelled “thousand grains of sand” during the prosecution of Dr. Wen Ho Lee and “fifth column” in referral to Japanese Americans during World War II. Qian Xuesen, also known as Hsue-shen Tsien, a founder of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, became a victim of the Second Red Scare during the Cold War era, facing accusations of “communist sympathies” despite his contributions to American scientific advancement. Fourteen Asian American community organizations wrote to Wray on March 1, 2018, and called for “an opportunity to discuss how well-intentioned public policies might nonetheless lead to troubling issues of potential bias, racial profiling, and wrongful prosecution.” Wray never responded to the letter. References and Links Wikipedia: Qian Xuesen 2020/02/02 The Intercept: The FBI’s China Obsession - The U.S. Government Secretly Spied on Chinese American Scientists, Upending Lives and Paving the Way for Decades of Discrimination 2019/12/31 Bloomberg: As China Anxiety Rises in U.S., Fears of New Red Scare Emerge 2019/07/20 New York Times: A New Red Scare Is Reshaping Washington 2018/03/23 Huffington Post: FBI Director Defends Remarks That Chinese People In U.S. Pose Threats 2018/03/08 Washington Post Opinion: America’s new — and senseless — Red Scare 2018/03/01 14 Coalition Organizations: Coalition letter to FBI Director Wray 2018/03/01 Committee of 100: Community Organizations Call for Meeting with FBI Director Christopher Wray Regarding Profiling of Students, Scholars, and Scientists with Chinese Origins 2018/02/27 Asia Times: FBI director’s grave mistake on targeting Chinese-Americans 2018/02/16 纽约都市新闻网: 华裔议员严厉谴责Rubio和Wray针对中国学生的极端言论 2018/02/15 CAPAC: CAPAC Members on Rubio and Wray’s Remarks Singling Out Chinese Students as National Security Threats 2018/02/14 Inside Higher Ed: The Chinese Student Threat? 2018/02/13 Advancing Justice | AAJC: FBI Director’s Shock Claim: Chinese Students Are a Potential Threat 2018/02/13 U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence: Hearing on Global Threats and National Security 2016/05/25 60 Minutes: Collateral Damage 2015/05/10 New York Times: Accused of Spying for China, Until She Wasn’t 2000/09/14 New York Times: Statement by Judge in Los Alamos Case, With Apology for Abuse of Power . 1999/12/11 Washington Post: China Prefers the Sand to the Moles 1964/02/02 New York Times: F.B.I. Chief Warns of Red China Spies NIH’s Own “China Initiative” According to the Science Magazine, Francis Collins, the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) sent a missive to more than 10,000 institutions on August 20, 2018, asserting that "threats to the integrity of U.S. biomedical research exist" and highlighted the failure to disclose "substantial resources from other organizations, including foreign governments." Collins wrote that "in the weeks and months ahead you may be hearing from [NIH] regarding … requests about specific … personnel from your institution." Dubbed as NIH’s own “China Initiative,” NIH began sending letters to dozens of major U.S. research universities in March 2019, asking them to provide information about specific faculty members with NIH funding who are believed to have links to foreign governments that NIH did not know about. Universities reportedly scrambled to respond to the unprecedented queries. Some academic administrators worry the exercise could cast a chill over all types of international scientific collaborations. Others fear that the inquiry may become a vehicle to impugn the loyalty of any faculty member—and especially any foreign-born scientists—who maintain overseas ties. At some institutions, every researcher flagged by NIH was Chinese American. The vaguely worded letters did not contain specific accusations, nor did it explain any aspect of the process. By March 23, 2023, a year after the official end of the China Initiative, Science reported that NIH’s “China initiative” has upended hundreds of lives and destroyed scores of academic careers. In contrast to the very public criminal prosecutions of academic scientists under the China Initiative, NIH’s version was conducted behind closed doors. More than one in five of the 246 scientists targeted were banned from applying for new NIH funding for as long as 4 years—a career-ending setback for most academic researchers. And almost two-thirds were removed from existing NIH grants. Some 81% of the scientists cited in the NIH letters identify as Asian, and 91% of the collaborations under scrutiny were with colleagues in China. In only 14 of the 246 cases—a scant 6%—did the institution fail to find any evidence to back up NIH’s suspicions. NIH is by far the largest funder of academic biomedical research in the United States, and some medical centers receive hundreds of millions of dollars annually from the agency. So when senior administrators heard Michael Lauer, NIH deputy director for extramural research, say a targeted scientist “was not welcome in the NIH ecosystem,” they understood immediately what he meant—and that he was expecting action. “If NIH says there’s a conflict, then there’s a conflict, because NIH is always right,” says David Brenner, who was vice chancellor for health sciences at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), in November 2018 when the institution received a letter from Lauer asking it to investigate five medical school faculty members, all born in China. “We were told we have a problem and that it was up to us to fix it.” In a panel discussion hosted by the University of Michigan in March 2024, Professor Ann Chih Lin, asserted that NIH made it clear that if they couldn’t resolve concerns regarding a faculty member and a grant, NIH would not only require universities to repay the grant, but also investigate universities’ entire portfolio of NIH grants. Fearing the loss of grant money, universities often approached the implicated professors and encouraged them to resign voluntarily or retire early. This strategy aimed to avoid a public disciplinary hearing or grievance process, which could bring unwanted attention to the case. Professors involved in such investigations typically refrained from discussing their cases to protect both themselves and the universities, often choosing to depart quietly. References and Links 2024/03/29 University of Michigan News: US universities secretly turned their back on Chinese professors under DOJ’s China Initiative 2023/02/23 Science: Pall of Suspicion 2019/03/01 Science: NIH letters asking about undisclosed foreign ties rattle U.S. universities Criminalizing China The name of China Initiative by itself is problematic. "Using 'China' as the glue connecting cases prosecuted under the Initiative's umbrella creates an overinclusive conception of the threat and attaches a criminal taint to entities that possess 'China-ness,' based on PRC nationality, PRC national origin, Chinese ethnicity, or other expressions of connections with 'China.,'" Professor Margaret Lewis wrote in her article "Criminalizing China" in 2020. Her article further contends that, when assessed in light of the goals of deterrence, incapacitation, rehabilitation, and retribution, it is worrisome that the prosecution and punishment of people and entities rests in part on a connection with “China.” A better path is to discard the “China Initiative” framing, focus on cases’ individual characteristics, and enhance the Department of Justice’s interactions with nongovernmental experts. Margaret K. Lewis, Criminalizing China , 111 J. Crim. L. & Criminology 145 (2020). https://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/jclc/vol111/iss1/3 The Ethnic Targeting of Chinese Scientists On November 19, 2020, The China Project produced a video titled “ The China Initiative: The ethnic targeting of Chinese scientists and the subsequent brain drain .” (7:30) The China Project talked to lawyers, academics, and victims of the China Initiative for their perspective. Many Chinese and Chinese American researchers feel that the program has placed a target on their back, and that they are being unfairly targeted for their Chinese ethnicity. There are also critics who say the Initiative has done little more than drive talent away from the U.S. Jump to: Overview FBI Director’s Profiling Approach NIH’s Own “China Initiative” Criminalizing China Ethnic Targeting of Chinese Scientists U.S. Attorney General Jeff Session launched the China Initiative to combat national security threats and economic espionage emanating from the People’s Republic of China. Without a definition of what constitutes a China Initiative case, it drifted to profile and stigmatize Asian Americans and individuals of Asian descent, creating severe damage and a chilling effect on scientific collaboration and harming U.S. leadership in science and technology. Previous Next 1. DOJ launched China Initiative

Senator Mark Warner, Vice Chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, has urged FBI Director Christopher Wray to "hold biannual meetings with national leaders of Chinese American and Asian American organizations." April 2, 2020 On April 2, 2020, Senator Mark Warner (D-VA), Vice Chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, wrote a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray and urged him to "hold biannual meetings with national leaders of Chinese American and Asian American organizations regarding issues of importance to those communities as you work to counter the foreign intelligence threat from the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC)." On May 29, 2020, the Assistant Director of the FBI Office of Congressional Affairs replied with this letter to Senator Warner. A previous meeting between the Assistant Director of the Counterintelligence Division and Asian American leaders was cited as productive in the letter. The background and context of the December 7, 2018 meeting is available here . Senator Mark Warner, Vice Chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, has urged FBI Director Christopher Wray to "hold biannual meetings with national leaders of Chinese American and Asian American organizations." Previous Next Senator Warner Letter to FBI Director Wray

Newsletter - #171 APA Justice Comments; McCarthyism? UConn Prof Won; Sustainable Platform; JCRC Hosts​ #171 APA Justice Comments; McCarthyism? UConn Prof Won; Sustainable Platform; JCRC Hosts In This Issue #171 APA Justice Submits Comments to The President's Advisory Commission on AANHPI Attack on Congresswoman Judy Chu - Return of McCarthyism? UConn Professor Won $1.4 million Payout for Wrongful Termination Building A Sustainable Platform and Pipeline for AAPI Leadership in Higher Education JCRC Hosts Evening of Jewish and Asian Pacific Islander Community Building and Collaboration APA Justice Submits Comments to The President's Advisory Commission on AANHPI The President's Advisory Commission on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders will hold an all-day in-person public meeting at the White House on March 14, 2023, from 9:30 am to 5:30 pm ET. The meeting is the fifth in a series of federal advisory committee meetings regarding the development of recommendations to promote equity, justice, and opportunity for AANHPI communities. The meeting is open to the public and will be live streamed. There will be no opportunity for oral public comments during the meeting. However, written comments are welcomed throughout the development of the Commission’s recommendations and may be emailed to AANHPICommission@hhs.gov . Register for the event here: http://bit.ly/3mOyGJ0 Co-chaired by Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra and United States Trade Representative Ambassador Katherine Tai , the 25-member Commission complements the White House Initiative on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders (WHIAANHPI), both of which were established by the President in May 2021. In addition to the Co-Chairs and the Commission, announced speakers in the public hearing include Erika L. Moritsugu , Deputy Assistant to the President and AANHPI Senior Liaison, and Krystal Ka‘ai , Executive Director, WHIAANHPI.On March 10, 2023, APA Justice submitted the following comment titled "Pursuing a More Perfect Union and an Equitable Society" to the Commission:Equity means the consistent and systematic fair, just, and impartial treatment of all individuals, including the Asian American and immigrant communities.However, from the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 to the internment of 120,000 Japanese Americans during the Second World War, persons of Asian origin have been scapegoated in the name of national and economic security when discrimination was legalized by laws and executive orders.Since the Second World War, anti-Asian hate in one form or another has ebbed and flooded pending on the rise and fall of U.S. relations with Asian nations and domestic politics that stoke fear, suspicion, and hostility against Asian Americans as disloyal and cannot be trusted as Americans.This form of racial profiling has been instigated by our own government, repeatedly explained away and justified under the cover of national security that sacrifice the civil and human rights of the Asian American and immigrant communities. This inequity has disastrously high and painful costs to not only these communities but also our nation. It ruins individual lives and inhibits our participation and progress in the American society. It damages our global leadership in science and technology and ironically our national security. It undermines our fundamental American values as a nation of primarily immigrants except for Native Americans, Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders.During the “Red Scare,” the government drove Dr. Qian Xuesen, a co-founder of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, back to China. He would later become the “Father of Chinese Rocketry” for the People’s Republic of China.At the turn of the century, the unjust prosecution and mistreatment of Dr. Wen Ho Lee, a nuclear scientist at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, led to an apology from the presiding judge on behalf of the judicial branch of our government.Prior to and during the “China Initiative” launched in November 2018, hundreds of, and perhaps more, scientists and researchers of Asian and particularly Chinese origin in academia, government, and private industry were wrongfully targeted for extensive surveillance, endless investigations, and unjust prosecutions. The victims include a hydrologist at the National Weather Service whose work was to calibrate and implement flood models to help save lives along the Ohio River, a New York Police Department officer who also served as a U.S. marine in Afghanistan, and an award-winning scientist who spent 24 years with the U.S. Army’s Intelligence and Information Warfare Directorate. Despite their stated intent to protect the nation, government policies and practices have again created a chilling effect on our communities, resulting in the loss of talents that are needed our scientific leadership and denying us of the opportunity to participate fairly and fully in the American society.Xenophobic political rhetoric from the past administration and some elected officials during the COVID pandemic fueled the resurgence of racism, leading to the loss of lives, especially for the vulnerable elderly of our communities, and the report of more than 11,500 incidents of anti-Asian bias since 2020.Today , we see discriminatory alien land bills being revived in Texas, Georgia, Montana, North Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia, Wyoming, and a total of more than a dozen states. The U.S. Congress is considering similar bills that threaten the civil and human rights of the Asian American and immigrant communities, again in the name of national security. If enacted into law, they will deny Asian Americans and the immigrant communities directly and indirectly from owning homes and business properties.More than a hundred years ago, discriminatory Alien Land Laws were enacted first in California and then to other states to target Japanese Americans and bar Asian immigrants from owning land. These laws were deemed unconstitutional under the 14th Amendment in 1952, and yet 70 years later we see the same laws and rhetoric being brought up again.Today , we also see the return of McCarthyism - the practice of making unfounded accusations of disloyalty, subversion, and treason, carried out under Senator Joseph McCarthy in the period 1950-54, to blacklist, slander, and attempt to destroy reputable innocent Americans. Today’s McCarthyite targets include a world-renowned MIT professor, a presidentially appointed business leader, and the Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus. Anyone who is of Asian origin or simply has a nexus to China may become a target tomorrow. On this slippery slope, no one in the Asian American and immigrant communities will be safe and spared from anti-Asian hate and discrimination.This vicious cycle of recurring inequity must stop with our government taking the lead to give due attention and protection to the civil and human rights of the Asian American and immigrant communities.In our pursuit of a more perfect union and an equitable society, there must be consistent and systematic fair, just, and impartial treatment of all individuals. They include the Asian American and immigrant communities.In implementing The National Strategy to Advance Equity, Justice, and Opportunity for AANHPI Communities, we urge the Commission to start with a commissioned study of the inherent problems to seek short-term relief and long-term solutions, enhance internal and public education, and adopt an exemplary requirement similar to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy that “agencies must implement NSPM-33 provisions and related requirements in a nondiscriminatory manner that does not stigmatize or treat unfairly members of the research community, including members of ethnic or racial minority groups.” Attack on Congresswoman Judy Chu - Return of McCarthyism? According to a report by the Sacramento Bee on March 6, 2023, anti-Asian American activity has become not only more frequent in recent years but has become a persistent source of political tension, including the questioning of Rep. Judy Chu 's "either loyalty or competnece" by Rep. Lance Gooden . Rep. Chu chairs the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus. There is a pattern in all this that is frightening to many Asian Americans.“Many scholars and Asian and Pacific Island citizens, I among them, believe that some Americans regard Asians as ‘perpetual foreigners’ somehow attached to Asia no matter how long they have lived here in the U.S., even if they have been here for many generations,” said Gabriel Chin , professor of law at the University of California, Davis.A lot of people remember when the consequences of such suspicions were dire. “There is no relationship, none, zero between an American who happens to be of Asian descent and foreign governments. When we conflate those issues that’s how we get a Japanese-American internment,” said Rep. Ted Lieu , citing the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II.“It’s racist. It’s disgusting. And it’s just lays the groundwork for questioning AAPIs in this country and it lays the groundwork for more AAPI hate,” said Chu of Gooden at the House Democrats’ Issues Conference in Baltimore. “And it also reinforces a terrible stereotype that we have to deal with. For all the time we’ve been in this country, that we are foreigners in our own land. Even though we have been in this country for decades,” said Chu, a Los Angeles native.“Language matters, and how we use language matters,” said Rep. Ami Bera . Some Republicans were critical of their colleague. China committee Chairman Mike Gallagher criticized Gooden’s remarks. “We should not question anybody’s loyalty to the United States,” Gallagher told CBS’ “Face the Nation.” “That is out of bounds. It’s beyond the pale.”Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi , the committee’s top Democrat, also issued a polite warning. “We have no quarrel with the Chinese people or people of Chinese origin. That’s why we should never engage in anti-Chinese or anti-Asian stereotyping or prejudice,” he told the panel. “Comments that question the loyalty of Asian-American Members of Congress are completely unacceptable and must be rejected. These comments only feed the scapegoating and targeting of Chinese Americans, further endangering them and other Asian Americans.” In fact, he said, “this xenophobia and stereotyping is what the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) would want to happen.”Read the Sacramento Bee Report: http://bit.ly/3JA5pLj Statements and Condemnations: 2023/03/11 Friends of Chinese American Museum Condemns Rep. Gooden’s Remarks About Rep. Chu’s Loyalty to U.S. http://bit.ly/3YLp3bk 2023/03/07 Asian Pacific American Leadership Institute. (APALI) condemns the recent comments made by a Texas congress member about Rep. Judy Chu (D-Calif). 2023/03/06 Congresswoman Judy Chu: Rep. Chu on MSNBC.com : “I am a target of the right’s new McCarthyism” http://bit.ly/3LkbD33 2023/03/03 Asian American Scholar Forum: Asian American Scholar Forum Denounces Racist Remarks Against Rep Judy Chu. http://bit.ly/3JBJm71 2023/03/01 OCA: OCA Condemns the Baseless Accusations from Representative Lance Gooden. http://bit.ly/401o48b 2023/02/28 Japanese American Citizens League: JACL Denounces Rising Anti-Chinese Rhetoric and Actions. http://bit.ly/3JBbdUL 2023/02/17 National Council of Chinese Americans: Condemn Mr. Lance Gooden’s Racist and Unconscionable Remarks. https://bit.ly/3JBJi7i 2023/02/28 APIAVote: APIAVote Condemns Rep. Lance Gooden’s Racist Comments, Denounces Larger “Othering” of Asian Americans. http://bit.ly/3YJWNpy 2023/02/27 California Asian Pacific American Bar Association: Over 25 Legal and Civil Rights Organizations Condemn Racist Comments by Rep. Lance Gooden. http://bit.ly/3mQjPOw 2023/02/27 Committee of 100: Committee of 100 Condemns the Racist Comments by U.S. Representative Lance Gooden. http://bit.ly/3yvXU1H 2023/02/24 The Greater Los Angeles Area office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations: CAIR-LA Condemns Racist Remarks About California Rep. Judy Chu by Texas Rep. Lance Gooden, Demands Apology. https://bit.ly/3YLhpOr 2023/02/24 The Asian American and Pacific Islander Legislative Caucus (AAPILC) Demand an Apology from Texas Congressman Lance Goodent o Congresswoman Judy Chu and the AAPI Community for his Racist Remarks. http://bit.ly/401heiN UConn Professor Won $1.4 million Payout for Wrongful Termination According to a report by CT Insider on March 6, 2023, a respected University of Connecticut (UConn) liver disease researcher has won a $1.4 million settlement after an arbitrator found the university wrongly fired her for allegedly failing to disclose financial connections to China.Hearst Connecticut Media uncovered the pay out, which placed Professor Li Wang sixth on a list of the state’s highest paid employees in 2022, after obtaining documents from UConn through state Freedom of Information law. UConn had not previously disclosed the payment for Wang’s expected termination publicly.A liver physiologist with a proven ability to obtain research funding, Wang was hired by UConn in 2014 and was scheduled to be terminated on September 20, 2019. She resigned the day before her termination became effective. Michelle Williams , UConn associate vice president for research, informed Wang in a March 2019 letter that because she did not disclose her Chinese connections on NIH grant applications she was being suspended as a researcher for three years. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) backed UConn’s allegations and in letters to UConn officials agreed with its decisions regarding Wang. A January 2022 letter to a top UConn official – sent several months after the arbitrator ruled against UConn - shows that Michael Lauer , NIH director for extramural research, continued to support the university's handling of Wang.The arbitrator assigned by the American Arbitration Association to Wang’s case came to very different conclusions than the NIH and UConn in November 2021. The “university did not have just cause to suspend Dr. Wang’s research, just cause to terminate Dr. Wang,” arbitrator Peter Adomeit wrote in his decision. “She did not falsify any record or provide false information.”The arbitrator ordered UConn to reinstate her to her job, provide all back pay and annual raises, return research equipment, pay operating expenses, and relocate her office to UConn Health in Farmington. According to a report on March 7, 2023, UConn told Inside Higher Ed that Wang is not an employee and has not been one since September 2019. Professor Li Wang appears to be one of several hundred researchers who were subject to NIH investigations under the now-defunct "China Initiative."Read more about the story of Professor Li Wang at http://bit.ly/3SVF3GH Building A Sustainable Platform and Pipeline for AAPI Leadership in Higher Education On March 9, 2023, a webinar was convened as part of the 2023 Conference on Diversity, Equity and Student Success: Can We Handle Truth? Ellen Junn , President, California State University, Stanislaus; Les Wong , President Emeritus, San Francisco State University; and Frank Wu , President, CUNY Queens College, discussed the importance of creating a platform for collaboration and synergy among AAPI leaders who have reached the position of president/chancellor in higher education, and a sustainable pipeline to support ascending AAPI leaders. Joyce Moy , Former Executive Director, Asian American/Asian Research Institute (AAARI), City University of New York, served as the moderator. The event was organized by Soniya Munshi, Interim Executive Director, AAARI, CUNY.Watch the YouTube video of the event: http://bit.ly/3YKHpcs (1:26:19) JCRC Hosts Evening of Jewish and Asian Pacific Islander Community Building and Collaboration The Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) of Greater Washington hosted a dinner of regional Jewish and Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) leaders on March 12, 2023.Elected officials, community leaders, clergy and other distinguished guests from Montgomery County, Fairfax County, and the District of Columbia, attended the event to welcome San Francisco AAPI leaders and Jewish leaders who are traveling together on a solidarity mission to New York and DC to strengthen relationships between their communities. It was an excellent evening of good food and networking that will enhance friendship, collaboration, and mutual support between our own communities in the Washington DC region.Over 80 people participated in the event highlighted by remarks by Maryland Secretary of State Susan Lee and Ron Halber, Executive Director of JCRC of Greater Washington, among other distinguished speakers. 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 13, 2023 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter

Xiaoxing Xi 郗小星 Docket ID: 2:17-cv-02132 District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania Date filed: May 10, 2017 Date ended: Professor Xi Files Appeal to Reinstate Damage Claims Against FBI 2023/06/08 TechDirt: Appeals Court Awards Half A Win To Professor Wrongfully Arrested For Sharing ‘Secret’ Tech With Chinese Entities 2023/05/26 星島日報: 任職天普被誣指中國間諜 華裔教授郗小星獲准告FBI 2023/05/25 NBC News: After being wrongfully accused of spying for China, professor wins appeal to sue the government 2023/05/24 ACLU: ACLU Applauds Court For Allowing Case Challenging FBI’s Wrongful Prosecution of Chinese American Physics Professor To Move Forward Bloomberg Law: Temple Professor’s Claims Revived Over Wrongful Spying Arrest 2022/09/21 Inside Higher Ed: After the China Initiative: Seeking Accountability 2022/09/20 NBC News: A professor falsely accused of spying for China describes the toll it's taken on his family 2022/09/16 Temple News: Temple physics professor defends lawsuit against FBI agent 2022/09/15 Courthouse News Service: Appeals court weighs case over China-born physicist’s wrongful espionage charges 2022/09/14 Oral arguments: https://bit.ly/3dbBD29 (audio 57:09) WHYY: Temple professor continues long legal journey to sue FBI for wrongful prosecution Philadelphia Inquirer: Temple professor falsely accused of spying for China urges court to revive his suit against the FBI Advancing Justice | AAJC: Professor Xiaoxing Xi, Civil Rights Advocates Argue for Freedom from Government Discrimination and Surveillance in Third Circuit Court Asian American Scholar Forum: Asian American Scholar Forum Calls for Justice for Dr. Xiaoxing Xi Ahead of Third Circuit Oral Arguments AsAmNews: Professor accused of spying for China asks court to revisit suit against FBI 2022/02/20 The Daily Campus: SMU AAPASA Denounces FBI’s Racial Targeting of Asian Academics 2022/02/17 AAUP: The AAUP Joins Movement Seeking Justice For Professor Xiaoxing Xi 2022/02/15 Defending Rights & Dissent: DRAD joins amicus brief in Xi v. Haugen; calls on US government to stop discriminating against Asian Americans & immigrants 2022/02/14 American Physical Society: Brief of Amici Curiae American Physical Society, American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Statistical Association, American Geophysical Union, and Gerontological Society of America in Support of Appellants Advancing Justice | AAJC: Advancing Justice - AAJC and Advancing Justice - ALC Amicus Brief in Support of Professor Xiaoxing Xi 2022/02/11 Institute for Justice: Institute for Justice Amicus Brief in support of Professor Xiaoxing Xi 2022/02/10 The Davis Vanguard: Naturalized U.S. Citizen Files Appeal Following Dismissal of Claims Against U.S. Gov’t 2022/02/09 The Daily Pennsylvanian: Temple University Professor Xiaoxing Xi seeks reinstatement of lawsuit against FBI Temple News: Temple professor asks court to reinstate lawsuit against U.S. government 2022/02/07 AP: Temple prof seeks reinstatement of damage claims against FBI 2021/09/24 ACLU: Xi v. Haugen - Plaintiffs' Notice of Appeal 2021/04/02 ACLU: A Chinese American Scientist and His Family Are Battling the FBI’s Profiling in Court ACLU: Federal Court Dismisses Claims in Chinese American Professor’s Lawsuit Challenging FBI’s Baseless Arrest and Prosecution 2018/04/09 ACLU: Xi V. Haugen – Challenge to Warrentless Surveillance Previous Item Next Item

Newsletter - #136 New Legislations; Update and Town Hall on Anti-Asian Hate Crimes; NIH Dialogue; More #136 New Legislations; Update and Town Hall on Anti-Asian Hate Crimes; NIH Dialogue; More Back View PDF August 11, 2022 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter

Newsletter - #187: 6/5 Meeting; Alien Land Bills; NYT Opinion; Paula Madison; OSTP Listening Sessions #187: 6/5 Meeting; Alien Land Bills; NYT Opinion; Paula Madison; OSTP Listening Sessions In This Issue #187 2023/06/05 APA Justice Monthly Meeting Latest on Discriminatory Alien Land Bills Opinion: Like It or Not, America Needs Chinese Scientists The Inspiring Journey of an Asian American Media Trailblazer White House Listening Sessions with Early Career Researcher Communities and NSPM-33 023/06/05 APA Justice Monthly Meeting The next APA Justice monthly meeting will be held on Monday, June 5, 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), speakers include: Elizabeth Goitein , Senior Director, Liberty & National Security Program, Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law, on Warrantless Surveillance - Reauthorization of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) Clay Zhu 朱可亮 , Partner, DeHeng Law Offices 德恒律师事务所; Founder, Chinese American Legal Defense Alliance 华美维权同盟, with updates on Civil Lawsuit Against Florida Alien Land Law, with comments by Ashley Gorski , Senior Staff Attorney, National Security Project, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Bethany Li , Legal Director, Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) Haipei Shue 薛海培 , President, United Chinese Americans, with updates on Alien Land Bills and comments by Gene Wu 吳元之 , Member of the Texas House of Representatives. 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 . Latest on Discriminatory Alien Land Bills 1. APA Justice Updates Its Tracking of State Alien Land Bills and Laws APA Justice updated its tracking map and table on May 30, 2023: https://bit.ly/3oo5zxF .According to KHOU-11 on May 29, 2023, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott called an immediate special session Monday just hours after the House and Senate adjourned from the 88th legislative session. It will be the first special session of several, Abbott said. Abbott said the first special session will focus on cutting property taxes and border control by increasing penalties for human smugglers and those operating stash houses. Dates and times have not been announced for the other special sessions. Each session will last 30 days. Read and watch the KHOU-11 report: https://bit.ly/43aUYVH The South Carolina General Assembly went into special session after the regular session ended on May 11, 2023. According to AP News on May 11, 2023, in theory, anything can be dealt with during the special session. But in 2023, only a few outstanding issues are likely to come up as it is the first year of the two-year sessions and bills stay alive wherever they are in the legislative process until the 2024 session begins. Read the AP News report: https://bit.ly/3OLOtEK 2. 500+ Asian Americans Celebrate AANHPI Heritage Month in Texas Legislature According to 世界新聞網 , the Asian Real Estate Association of America Houston Chapter (AREAA Houston) joined representatives from Dallas; Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese ethnic leaders; and local Asians to celebrate the AANHPI Heritage Month in Austin, the state capital of Texas, on May 9, 2023. Over 500 people attended the event.Texas state legislative members participated in the festivities. Group leaders met with the governor. A large crowd watched and discussed the proceedings of the AANHPI Heritage Month in the Texas Senate while officials introduced the functions of the government and answered questions in the state government auditorium. A meeting was also held with the Texas Association of Realtors concerning Texas Senate Bill 147.Read the 世界新聞網 report: https://bit.ly/3N8m3Dp (Chinese) and watch the video: https://bit.ly/3N9RKMS (7:04). Opinion: Like It or Not, America Needs Chinese Scientists According to a New York Times opinion on May 25, 2023, the Chinese Communist Party has accomplished something rare in U.S. politics these days: uniting Democrats and Republicans around a common enemy. Unfortunately, frenzied concern about Chinese influence threatens America’s ability to attract the top talent it needs to maintain global leadership in science and higher education. The damage caused by the Department of Justice’s now-disbanded "China Initiative" still reverberates. Designed to counter economic espionage and national security threats from China, it resulted — in some cases — in researchers and academics of Chinese descent being placed under house arrest or taken away in handcuffs on charges of hiding ties to China, cases that ended in acquittal or were later dropped.The program resulted in few prosecutions before being shut down last year. But it upended lives and careers, and created an atmosphere of fear. Some ethnic Chinese scientists disproportionately feel that their ethnicity and connections to China inhibit their professional progress and their chances of obtaining — and willingness to apply for — research funding in the United States. A survey of scientists of Chinese descent at American universities released last year found that significant percentages of respondents felt unwelcome in the United States, with 86 percent saying the current climate makes it more difficult for the United States to attract top international students than it was five years ago.This should be setting off alarm bells in Washington. Economic and military advantage is contingent on superior science, technology and innovation — and the competition for talent is global. Concerns over academic collaboration with China are legitimate. China’s government has contributed to the deterioration of academic cooperation. But let’s not race China to the bottom. If America fails to attract top international research talent, that harms U.S. prospects for scientific advancement and, ultimately, American economic and national strength.There is no doubt that present circumstances call for more transparency among scholars. Universities need to lead this change, whereby scholars pay greater attention to the implications of collaborating with foreign scientists. But we can’t let this get in the way of ensuring that the United States remains the best place in the world to study science, technology, engineering and mathematics and entices graduates from abroad to remain here after completing their degrees.Yet the number of U.S. visas granted to Chinese students has plummeted. To reverse this, visa processes should be streamlined, backlogs cleared and talented individuals given expanded opportunities to obtain green cards. America is training and educating some of the world’s brightest people; we need to get more of them and keep them here.Likewise, more Americans need to be learning about China. The number of American students studying in China was already declining from a peak of about 15,000 in 2011-12; during the pandemic that plummeted to less than 400. China is, and will continue to be, a critical global player; understanding its internal dynamics will be important for people operating in a range of fields. Yet we are at risk of having an entire generation of Americans who know little about China.We should immediately restart the Fulbright program in China, which sent thousands of Chinese and Americans between the two countries for research and learning until it was halted during the Trump administration, and increase federal funding for Chinese studies programs at our universities. Keeping American higher education open to the world is not about helping China to become strong, nor should we delude ourselves about Beijing’s intentions. It’s about exuding confidence in the strength and virtues of our system to ensure that America remains the best country in the world for learning and research. Dan Murphy , author of the opinion, is executive director of the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government at the Harvard Kennedy School and former executive director of the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies at Harvard.Read the New York Times opinion: https://nyti.ms/3BZpWUS The Inspiring Journey of an Asian American Media Trailblazer On May 25, 2023, the U.S. General Consulate in Guangzhou hosted an in-person conversation with media trailblazer Paula Williams Madison in honor of Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Heritage Month. Ms. Madison discussed her career as a woman in media and journalism, her identity as both an African American and Asian American, and her documentary Finding Samuel Lowe 《寻找罗定朝》, which tells the story of her search to locate her Chinese grandfather's descendants in China. Read the announcement by the US Embassy in China: https://bit.ly/3NhcJ0l (Chinese)According to reports by Shenzhen Daily and 南方都市报 , the Los Angeles-Guangzhou Sister City Association and Asia Pacific and American Network sponsored the AANHPI Heritage Month 2023 Gala at the LN Garden Hotel, Guangzhou, China, on May 27, 2023. Madison was honored for her commitment to diversity, representation, and social justice. Lisa K. Heller , U.S. Consul General in Guangzhou, praised Madison for breaking barriers and shattering stereotypes, stating that “it is through the exchange of ideas and stories like Paula’s that we can build bridges of understanding between people and nations.”"My name is Luo Xiaona 罗笑娜 , I am a Hakka, Jamaican, and Chinese American. I am African American. I am a descendant of the Luo family, and I am very happy that I have finally found my home and my roots," Paula said at the gala."When we were young, dinner at a friend's house was pig's trotters and collard greens. Every dinner we had was rice and cabbage that other children had never seen. Others had paintings in their homes, and our mother hung a Chinese serigraph in a bamboo frame in the small living room. She also likes to play with furniture and some objects to make a Fengshui layout," Madison said. Madison describes her reconnection with her Hakka roots in Longgang 龙岗, Shenzhen as “a life-changing experience.” “Suddenly, I went from someone with almost no relatives to a person with families all around the world,” said the 71-year-old Madison. She was referring to her sprawling Chinese family with relatives living on different continents. It has been 11 years since the emotional family reunion took place in 2012 at their ancestral village.Throughout her career as a journalist, media executive and business owner, Madison has been an active opponent of anti-Black and anti-Asian discrimination. Growing up in a majority Black community with a half-Chinese mother, Madison was acutely aware of racism towards Blacks and Chinese from an early age. Madison’s remedy for a world that is becoming even more divided today is communication and exchanges. “Salvation will come on the level of just people,” she says.Read the Shenzhen Daily report: https://bit.ly/43Eo3bR (English). Read the 南方都市报 report: https://bit.ly/43jd9IP (Chinese) and Weixin report: https://bit.ly/43kQ6xn (Chinese). White House Listening Sessions with Early Career Researcher Communities and NSPM-33 The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) announced that it will hold listening sessions in June. The sessions intend to elevate the needs, priorities, and experiences of those who will shape and inherit the future: the early career researcher community. A series of virtual listening sessions will explore perspectives on the challenges and opportunities for advancing open science in the United States and solutions that might be implemented by the U.S. Government. The sessions will be open to the public and may be recorded for OSTP’s use. Registration is required to attend. The upcoming listening sessions will be as follows: 2023/06/05 1-3 pm ET: Open Science Possibilities for Equitable Participation and Access: Perspectives from Early Career Researchers at Emerging Research Institutions. Registration: https://bit.ly/45KMLtk 2023/06/06 3-5 pm ET: Open Science Possibilities for Career Advancement: Perspectives from Early Career Researchers on Opportunities and Challenges in Career Progression and Trajectory. Registration: https://bit.ly/43lGO4g 2023/06/12 1-3 pm ET: Open Science Possibilities for Training and Capacity Building: Perspectives from the Early Career Researcher-Supporting Community. Registration: https://bit.ly/45F33DU If you would like to provide information in addition to or in lieu of participation in the listening session, you may send a brief message to the public email address OpenScience@OSTP.eop.gov . In addition, OSTP and Federal agency partners will hold listening sessions on the draft National Security Presidential Memorandum 33 (NSPM-33) Research Security Programs Standard Requirement to offer the higher education and broader research community the opportunity to provide verbal feedback to the Federal Register notice. These sessions will be open to the public and may be recorded for OSTP’s use. Registration is required to attend. The upcoming listening sessions will be as follows: 2023/06/05 1:00-2:30 pm ET: Research Security Programs Standard Requirement Listening Session One: Working with the Higher Education Community toward NSPM-33 Implementation. Registration: https://bit.ly/3MHArRP 2023/06/12 1:00-2:30 pm ET: Research Security Programs Standard Requirement Listening Session Two: Working with the Higher Education Community toward NSPM-33 Implementation. Registration: https://bit.ly/3MKkR7N Read the White House announcement: https://bit.ly/3OR4BEU Thousands of early-career NIH researchers forming union for first time. According to a report by Nature on June 1, 2023, thousands of early-career researchers at the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) have kickstarted the process to form a union. They are calling on the NIH — the world’s largest biomedical funder — to raise pay and improve benefits, as well as to bolster its policies and procedures against harassment and excessive workloads. Read the Nature report: https://go.nature.com/3qrzPs8 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. 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Newsletter - #126 Nikkei Asia Report; Yale Senate Resolution; New Chancellor/President; Norm Mineta; + #126 Nikkei Asia Report; Yale Senate Resolution; New Chancellor/President; Norm Mineta; + Back View PDF May 25, 2022 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter