Newsletter - #149 Events/Conferences; Update on Arrowood; Hateful Trump Name-Calling; New from the Fed #149 Events/Conferences; Update on Arrowood; Hateful Trump Name-Calling; New from the Fed Back View PDF October 7, 2022 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter

Newsletter - #147 WSJ on Outflow; 10/3 Meeting; NAPA Fellows; OSTP Director Confirmed; Zhengdong Cheng #147 WSJ on Outflow; 10/3 Meeting; NAPA Fellows; OSTP Director Confirmed; Zhengdong Cheng Back View PDF September 26, 2022 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter

Newsletter - #359 Andy Phillips to Speak on 11/3; Dr. Wen Ho Lee; 6/2 Meeting Summary Posted; C.N. Yang+ #359 Andy Phillips to Speak on 11/3; Dr. Wen Ho Lee; 6/2 Meeting Summary Posted; C.N. Yang+ In This Issue #359 · Attorney Andy Phillips to Speak at APA Justice Monthly Meeting · Recalling the Case of Dr. Wen Ho Lee · Summary of June 2025 APA Justice Monthly Meeting Posted · In Memoriam: Chan Ning Yang (1922-2025) · News and Activities for the Communities Attorney Andy Phillips to Speak at APA Justice Monthly Meeting Attorney Andy Phillips , Managing & Founding Partner of Meier Watkins Phillips Pusch LLP, will speak at the upcoming APA Justice monthly meeting on November 3, 2025. He represents Dr. Yanping Chen 陈燕平 in Yanping Chen v. FBI (24-5050) . Dr. Chen is a naturalized U.S. citizen from China and longtime educator who founded the University of Management and Technology in Arlington, Virginia. She filed a Privacy Act lawsuit against the U.S. Departments of Justice, Defense and Homeland Security, as well as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), after a 6-year investigation by the FBI into her past affiliations and immigration history concluded without charges in 2016. After the investigation closed, confidential information from the probe was leaked to media outlets, particularly Fox News reporter Catherine Herridge , which aired stories implying Dr. Chen was involved in espionage. Dr. Chen filed a lawsuit in December 2018 against the Departments of Justice, Defense and Homeland Security, as well as the FBI, asserting a coordinated violation of her privacy rights and focusing on the leak of protected investigation materials. In February 2024, a District Court held Herridge in civil contempt for refusing to disclose her source and imposed a fine of $800 per day—an order stayed pending appeal. The case has major implications for press freedom, racial equity, and privacy rights in national security investigations. APA Justice joined advocacy groups by filing an amicus brief led by Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF), arguing that the treatment of Dr. Chen reflects broader issues of systemic bias against Chinese Americans. On September 30, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit affirmed the district court’s order holding Herridge in civil contempt for refusing to disclose her confidential source despite a valid subpoena. Andy Phillips’s practice focuses on counseling clients faced with unfavorable media coverage or other reputational attacks. He has years of experience representing clients in defamation lawsuits before state and federal courts across the country. He has litigated against many of the country’s most well-known media organizations, including Rolling Stone Magazine , The New York Times , CNN , and Fox News . Andy is one of only six attorneys in the United States to be ranked by Chambers for expertise in Plaintiff’s-side First Amendment litigation . 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 . Recalling the Case of Dr. Wen Ho Lee Dr. Wen Ho Lee 李文和 , a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Taiwan, was a senior nuclear scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), where he worked for more than 20 years developing computer codes used to simulate nuclear explosions. In the late 1990s, amid heightened concerns about Chinese nuclear espionage, the FBI and Department of Energy (DOE) began investigating possible leaks of nuclear-weapons data to China. Dr. Lee became a target largely due to his ethnicity.In 1999, the government indicted Dr. Lee on 59 felony counts for allegedly downloading and transferring classified files from secure to unclassified computers. During the investigation, government officials leaked information to the press portraying Dr. Lee as a potential spy. Major media outlets including New York Times , Washington Post , and Los Angeles Times widely published these allegations, effectively convicting him in the public eye before trial.By 2000, it became clear that the government lacked evidence of espionage or criminal intent. Dr. Lee spent nine months in solitary confinement before pleading guilty to a single count of mishandling restricted data; the remaining 58 charges were dropped. Federal Judge James A. Parker publicly criticized the government for its handling of the case, apologizing to Dr. Lee for his treatment and calling the investigation an embarrassment to the nation.Following his release, Dr. Lee filed a civil lawsuit under the Privacy Act against federal agencies and five major media organizations that had reported the leaked allegations. Brian Sun , now a partner at Norton Rose Fulbright US LLP, served as Lee’s lead attorney. Brian Sun framed the case as a crucial defense of civil liberties, privacy rights, and due process, arguing that government leaks had violated Lee’s rights and irreparably harmed his reputation. He successfully navigated complex issues involving media source protection and the disclosure of sensitive documents, ultimately securing a landmark settlement.In June 2006, the case was settled: the U.S. government paid $895,000, and the media organizations contributed $750,000 toward Dr. Lee’s legal fees, with no admission of wrongdoing. The settlement, guided by Brian Sun’s litigation strategy, reinforced the principle that government officials cannot use leaks to publicly convict individuals without evidence.On June 3, 2006, Brian Sun told the Los Angeles Times that the settlement provides “a measure of vindication and accountability.” “We believe the settlement will send a message to government officials that they should not engage in unlawful leaks about private citizens,” he said, “and journalists should be sensitive in reporting information that is divulged from officials who have an agenda.”As noted in the American Physical Society's “ Viewpoint: Wen Ho Lee’s Settlement ” on August 1, 2006, the case of Dr. Wen Ho Lee remains a landmark in the intersection of science, national security, civil liberties, and media responsibility. The APS analysis emphasized that while the settlement brought an end to the litigation, it left unresolved the deeper tensions between government secrecy, press freedom, and the protection of individual rights. It underscored how Dr. Lee's case became a cautionary tale—reminding both policymakers and the scientific community that the pursuit of security must never come at the cost of justice, due process, or human dignity. Summary of June 2025 APA Justice Monthly Meeting Posted Summary for the June 2025 APA Justice monthly meeting has been posted at https://bit.ly/48ABX4J . We thank these distinguished speakers for sharing their insightful remarks and updates: · Judy Chu , Chair Emeritus, Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus; Member, U.S. House of Representatives · Judith Teruya , Executive Director, Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus · Jiny Kim , Vice President of Policy and Program, Advancing Justice | AAJC · Gisela Perez Kusakawa , Executive Director, Asian American Scholar Forum (AASF) · Ya Liu , Member, North Carolina House of Representatives · Juanita Brent , Member, Ohio House of Representatives · Edgar Chen , Special Policy Advisor, National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) · Aki Maehara , Professor, Historian, East Los Angeles College Past APA Justice monthly meeting summaries are available at https://www.apajusticetaskforce.org/library-newsletters-summaries *****On April 29, 2025, Professor Aki Maehara , age 71, was riding his electric bicycle home in Montebello when a car struck him from behind. The driver shouted anti-Asian slurs before and after the collision. Professor Maehara believes he was targeted due to his academic work and previous threats he had received.The attack left Professor Maehara with serious injuries, including a concussion, fractured cheekbone, neck pain, and a lacerated elbow. The dental damage was particularly severe, requiring extensive and costly dental implant surgery. Professor Maehara returned to teaching at East Los Angeles College shortly after the incident. A GoFundMe was updated in August 2025, describing his need for a home health aide and major dental surgery.The Montebello Police Department is investigating the incident as a possible hate crime and attempted vehicular homicide. Some have criticized the police investigation, claiming key information from Professor Maehara was initially omitted from the report. As of October 2025, the department has not publicly identified any suspects in the case despite being "No. 1 priority" since May. In Memoriam: Chan Ning Yang (1922-2025) Chen Ning Yang (杨振宁) , one of the world’s most renowned theoretical physicists and a Nobel prize winner, died on October 18, 2025, in Beijing at the age of 103 after an illness.Born in Hefei, Anhui Province, China, in 1922, Yang received his early education in China before earning his bachelor’s degree from the National Southwestern Associated University in Kunming during wartime. He later pursued graduate studies in the United States, earning his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1948 under the mentorship of Enrico Fermi .Yang’s groundbreaking contributions reshaped modern physics. He and his collaborator Tsung-Dao Lee (李政道) proposed in 1956 that parity — long assumed to be conserved — could be violated in weak nuclear interactions. The theory was soon confirmed experimentally, leading to their shared Nobel Prize in Physics in 1957. Beyond parity violation, Yang made profound advances in statistical mechanics, gauge theory, and the Yang–Mills theory — a cornerstone of the Standard Model of particle physics.After teaching at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton University, Yang joined Stony Brook University in 1966, where he founded the Institute for Theoretical Physics (now named the C.N. Yang Institute for Theoretical Physics) and mentored generations of scientists. In 2003, Yang returned to China, joining Tsinghua University as an honorary professor and continuing to promote international scientific exchange.Known for his intellectual rigor and lifelong curiosity, Yang’s career spanned the era from wartime China to the quantum age, symbolizing the global nature of scientific inquiry. He inspired several generations of young people in both the United States and China to pursue science with passion and integrity. His legacy endures not only through his discoveries but also through his commitment to fostering dialogue between China and the world in science and education. News and Activities for the Communities 1. APA Justice Community Calendar Upcoming Events: 2025/10/23 C100 Asian American Career Ceilings Initiative: Asian American Women in the Law2025/11/03 APA Justice Monthly Meeting2025/11/03 Advocacy 101 for Scholars, Scientists, and Researchers2025/11/20 Cook County Circuit Court Hearing2025/11/25 Committee of 100 Conversations – “Recollections, Pioneers and Heroes” with Elaine ChaoVisit https://bit.ly/3XD61qV for event details. 2. In Memoriam: Jerome Cohen (1930-2025) Jerome A. Cohen , a pioneering scholar of Chinese law and a leading voice for human rights, died on September 22, 2025, at his home in Manhattan. He was 95.Born in New York City in 1930, Cohen graduated from Yale Law School, clerked for Chief Justice Earl Warren and Justice Hugo Black , and began his academic career at the University of California, Berkeley. Fascinated by China, he studied Mandarin in the early 1960s and went on to found the East Asian Legal Studies Program at Harvard Law School in 1964, the first of its kind in the United States.After Mao Zedong ’s death, Cohen joined Paul & Weiss, advising companies entering China and helping Chinese officials understand modern commercial law. In 1990, he joined New York University School of Law, where he mentored lawyers, judges, and human rights advocates from across Asia and became an influential voice in U.S.–China legal dialogue.Renowned for his intellect and integrity, Cohen defended persecuted lawyers and dissidents and never wavered in his belief that law could be a bridge to justice. His legacy endures through the institutions he built and the generations he inspired. # # # 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 23, 2025 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter

Newsletter - #105 2022 Starts with a Bang; NSPM-33 Guidance; More on Lieber Verdict/"China Initiative;" + #105 2022 Starts with a Bang; NSPM-33 Guidance; More on Lieber Verdict/"China Initiative;" + Back View PDF January 10, 2022 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter

APA Justice fully supports and is a partner with The Yellow Whistle Project , which officially launched on April 19, Patriots Day, 2021. The project was started by Dr. Agnes Hsu-Tang and her husband Oscar Tang, Li-En Chong, Ken Tan, Anne Martin-Montgomery, and Cassandra X Montgomery in response to the anti-Asian hate and violence. In nature, yellow signals the advent of spring, bringing hope, optimism, and enlightenment. In America, yellow has been weaponized against Asians as the color of xenophobia. The whistle is a symbol of self-protection and solidarity in our common fight against historical discrimination, anti-Asian violence, and racial profiling. It has a universal purpose - to signal alarm and call for help - for all Americans. We are whistleblowing to fight back against the stereotype that Asians are a silent minority. We shall not remain silent, because we belong! Learn more Free whistles are being distributed through a network of outreach partners in New York City and throughout the continental U.S. Priority will be given to 501(C)3 organizations with demonstrated strong community ties. Distribution is managed by regional hubs, including APA Justice. The supply of whistles has been increased from 100,000 to 200,000 and now 500,000. The campaign is turning into a movement and a platform beyond the Asian American and Pacific Islander community. On September 5, 2021, Axios reported on How the yellow whistle became a symbol against anti-Asian hate. Read article See Yellow Whistle activities happening throughout the country "We Belong" Yellow Whistles The Yellow Whistle Campaign Make a Difference

Newsletter - #162 Texas SB147; Your Rights; Terminated Workers; Judge Robinson/Franklin Tao; China Panel #162 Texas SB147; Your Rights; Terminated Workers; Judge Robinson/Franklin Tao; China Panel In This Issue #162 Protests Against Discriminatory Texas Senate Bill 147 Know Your Rights on Airport Enforcement and Border Harassment Options for Nonimmigrant Workers Following Termination of Employment Judge Robinson Lectures; Professor Tao Appeals Fear of House China panel will Fuel Bigotry Protests Against Discriminatory Texas Senate Bill 147 The Asian American community in Texas is mobilizing and organizing rallies and protests against the discriminatory Texas Senate Bill 147. On January 20, 2023, a rally was held at Fort Bend County Justice Center, in Richmond, Texas. It received wide local media coverage. “Injustice for one is injustice for all,” Fort Bend County Judge KP George said. “It’s unfathomable that our state leaders, who are elected to serve in the best interest of all of their constituents, would target groups of people from different nations and prohibit them from their right to own property. It’s blatant discrimination.” Judge George said the bill should concern everyone because additional countries could be added to the list at any point. He also stated that he believed it could have a negative economic impact on the state. Asian American community members who attended the rally held signs that called the bill discriminatory. They said they fear that they will be unable to purchase homes if the bill passes."Anyone who is in this country from North Korea is here as a lawful refugee fleeing an oppressive government," State Representative Gene Wu 吳元之 said at the rally. "They are now being punished again for the actions of that oppressive government simply because they come from the same place." Judge George held a rally on the steps of the Fort Bend County Justice Center in Richmond, Texas. Dozens of people, mainly from Fort Bend County’s Asian population, were in attendance. State Representative Gene Wu , Representative Ron Reynolds , Representative Sulemam Lalani and U.S. Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee were also present. “This blatantly racist and xenophobic piece of legislation is exactly what we expect coming from what is anticipated to be the most conservative session we’ve seen in Texas,” said Harris County Democratic Party Chair, Odus Evbagharu . “The Senator claims she wants Texans to control Texas land while being elected to serve some of the most diverse places in not only the state but the country. Bills like this only seek to further alienate groups of people and promote fear-mongering.” On January 23, 2023, a rally will he held at the Houston City Hall. For more information, contact Professor Steven Pei at PeiUH4@gmail.com On January 29, 2023, an Anti-Asian Bill Rally will be held in Austin, Texas. Read more at https://bit.ly/3QXjiFx (in Chinese language)As part of the expansion of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, California enacted the Alien Land Law, barring Asian immigrants from owning land in 1913. Other states followed with their discriminatory laws restricting Asians’ rights to hold land in America. These laws remained in place until the 1950s, some even longer.APA Justice has created a new webpage to monitor the continuing development of Texas SB147, community responses, media repots, and the 1913 Alien Land Law: http://bit.ly/3QXNPTr Know Your Rights on Airport Enforcement and Border Harassment On January 26, 2023, the Asian American Scholar Forum will host a webinar on "Know Your Rights on Airport Enforcement and Border Harassment" as part of its series on Know Your Rights. ACLU, criminal, and immigration legal experts will be speaking. Register to attend: http://bit.ly/3ZMVUhX Options for Nonimmigrant Workers Following Termination of Employment According to a report by the Washington Post on January 20, 2023, Google’s parent company Alphabet was cutting 12,000 jobs, estimated at 6 percent of the workforce. It is cutting the most jobs in its history, spanning the company’s product areas and regions. The cuts are the latest in an industry that has shed more than 200,000 workers last year and so far this year. While the company is reportedly refocusing its priorities, which includes investments in artificial intelligence (AI), some of the workers who were cut were working on AI-focused teams.On January 19, 2023, Mark Zuckerberg , chief executive of Meta, warned employees that more positions could be eliminated — after Facebook’s parent company already slashed 11,000 workers, or 13 percent of its workforce, in November.Microsoft recently announced the layoffs of 10,000 employees. Earlier in January, Amazon said it was eliminating 18,000 workers. Salesforce also announced it was cutting around 10 percent of its 80,000 workers.It is unclear how many nonimmigrant workers are impacted by these massive layoffs. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) provides information for nonimmigrant workers whose employment has terminated, either voluntarily or involuntarily. These workers may have several options for remaining in the United States in a period of authorized stay based on existing rules and regulations for up to one year.The CIS notice is posted here: http://bit.ly/3HnuCYo . Please help to spread the word to your circles, especially for those who may be impacted.Regrettably, APA Justice does not offer legal advice or assistance. Judge Robinson Lectures; Professor Tao Appeals According to Science on January 20, 2023, a sentencing hearing is a forum to mete out justice for someone convicted of a crime. But this week, U.S. District Court Senior Judge Julie Robinson used the sentencing of Franklin Tao 陶丰 , a chemical engineer formerly at the University of Kansas (KU), Lawrence, to also talk at length about what motivates academic researchers—and how the U.S. government appeared to misunderstand that culture in pursuing criminal charges against Tao.Her remarks are a rare example of a federal judge speaking in public about the U.S. academic enterprise and its pursuit of knowledge. Tao was convicted last year of failing to accurately report his interactions with a Chinese university to KU, which said this week he is no longer a faculty member. But Robinson, who was appointed by then-President George W. Bush in 2001, says the government wrongly portrayed Tao’s exploration of an academic job in China as a malicious attempt to share the fruits of federally funded research with the Chinese government.Although Robinson was only speaking about Tao, her comments also raise questions about how the government has prosecuted some two dozen U.S. scientists, most of them born in China, under an effort by the administration of former President Donald Trump to stop Chinese economic espionage. Human rights groups have said the campaign, called the "China Initiative" before it was renamed last year to target all nation-state threats to U.S. economic and national security, engaged in racial profiling and had a chilling effect on international scientific collaborations. In sentencing Tao, Robinson rejected the government’s request that he spend 30 months in prison and pay a fine of $100,000. Instead, she decreed no fine and no additional jail time beyond the 1 week he spent behind bars after his arrest in August 2019. She did order 2 years of supervision for the 52-year-old Tao, who has worn a monitoring device on his ankle since his arrest.Read the Science report: https://bit.ly/3J1euNi . Read the transcript of the sentencing hearing: https://bit.ly/3D2C2NT . Read Professor Tao's case at https://bit.ly/3fZWJvK On January 20, 2023, Hong Peng, wife of Franklin Tao, made an appeal in the GoFundMe at https://bit.ly/2Uj7Z19 that they will fight the lone count of conviction until Tao's name is cleared completely. Fear of House China Panel will Fuel Bigotry According to Roll Call on January 20, 2023, the newly established bipartisan House select committee tasked with studying strategic challenges coming from the Chinese government has aroused concerns in the Asian American community that lawmakers may wind up fueling anti-Chinese bigotry and broader anti-Asian discrimination in the United States.The committee’s membership list has not yet been announced, nor have initial topics for public hearings been described. Still, the sheer formation of the panel has sparked fresh concerns among some Democrats who voted against its establishment, as well as some within the Asian American community, about how the panel could potentially be used to spread anti-Chinese and anti-Asian paranoia and discrimination.“I have concerns with the potential direction that Republicans could take this select committee, including using this platform to promote policies and language that endanger Chinese Americans and people of Asian descent living in the U.S.,” Rep. Grace Meng 孟昭文 , D-N.Y., who is the vice chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, said in a statement.In the last Congress, Meng saw her COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act become law. The measure is aimed at combating xenophobia and violence against Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders.“Unfortunately, as we have seen in targeted attacks, some aren’t distinguishing between the CCP and Asian-Americans who are simply going about their daily lives,” said Meng, who is Taiwanese American. “Careless rhetoric can give way to dangerous assumptions which people can, and sadly, have acted upon as we witnessed in Indiana.” Meng was referring to the incident earlier this month in which an 18-year-old Indiana University student, who is Asian, was stabbed repeatedly in her head as she rode a public bus. The student’s accused attacker reportedly told authorities she did it because it “would be one less person to blow up our country.”“We have two years of solid evidence during the pandemic when people got really mad at random Asian Americans and even Latinos who had the misfortune of looking Asian and beat them to a pulp or shoved them into subways shouting, ‘Go back to where you came from. This virus is your fault,’” said Frank Wu 吴华扬 , a prominent member of Chinese American civic organizations.Wu, who in 2020 became the first Asian American to be appointed president of Queens College in New York, doesn’t think the new select committee is needed or likely to be helpful. He pointed to recent failed efforts during the Trump administration to weed out and crack down on instances of illicit Chinese government-linked economic espionage.“You could not have a better example of a total waste of taxpayer money,” Wu said. John Yang 杨重远 , the executive director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice, a civil rights organization, said given the committee’s full name and remarks made by McCarthy and others, he is cautiously optimistic that House leaders will be careful not to platform anti-Chinese xenophobia and anti-Asian bias.Read the Roll Call report: http://bit.ly/3J520UN Update on the Indiana University Student Stabbing Incident. On January 19, 2023, NBC News reported that Asian Americans at Indiana University Bloomington are reeling after an 18-year-old student was stabbed on a city transit bus last Wednesday, allegedly because of her identity. But they don’t feel that they’ve received sufficient support. Since the incident, a sense of shock has rippled through the school’s Asian community. The suspect, Billie Davis , told the Bloomington Police Department that she targeted the student, who survived the incident, for “being Chinese,” adding “it would be one less person to blow up our country,” court documents show. With fears around their safety amplified, Asian American students who spoke to NBC News said they’ve been disappointed in the response from both those outside the Asian community and the school administration, who made their first statements around the attack two days afterward. The students say that conversations around the incident have been active among the Asian Americans on campus. But they admit that when stepping outside of their safe spaces, they often feel a sense of loneliness.“There’s not really any advocacy group in the community that makes Asian issues very visible. I think the administration should make that more of a priority, just expanding their own diversity and inclusion efforts to the community, because the students can’t do that alone,” a student said. In the 1920s, an estimated 1 in 3 white protestant males in the state were dues-paying members of the Ku Klux Klan, according to the Washington Post. Over a century later, the Southern Poverty Law Center tracked 15 active hate groups throughout Indiana. Race-related violence against Asian students also lives in the city’s not-so distant past as former IU student Benjamin Smith , a vocal white supremacist who had disseminated white power pamphlets on campus and across the city, murdered 26-year-old doctoral student Won-Joon Yoon in 1999 outside the Korean United Methodist Church. Smith, who had previously been sought in a series of shootings earlier that year that targeted Black, Jewish and Asian people, fatally shot himself the same night. Read the NBS News report: https://nbcnews.to/3Wr0QWD 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 January 23, 2023 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter

Newsletter - #193: 7/3 Meeting; Affirmative Action; Florida Law; Pew Study; Rice Names AVPs; More #193: 7/3 Meeting; Affirmative Action; Florida Law; Pew Study; Rice Names AVPs; More In This Issue #193 REMINDER: 2023/07/03 APA Justice Monthly Meeting Affirmative Action in College Admissions: What Have We Won? What Have We Lost? DOJ Says Florida Law is Unconstitutional Relatively Few Asian Americans Say They’re Well-informed About Asian History In The U.S. Rice University Names AVPs for Research Security, Technology Transfer News and Activities for the Communities Back View PDF July 3, 2023 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter

Newsletter - #43 Third Webinar; Xiaoxing Xi; Gang Chen; Fundraising Results; More #43 Third Webinar; Xiaoxing Xi; Gang Chen; Fundraising Results; More Back View PDF February 15, 2021 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter

Warrantless Surveillance The domestic surveillance over American citizens for whom there is no evidence or proof that they are involved in any illegal activity. THE NUMBERS Pending cases 5 Failure-to-disclose cases 91% Days of the China Initiative 1210 Recent developments 54 scientists lose their jobs from NIH probe into foreign ties This is your News article. It’s a great place to highlight press coverage, newsworthy stories, industry updates or useful resources for visitors. Professor Xiaoxing Xi Receives Andrei Sakharov Prize This is your News article. It’s a great place to highlight press coverage, newsworthy stories, industry updates or useful resources for visitors. Top Scientific Organizations Call for Fairer Treatment of Foreign-born Scientists This is your News article. It’s a great place to highlight press coverage, newsworthy stories, industry updates or useful resources for visitors. Activists Including APA Justice Resist New "Red Scare" This is your News article. It’s a great place to highlight press coverage, newsworthy stories, industry updates or useful resources for visitors. More News The U.S. Constitution protects its people against unreasonable searches and seizures. Under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), the U.S. government engages in mass, warrantless surveillance of Americans’ and foreigners’ phone calls, text messages, emails, and other electronic communications. Information collected under the law without a warrant can be used to prosecute and imprison people, even for crimes that have nothing to do with national security. Given our nation’s history of abusing its surveillance authorities and the secrecy surrounding the program, we should be concerned that Section 702 is and will be used to disproportionately target disfavored groups - whether minority communities, political activists, or even journalists. Learn more about FISA The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Growing out of the Watergate scandal when federal resources were used to spy on domestic political and activist groups, The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) was introduced by Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) and signed into law by President Jimmy Carter in 1978. As its title suggests, the law was created to “provide judicial and congressional oversight of the government’s covert surveillance activities of foreign entities and individuals in the U.S., while maintaining the secrecy needed to protect national security.” Soon after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001, the George W. Bush Administration began a series of questionable secret surveillance practices, including warrantless domestic wiretapping. Major amendments to FISA were subsequently made to legitimize and empower some of these secret operations. FISA was transformed into massive warrantless surveillance programs shrouded in secrecy, and Chinese Americans are disproportionately impacted. FISA Amendments Act of 2008 The FISA Amendments Act of 2008 was enacted in 2008. It added a new Title VII to FISA, authorizing targeting of non-U.S. persons outside the U.S.. Section 702 spells out additional limitations to such surveillance. It was specifically stated that the surveillance must be conducted in a manner consistent with the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution . Reauthorization of FISA Amendments Act in 2012 and 2017 President Barack Obama reauthorized the FISA Amendments Act in 2012 for five years before Edward Snowden made astonishing disclosures in 2013 about how the government manipulates its power to conduct secret, warrantless mass surveillance programs on U.S. persons in violation of their constitutional rights. Some of the subsequently known problems such as “about communications,” “backdoor searches,” “parallel construction” and “reverse target” are described in the blog titled “One Asian American’s Perspective on the FISA Amendments Act and Section 702. ” President Trump signed the FISA Amendments Reauthorization Act of 2017 into law. The current authorization will expire on December 31, 2023. Asian Americans Disproportionately Impacted No person of Chinese origin was known to be part of the 9/11 or other terrorist attacks. Section 702 has always been claimed to be a vital tool to combat terrorism since 2008. However, soon after Section 702 became law, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) declared that economic espionage is a major security threat to the U.S. and started publicity campaigns with China as the major culprit. In May 2017, the Committee of 100 presented a white paper, “Prosecuting ‘Chinese Spies’: An Empirical Analysis of the Economic Espionage Act ” by legal scholar Andrew Kim of South Texas College of Law. Among other disturbing findings, the study showed an immediate spike in prosecutions against Asian Americans in 2008. A series of innocent naturalized Chinese Americans in private industry, federal government, and academia were accused of spying for China, but all of them were subsequently dismissed without an explanation, much less an apology, from the government. Despite the heroic efforts of individuals to defend themselves against all odds, they and their families have already suffered devastating damages in legal expense, emotional trauma, and overall reputation. During the last reauthorization cycle in 2017, APA Justice set up a website APA FISA Watch to track the actions undertaken by the APA Justice Task Force and concerned organizations. Serious Constitutional Issues When the FISA Amendments Act was last due for reauthorization in 2012, little was known about the warrantless, mass surveillance programs because they were shrouded in secrecy. Today, we know that even the FISA court had sharply criticized in its written opinion (declassified in April 2017) that the government reporting efforts were lacking in “institutional candor” and represent “a very serious Fourth Amendment issue.” This same FISA court has approved more than 99.5% of the government’s requests since the enactment of FISA in 1978. FISA and its amendments are not the only laws subject to misuse and abuse by the authorities in the name of national security. The magnitude of their adverse implication and impact has been difficult to assess due to the inherent secrecy and complexity. With what little that has been made public, we know that protection for privacy and civil liberty has been grossly inadequate under FISA and its amendments. The government must not continue to use innocent, law-abiding Asian Americans as “collateral damage ,” convenient scapegoats, or targets of racial profiling without accountability. “Traditional” FISA, which requires lengthy applications to the secret FISA court, was used in fewer than 500 cases last year. Section 702, which doesn’t require individual court orders, can cover orders of magnitude more targets: more than 230,000 in 2021. The ACLU represents Xiaoxing Xi, a Chinese-American physics professor at Temple University, who is suing the government over its dismissed prosecution of him for supposedly sharing sensitive technology with scientists in China. The lawsuit, filed in 2017, challenges the FBI’s baseless arrest of Xi and its surveillance methods as well as its discriminatory targeting of Chinese-American scientists. Learn more Xi v. United States A Warrantless Surveillance Court Battle FOIA Request 245561 to the NIH Days Since FOIA Request Submitted 738 foia2nih_20210802.pdf Download FOIA Request APA Justice submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for records pertaining to the effort by the National Instututes of Health (NIH) to investigate over 500 U.S.-based scientists and researchers believed to have connections to China. The filing date of record is August 9, 2021. The assigned tracking number is 245561. The request covers the following records created on or after January 2011: Records containing statistics or data concerning the race, ethnicity, or national origin of scientists who have been “flagged,” subject to scrutiny, or investigated for their purported foreign ties, or records sufficient to show this information. Records containing statistics or data concerning the number of scientists in each of the following categories who have been “flagged,” subject to scrutiny, or investigated as the result of (a) NIH cooperation with law enforcement agencies; (b) anonymous complaints; and (c) stewardship of NIH program staff, or records sufficient to show this information. Records containing statistics or data concerning the race, ethnicity, or national origin of scientists in each of the following categories who have been “flagged,” subject to scrutiny, or investigated as the result of (a) NIH cooperation with law enforcement agencies; (b) anonymous complaints; and (c) stewardship of NIH program staff, or records sufficient to show this information. Records describing the methods by which individuals subject to NIH scrutiny or investigation were identified for investigation, including but not limited to NIH cooperation with law enforcement agencies, anonymous complaints, and stewardship of NIH program staff. We thank Yale University student Alex Liang for his research and preparation of this FOIA request. NIH Denial and Follow-up Appeal 202302228_ncca_statement_of_condemn_lance_gooden_20232028_final.pdf 2022/05/13 NIH: FOIA Case Number: 56843 2022/05/31 APA Justice: Appeal of FOIA Case Number 56843

Newsletter - #282 Combating New McCarthyism; AASF Forum With NIH; Dr. Zhijian "James" Chen; More #282 Combating New McCarthyism; AASF Forum With NIH; Dr. Zhijian "James" Chen; More In This Issue #282 · AIP: House Pushes to Resurrect China Initiative · AASF Forum with the National Institutes of Health · Dr. Zhijian “James” Chen Wins “America’s Nobel” · News and Activities for the Communities AIP: House Pushes to Resurrect China Initiative According to the American Institute of Physics (AIP) on September 18, 2024, the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation to reinstate the Justice Department’s China Initiative under a new name. The bill known as H.R. 1398 passed on a vote of 237-180, with support from 214 Republicans and 23 Democrats.The legislation is unlikely to advance in the Democrat-controlled Senate, where the companion bill has only Republican cosponsors. In addition, the White House issued a statement strongly opposing the bill, stating it “could give rise to incorrect and harmful public perceptions that DOJ applies a different standard to investigate and prosecute criminal conduct related to the Chinese people or to American citizens of Chinese descent.”Rising in opposition to the bill, Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) said that resurrecting the “misguided” China Initiative would represent a “clear step backwards.”“The China Initiative did not just waste valuable resources. If you were a person of Chinese descent working in American higher education, you were a suspect,” said Nadler, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee. “Rather than keeping America safe, the China Initiative divided workplaces, ruined careers, and contributed to anti-Asian hate at the height of the pandemic,” he added.Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA), chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, also took to the House floor in opposition to the bill. She described the China Initiative as “the new McCarthyism,” referring to fears of communist influence in the U.S. during the Cold War that were stoked by Sen. Joseph McCarthy (R-WI). “McCarthyism had deadly effects in the 1950s and so does the China Initiative, harming our country’s competitive edge by casting a chilling effect on our academic community,” Chu said. “While we all want to stop American secrets from being stolen, investigations should be based on evidence of criminal activity, not race and ethnicity.” “This bill would essentially re-establish the DOJ’s harmful and ineffective China Initiative, in all but name,” said Joanna Derman , director of anti-racial profiling, civil rights, and national security for Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC, in an email. “Instead of reviving a program that we know led to the racial profiling of Asian immigrant and Asian American scientists, we should be discussing policy solutions that would actually attract and retain top talent in critical STEM fields,” Derman continued. Last week’s vote is not the first time that the House has attempted to reinstate the China Initiative — a similar provision is in the House’s appropriations bill for DOJ. Various advocacy groups representing Asian Americans, such as the Asian American Scholar Forum and Stop AAPI Hate, have called for Congress to remove the provision from the final version of the appropriations bill.AIP is a non-profit organization that promotes the advancement and dissemination of knowledge in the field of physics and related disciplines. Founded in 1931, it serves as a federation of scientific societies, supporting the physics community through a variety of initiatives, including publications, advocacy, education, and outreach.Read the AIP report: https://bit.ly/47yU0FU . Read the White House statement: https://bit.ly/3XvIXJ1 What is McCarthyism? McCarthyism refers to a period of intense anti-communist suspicion in the United States during the early Cold War, particularly in the late 1940s and 1950s. Named after Senator Joseph McCarthy , it is characterized by widespread accusations of communist infiltration in American institutions, often without substantial evidence. The movement targeted government officials, entertainment industry figures, educators, and union leaders, among others, accusing them of being Soviet sympathizers or communist spies. McCarthyism led to investigations by the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) and loyalty tests for federal employees. Many individuals lost their jobs, were blacklisted from industries (especially in Hollywood), or faced public shaming. The era also created a climate of fear and repression, where dissenting political views were suppressed.The term "McCarthyism" now broadly refers to the practice of making baseless accusations or using unfair investigative methods to suppress dissent and stoke public fear. The movement began to collapse in 1954 after McCarthy's own credibility was questioned during the televised Army-McCarthy hearings. The famous moment during the hearings came when Joseph Welch , an attorney for the Army, confronted McCarthy with the line, "Have you no sense of decency, sir?" This marked a turning point in public opinion against McCarthy, leading to his censure by the U.S. Senate, and the eventual end of the era.McCarthyism left a lasting impact on American politics and culture, often viewed as a cautionary tale about the dangers of political persecution and mass hysteria.Watch the PBS video clip "Have You No Decency?" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svUyYzzv6VI (5:46) Book Chapter on New Red Scare The FBI has a long history of surveillance of ethnic Chinese scientists in the United States. McCarthyism, the Economic Espionage Act, and more recently the China Initiative were initiatives adversely impacting Chinese and Chinese Americans living in the U.S. The stereotypes of Asian and Chinese scientists as “disloyal” stem from the perpetual foreigner trope. The key here is that most of them were U.S. citizens. They are as much an American as any other American, yet their “loyalty” is perceived as less trustworthy. This stereotype has harmful, life-altering consequences.Read this and other chapters from the book Communicated Stereotypes at Work by Anastacia Kurylo (Editor, Contributor), Yifeng Hu (Editor, Contributor), Wilfredo Alvarez (Contributor), & 29 more. ASIN:B0CSK2PGY3. Lexington Books (May 15, 2024) Opinion on Don't Bring "China Initiative" Back and More Statements On September 19, 2024, The Hill published an opinion by Mike German, senior fellow in the Brennan Center for Justice’s Liberty and National Security Program and a former FBI special agent. According to the opinion, allies of Donald Trump aim to revive the China Initiative, a failed Trump-era program targeting economic espionage by Chinese agents, which led to racial profiling and harm to U.S. science. The Heritage Foundation's Project 2025 proposes its return, while Congress recently passed a bill to rebrand it as the "CCP Initiative."Originally launched in 2018, the China Initiative became a tool for targeting Chinese and Asian American researchers, rather than catching spies, leading to a chilling effect on scientific research. Although FBI Director Christopher Wray claimed widespread China-related misconduct, most investigations did not result in espionage convictions, instead focusing on minor administrative offenses.Read The Hill opinion by Mike German: https://bit.ly/47yBPQI Read more statements condemning the revival of the China Initiative:2024/09/20 1990 Institute: The 1990 Institute condemns H.R.1398, legislation that reestablishes the China Initiative 2024/09/18 AAASE: Open Letter to Congress 2024/09/18 OCA: OCA Condemns Measures Fueling Xenophobia and Discrimination 2024/09/09 ACE: Letter to House Leaders AASF Forum with the National Institutes of Health On September 19, the Asian American Scholars Forum (AASF) hosted a public forum with leadership from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The speakers included NIH Director Dr. Monica M. Bertagnolli and NIH Principal Deputy Director Dr. Lawrence A. Tabak . AASF Executive Director Gisela Kusakawa moderated the forum. In her opening remarks, Dr. Bertagnolli acknowledged the valuable contributions of Asian scholars to the U.S. scientific community and reaffirmed NIH's commitment to building relationships with Asian scholars to address the most challenging research challenges in health sciences collaboratively. Dr. Bertagnolli expressed deep concern over the fallout that the U.S. government’s efforts to address troubling actions from China have had on Asian scholars and the difficulties they face. She stated, "We are here to tell you: we hear you, and we see you. We are ready to work together with you as partners in a productive manner."Kusakawa asked about Dr. Bertagnolli’s vision for NIH in the future, and how NIH can create a warm and welcoming environment to protect and empower Asian scholars. Dr. Bertagnolli highlighted that one of NIH’s strengths is its inclusiveness, which brings together the best scientists from diverse backgrounds to address cutting-edge scientific challenges. She noted that ensuring that Asian scholars feel welcome in this environment is crucial. She also noted that rebuilding trust in NIH among Asian scholars, especially those who have lost confidence in the government and NIH, remains an ongoing effort.Dr. Bertagnolli listed a number of steps to make Asian American scholars feel included and welcomed at NIH. She said that today’s forum was aimed at clearing up misunderstandings, and listening to the voices of Asian scholars. She also said NIH will provide more training on research integrity, use new disclosure forms, and explain NIH’s new policy matrix, which further clarifies NIH’s response to foreign adverse influence. She thanked Asian American organizations including AASF for their input in developing these policies. Kusakawa mentioned the recent passage of a bill in the House of Representatives attempting to reinstate the China Initiative and asked how NIH handles political pressure while protecting Asian scholars from excessive scrutiny and maintaining the integrity of NIH research. Dr. Bertagnolli said this was a very important question and emphasized that, regardless of the political climate, NIH remains committed to ensuring the quality and integrity of the research it funds. These policies, on the one hand, are a responsibility to taxpayers and, on the other, help protect researchers from undue foreign influence, which has long been a core principle of NIH policy, well understood by researchers.Dr. Bertagnolli specifically emphasized that, in 2022, NIH began updating its Policies & Procedures for Promoting Scientific Integrity in response to a presidential memorandum. Dr. Bertagnolli reiterated that maintaining research integrity and protecting it from harmful foreign influence has always been NIH’s policy.During the subsequent session, NIH Principal Deputy Director Dr. Lawrence A. Tabak continued to answer questions from AASF. In his responses, Dr. Tabak denied that NIH specifically targeted Chinese researchers based on their ethnicity and stressed that NIH’s investigations targeted certain behaviors that potentially violate the agency’s policy, not focused on individuals. He clarified two additional misunderstandings: first, that NIH is not involved in the now-defunct Department of Justice's China Initiative; and second, that NIH does not have the authority to stop research funding to an institution or university due to the actions of an individual.Dr. Tabak also mentioned that while NIH does not have the power to suggest actions to members of Congress proactively, it always cooperates when lawmakers request technical explanations and support. NIH can use these opportunities to clarify relevant issues to legislators and educate them on specific issues. Kusakawa further raised the issue of how to overcome the underrepresentation of Asian scholars in leadership positions. Dr. Tabak explained that NIH’s previous approach was to train senior researchers with the hope that they would move into leadership roles. Now, however, they have begun training younger researchers hoping to address the problem more effectively.Finally, Dr. Tabak praised the work of organizations like AASF. He stated that NIH looks forward to collaborating with AASF and universities to strengthen connections with Asian scholars. More than 600 people registered for the forum, and over 60 questions were submitted. The record of this event will be available publicly. Juan Zhang , editor at US-China Perception Monitor, contributed this report. Comments and Questions Submitted by APA Justice APA Justice submitted the following comments and questions for the AASF Forum with NIH:"Dr. Bertagnolli’s recent statement was an important first step. The forum is another positive step to repair relationships and rebuild trust."While it is important to turn the page and move forward, it is equally essential to reflect on what went wrong and the lessons learned from all sides over the past six years—particularly with the looming threat of a China Initiative revival."Over the past six years, both intended and unintended consequences have emerged. Hundreds if not thousands of researchers, an overwhelming proportion of them were of Chinese origin, were placed under suspicion, surveilled, investigated, or prosecuted—many of them continue to this day. More than 100 scientists and researchers lost their jobs and had their reputation and finances ruined. At least two prominent Chinese American researchers—one from Northwestern University and another from Arizona State University—died by suicide, reportedly as a result of inquiries or investigations initiated by the NIH."Does the NIH believe all these scientists and researchers were treated fairly and justly? Will the NIH conduct a review of some, if not all, of these cases to assess the fairness of the process and hearing of their appeals? Will the NIH work with institutions, faculty, and the Asian American and scientific communities to establish a consistent due process framework, ensuring that the accused have a fair opportunity to refute charges and defend themselves?" Dr. Zhijian “James” Chen Wins “America’s Nobel” According to Forbes , South China Morning Post , and multiple media on September 19, 2024, Dr. Zhijian “James” Chen 陈志坚 won the 2024 Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award, which is also known as "America's Nobel."Dr. Chen is Professor of Molecular Biology and Director of the Center for Inflammation Research at University of Texas Southwestern (UTSW) Medical Center and the George L. MacGregor Distinguished Chair in Biomedical Science. He was recognized for his discovery of the cGAS enzyme that senses pathogens like viruses and bacteria and triggers the body’s immune system. His work provides clues for new treatments of cancer and other diseases.“Dr. Chen’s research has elucidated the process by which our bodies fight off invasive pathogens, including viruses, bacteria, and other microbes, through the detection of wayward intracellular nucleic acids. Insights into this signaling pathway provide a foundation for new approaches to the treatment of cancer and autoimmune diseases as well as vaccine development,” said Daniel K. Podolsky , M.D., President of UTSW. Shan-Lu Liu , a professor of virology at Ohio State University, also said that Dr. Chen's discovery had "opened new avenues" for understanding autoimmune diseases. "Dr Chen's work not only enhances our understanding of immune mechanisms, but also provides potential strategies for treating diseases linked to immune dysregulation," Dr. Liu said.Dr. Chen is the fourth UTSW faculty member to win a Lasker Award. The previous three winners are all Nobel laureates. The Lasker Awards recognize significant achievements in medicine and biomedical research. Since 1945, the Lasker Foundation has awarded more than 400 prizes to outstandig scientists and clinical researchers. A total of six individuals were recognized this year with awards in three categories — basic research, clinical research, and public service. Each award carries a stipend of $250,000.Dr. Chen is the sixth scientist of Chinese origin to receive a Lasker Award. He is also the second Chinese recipient in the basic research category, more than six decades after biochemist Choh Hao Li , who won in 1962. Dr. Chen, 58, was born in a rural area of China's southeastern Fujian province. After graduating with a bachelor's degree in biology from Fujian Normal University in 1985, he won an overseas scholarship to the State University of New York at Buffalo, where he earned a PhD in biochemistry in 1991. He set up a lab at UTSW in 1997 and was elected to the US National Academy of Sciences in 2014. Read the Forbes report: https://bit.ly/3zDR9yK . Read the South China Morning Post report: https://bit.ly/3Bm3doN News and Activities for the Communities 1. APA Justice Community Calendar Upcoming Events:2024/09/25 C100: State of Chinese American Survey 2024 2024/09/25-26 APAICS Technology Summit2024/09/26 White House Initiative AA& NHPI Policy Summit2024/09/27 The War for Chinese Talent in America: The Politics of Technology and Knowledge in Sino-U.S. Relations2024/09/29 Rep. Gene Wu's Town Hall Meeting2024/10/02 C100: Asian American Career Ceiling Initiative2024/10/06 Rep. Gene Wu's Town Hall Meeting2024/10/07 APA Justice Monthly Meeting2024/10/08 Media Training for Election Season2024/10/10 China in the Heartland: Building a Balanced Approach2024/10/11 China and the World Forum (Virtual): China-U.S.: Destined for War or Inevitable Peace?The Community Calendar has moved. Visit https://bit.ly/3XD61qV for event details. 2. APA Justice Newsletter Web Page Moving to New Website As part of its continuing migration to a new website under construction, we are moving the Newsletter webpage to https://www.apajusticetaskforce.org/newsletters . Content of the existing website will remain, but it will no longer be updated. We value your feedback about the new web page. Please send your comments to contact@apajustice.org . Back View PDF September 25, 2024 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter

Newsletter - #179 05/01 Meeting; Florida Rallies; CALDA; Indiana Hate Crime; Economic Peace Terms; News #179 05/01 Meeting; Florida Rallies; CALDA; Indiana Hate Crime; Economic Peace Terms; News In This Issue #179 2023/05/01 APA Justice Monthly Meeting 2023/04/29 Florida Rallies; CALDA Issues Statement Indiana Woman Charged with Federal Hate Crime in Bus Attack America Has Dictated Its Economic Peace Terms to China Activities and News for the Communities 2023/05/01 APA Justice Monthly Meeting The next APA Justice monthly meeting will be held on Monday, May 1, 2023, starting at 1:55 pm ET. Erika L. Moritsugu , Deputy Assistant to the President and Asian American and Pacific Islander Senior Liaison, will deliver a special message from the White House to start the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. Brenna Isman , Director of Academy Studies, National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA), will provide a brief description of the history, mission, and purpose of NAPA, its "Grand Challenges" campaign for public administration, and its Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) efforts and commissioned studies. Paula Williams Madison , Paula Williams Madison, Former Print and TV Journalist, Retired NBCUniversal executive and GE Company Officer, Former Vice President of the Los Angeles Police Commission and owner of The Africa Channel, will provide a recap of the April 17 Roundtable and share the possible next steps for this important work that may have long-lasting impact to the AAPI community and the American society overall.Updates will be provided in the meeting 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 Kusakawa , Executive Director, Asian American Scholar Forum.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 . 2023/04/29 Florida Rallies; CALDA Issues Statement 1. 2023/04/29 Florida Rallies A 6-city rally is being organized by The Florida Asian American Justice Alliance to oppose the unfair and discriminatory Florida Senate Bill 264 and House Bill 1355 on Saturday, April 29, 2023, starting at 11:00 am ET. Tallahassee . 400 South Monroe Street, Tallahassee, FL 32399 Jacksonville . Memorial Park, 1620 Riverside Ave, Jacksonville, FL 32204 Miami . Torch of Friendship, 301 Biscayne Boulevard, Miami, FL 33126 Other cities are Gainesville, Orlando, and Tampa. For more information about the rally and how to get involved, please contact Jin at faaja.org@gmail.com . 2. CALDA Issues Statement Chinese American Legal Defense Alliance (CALDA) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to the fight against systematic racial discrimination for Chinese Americans. According to statement released by CALDA on April 23, 2023,"Our specialty is filing legal actions to invalidate laws, policies, or practices that are racially biased against Chinese Americans. Two years ago our founders successfully obtained a preliminary injunction in court against President Trump for his WeChat ban, and forced the federal government to pay nearly one million dollars for our attorney fees in the lawsuit. Recently we have filed legal actions to expose the racial bias behind several federal agencies’ unfair investigation of Chinese American scientists. In the last several months, we have been monitoring the situation in Texas, Florida, South Carolina and other southern states for their bills banning Chinese Americans from acquiring or owning real estates.These bills are racist, no matter what 'legitimate' purposes that the state legislators claim to serve. They are no different from the so-called 'alien land laws' that many states passed more than a hundred years ago to ban Asian people from owning land. All of the alien land laws were struck down by courts or repealed by the states subsequently. CALDA has decided to take on the same legal challenge in court if the current bills are passed.These bills are a blatant violation of the Equal Protection clause of the U.S. Constitution by singling out Chinese Americans for unequal treatment. They also violate the federal Fair Housing Act for discriminatory practices. CALDA has already started the preparation of the legal challenges, and is now working with ACLU and several major law firms to join forces. Our plan is to file lawsuits as soon as any of these bills are passed, and we will not stop fighting until all of these laws are overturned."Read the CALDA statement: https://bit.ly/3oHzyAj Sunday Strategy Town Hall Meetings Opposing Alien Land and Other Discriminatory Bills For the past two months, a strategic town hall meeting has been held every Sunday under the organization and leadership of Professor Steven Pei , Inaugural Chair of United Chinese Americans and Co-Organizer of APA Justice. Frequent participants include community organizers of protests in not only all four major cities in Texas, but also Florida, Georgia, North and South Carolina, Tennessee as well as supporters from California and other states. Paula Madison , retired media executive, and Gene Wu , Texas state representative, led recent discussions in very productive meetings with Florida community leaders and organizers. A media training by Gene Wu and Helen Shih of Texas followed just before the Florida hearing on April 19, 2023, despite the short notice and allowed speaking time (30 seconds per testifying person). Organizations and individuals interested in participating in future town hall meetings should contact Steven Pei at peiuh8@gmail.com . Indiana Woman Charged with Federal Hate Crime in Bus Attack According to a report by AP on April 21, 2023, Billie R. Davis , 56, of Bloomington, was indicted by a federal grand jury in Evansville on a charge of willfully causing injuries to the victim due to her race and national origin.” Davis, who is white, is accused of repeatedly stabbing the 18-year-old woman about seven times with a folding knife on January 11 as the victim, from Carmel, Indiana, waited to get off a bus in downtown Bloomington. WRTV-TV has reported that Davis told police she stabbed the woman multiple times in the head because it “would be one less person to blow up our country.” Asian Americans have increasingly been the target of racially motivated harassment and assaults in recent years, particularly since the coronavirus pandemic began, with many worrying that anti-Asian rhetoric linked to fraught relations between the U.S. and China could lead to more violence. Read the AP report: https://bit.ly/3V8st7Z In early January, local prosecutors told NPR that Davis was not charged with a hate crime because Indiana is one of four states that lack a comprehensive law. David Goldenberg , the Midwest regional director of the Anti-Defamation League, said the lack of comprehensive hate crime laws in the state has major consequences. "Prosecutors need to prosecute these incidents as hate crimes when they are," Goldenberg told NPR in January. "The thing about hate crimes is it affects not only the individual victim but it affects the entire community." Read the NPR report: https://bit.ly/3Lrtsx2 America Has Dictated Its Economic Peace Terms to China According to an opinion in Foreign Policy by Adam Tooze , the Director of the European Institute at Columbia University, on April 24, 2023, after a rash of sanctions and overtly discriminatory legislation, with action on U.S. investment in China pending, and with talk of war increasingly commonplace in the United States, the Biden administration knows that it needs to clarify its economic relations with the country that is the largest U.S. trading partner outside North America. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has made her first major statement on economic relations with China since 2021. Judged by the tone, her message is intended to clarify and calm the waters of speculation and debate about motives and intentions. In the current situation, however, it is far from clear whether clarity actually contributes to calm.“The United States remains the most dynamic and prosperous economy in the world.” So, Yellen insists, America has no reason to seek to “stifle China’s economic and technological modernization” or to pursue a deep decoupling. Even when the Biden administration professes to be confident about America’s economic prospects, Yellen insists: “As in all of our foreign relations, national security is of paramount importance in our relationship with China.”At one level, this is obvious. No public official will ever say anything else. Security is the basic function of states. But everything depends on the scope of your vision of national security and the level of trust. And if you have to state the priority of national security in foreign relations out loud, you know you have a problem.So a strong and self-confident America has no reason to stand in the way of China’s economic and technological modernization except in every area that America’s national security establishment, the most gigantic in the world, defines as being of essential national interest. For this to be anything other than hypocrisy, you have to imagine that we live in a goldilocks world in which the technology, industrial capacity, and trade that are relevant to national security are incidental to economic and technological modernization more broadly speaking.Yellen pays lip service to that goldilocks vision, by insisting that U.S. measures against China will be tightly targeted. But, as everyone knows, those targeted measures have so far included massive efforts to hobble the world leader in 5G technology, Huawei, sanctions against the entire chip supply chain, and the inclusion of most major research universities in China on America’s entities list that strictly limits trade. The upshot is that America welcomes China’s economic modernization and will refuse the lure of the Thucydides trap so long as China’s development proceeds along lines that do not infringe on American leadership and national security. And America’s attitude will be all the more benign the more successful it is in pursuing its own national prosperity and preeminence precisely in those areas.Read the Foreign Policy opinion: https://bit.ly/41CwSlW Activities and News for the Communities 1. Xenophobia in America WHAT: Xenophobia in America with historian and author, Erika LeeWHEN: April 26, 2023, starting at 7:30 pm WHERE: In Person at Temple Emanu-El at 756 East Broad Street, Westfield, NJ 07090 and livestreaming WHO: Kol Tzedek Speaker: Erika Lee, Regents Professor, the Rudolph J. Vecoli Chair in Immigration History, the Director of the Immigration History Research Center at the University of Minnesota, and the President of the Organization of American Historians. Beginning July 1, 2023, Lee will join the History Department at Harvard University as the the inaugural Bae Family Professor of History. REGISTRATION: https://bit.ly/3AqMyNh DESCRIPTION : The Kol Tzedek Speakers Series is an annual program addressing various topics of critical importance to the betterment of our world and how we can move forward with hope and action. This year, we are thrilled to present this program in person for the very first time. The lecturers we consider will be acclaimed authorities from their respective fields of specialization. The Hebrew term Kol Tzedek means righteous voice. 2. Bill to Teach Hmong and Asian American History in Wisconsin According to AsAmNews on April 22, 2023, a new bill in Wisconsin would require schools to teach Asian American, and specifically Hmong American history. Senate Bill 240 was introduced by Republican Senator Jesse James of Altoona and other lawmakers in early April. The bill was referred to the Committee on Education on April 14. It has received bi-partisan support so far. A total of 19 states now require Asian American studies to be taught in public schools. Wisconsin could be the next state to mandate an AAPI studies curriculum. Read the AsAmNews report: https://bit.ly/41MD3Um 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 April 25, 2023 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter

Newsletter - #317 Dr. Bryant Lin; Rep. Sylvester Turner; NIH Cuts Blocked Amidst Fear; DOGE Errors; + #317 Dr. Bryant Lin; Rep. Sylvester Turner; NIH Cuts Blocked Amidst Fear; DOGE Errors; + In This Issue #317 · NYT : Dr. Bryant Lin Got Cancer; He Didn't Quit · Remembering Congressman Sylvester Turner · Trump's Cuts to NIH Blocked Amidst Fear and Uncertainty · DOGE Errors and Questions of Transparency · News and Activities for the Communities NYT : Dr. Bryant Lin Got Cancer; He Didn't Quit According to New York Times on February 26, 2025, Dr. Bryant Lin 林百里 , a Stanford University professor and physician, was given a terminal Stage 4 lung cancer at age 50. A nonsmoker, he had spent much of his career researching lung cancer in Asian populations—only to find himself facing the very disease he had studied. Instead of withdrawing, he chose to teach a deeply personal course, “From Diagnosis to Dialogue: A Doctor’s Real-Time Battle With Cancer,” in which he shared his journey as both a doctor and a patient.The course filled immediately, with students even sitting on the floor to attend. Dr. Lin was moved by their enthusiasm, telling them, “It’s quite an honor for me, honestly. The fact that you would want to sign up for my class.”Throughout the 10-week course, he remained upbeat, guiding students through discussions on the psychology of illness, difficult medical conversations, and the role of spirituality in coping with disease. His wife, Christine Chan , spoke in a session on caregiving, describing her challenges and their family’s adjustments. Despite the severity of his condition, Dr. Lin’s humor shone through—when discussing new treatment options, he quipped, “Asking for a friend!”In one lecture, Dr. Lin shared a letter from a dying patient who had chosen to end dialysis, expressing gratitude for his care, “You treated me as you would treat your own father.”Dr. Lin explained that this moment stayed with him and inspired him to give back through his class. His goal was to help students see the humanity in medicine and, perhaps, inspire some to work in cancer care. By the final lecture, when he asked how many were considering that path, about a third raised their hands.His closing remarks echoed Lou Gehrig ’s famous farewell, “Yet today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of this earth.” He expressed gratitude for his students, family, and colleagues, stating, “I may have had a tough break, but I have an awful lot to live for.”The class had an impact beyond medical training. Some students encouraged their families to get screened for lung cancer. One freshman, Gideon Witchel , took the course to better understand his mother’s past battle with breast cancer. Inspired by Dr. Lin, he finally talked to her about her illness, reading through letters she had written during treatment.Dr. Lin referred to his course as his “letter” to students, sharing his lessons while he still had time. Privately, he had written a personal letter for his sons to read after he was gone: “Whether I’m here or not, what I want you to know is that I love you. Of the many things I’ve done that have given my life meaning, being your daddy is the greatest of all.”His story became one of resilience, education, and love—an unfinished puzzle that others would continue piecing together.Read the New York Times article: https://bit.ly/43sYFZU Remembering Congressman Sylvester Turner According to multiple media reports, Congressman Sylvester Turner passed away suddenly on March 4, 2025. He was 70.Rep. Turner was elected to represent Texas' 18th Congressional District in the November 2024 election. The district includes much of inner-city Houston and the surrounding areas. Before him, the seat was held by late-Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee . Rep. Jackson Lee represented the district from 1995 until July 2024, when she died of pancreatic cancer. Prior to joining Congress this year, Rep. Turner was mayor of Houston and a member of the Texas House of Representatives.Both Reps. Turner and Jackson Lee participated actively in the opposition of the Texas alien land bill SB147 in 2023, taking to the streets and marching with the Asian American communities. According to Houston Public Media on January 23, 2023, then-Houston-Mayor Turner said, "Senate Bill 147 is just down right wrong. It is more divisive than anything else. Houston, the most diverse city in the United States, stands as one to say that we all should stand against 147." Trump's Cuts to NIH Blocked Amidst Fear and Uncertainty As of March 6, 2025, the number of lawsuits against President Donald Trump 's executive actions reported by the Just Security Litigation Tracker has grown to 104.According to AP News , New York Times , STAT , and multiple media reports, U.S. District Judge Angel Kelley issued a nationwide preliminary injunction blocking the Trump administration from slashing National Institutes of Health (NIH) payments for research indirect cost, a decision that suggests plaintiffs seeking to overturn the sweeping policy change are likely to eventually succeed. “Absent a nationwide injunction, institutions across the country will be forced to operate with the same uncertainty, resulting in the types of irreparable harm that a preliminary injunction is meant to prevent,” she wrote.Judge Kelley made the ruling in Commonwealth of Massachusetts v. National Institutes of Health (1:25-cv-10338) which was filed in the U.S. Court for the District of Massachusetts. The case combined three lawsuits brought by coalitions of Democratic states, universities, and medical associations. Dr. David J. Skorton of the Association of American Medical Colleges, one of the plaintiffs, applauded the ruling. “These unlawful cuts would slow medical progress and cost lives,” he wrote in a statement, saying the NIH-funded research “benefits every person and community in America.”According to the Washington Post on March 6, 2025, the Trump administration’s orders have created more turmoil and damage at the NIH than was previously known. On January 24, 2025, the Trump administration installed Matthew Memoli , a longtime NIH influenza researcher and physician who was not part of the senior leadership ranks, as acting director, bypassing Lawrence Tabak , principal deputy director of NIH who served as acting director for two years under the Biden administration. That initial shock marked the beginning of six weeks of turmoil for NIH's scientific staff. In just that short period, the Trump administration reshaped NIH's leadership, stalled its core mission of identifying cutting-edge research to fund, and effectively silenced personnel at the world's largest biomedical research sponsor—a $48 billion operation supporting roughly 300,000 external scientists. The Washington Post provides a detailed week-by-week summary of the events.Even in a climate of fear, NIH employees say they want to protect their institution. They worry this winter of disruption may be causing lasting damage to the way science is conducted in the United States. “The whole thing could just disappear,” said Phil Murphy , senior investigator and chief of the laboratory of molecular immunology at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). “The biomedical research enterprise in the United States depends largely on NIH dollars. You take the dollars away, the labs go away, and you lose the next generation of scientists.” Latest Developments with Federal Employees According to AP News on March 5, 2025, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says about 180 employees who were laid off two weeks ago can come back to work. An email was reportedly sent with the subject line, “Read this e-mail immediately.” It said that “after further review and consideration,” a February 15 termination notice has been rescinded and the employee was cleared to return to work on Wednesday. “You should return to duty under your previous work schedule,” it said. “We apologize for any disruption that this may have caused.”According to NPR on March 5, 2025, the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) ordered the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to temporarily reinstate close to 6,000 employees fired since February 13, finding reasonable grounds to believe the agency acted illegally in terminating them. MSPB issued a stay , ordering the USDA to return the fired workers to their jobs for 45 days while an investigation continues. The MSPB acts as an internal court to consider federal employees' complaints against the government. According to MSPB , the weekly number of cases it receives has spiked since February, reaching 2,178 in the most recent week. According to Federal News Network on March 4, 2025, the National Science Foundation (NSF) has just rehired about half of the employees it fired two weeks ago. The reversal comes after a federal judge ruled in American Federation Of Government Employees, AFL-CIO v. United States Office of Personnel Management (3:25-cv-01780) that the Trump administration's directives telling agencies to fire their probationary employees were illegal. The reinstated workers will receive backpay and will not see a break in service. While 84 employees will be going back to work, the other 86 fired workers will still be out of their jobs. NSF said that is because they were intermittent employees and not full-time staff members. DOGE Errors and Its Lack of Transparency According to New York Times on March 3, 2025, for the second time in a week, Elon Musk’s "Department Government Efficiency" updated its “wall of receipts” to remove mistakes that inflated its success, erasing over $4 billion in claimed savings. It deleted or altered more than 1,000 contracts—40% of last week's listings. Total reported savings has dropped from $16 billion to under $9 billion since February 19.Experts have flagged numerous errors, including miscalculations, duplicate entries, and contracts that ended long ago. According to Inside Higher Ed on March 5, 2025, education scholars say the administration’s rash of cuts and lack of quality transparency will have a “devastating effect” on public policy and student outcomes for years to come.On February 18, 2025, President Trump ordered federal agencies to disclose all terminated programs, contracts, and grants to enhance transparency. However, the Department of Education has not provided details on cuts totaling $1.9 billion, despite requests. Critics argue the administration is failing to be truly transparent, with experts warning that these cuts will significantly impact research, policymaking, and education outcomes.“The cuts that happened recently are going to have far-reaching impacts, and those impacts could really be long term unless some rapid action is taken,” said Mamie Voight , president of the Institute for Higher Education Policy. “To eliminate data, evidence and research is working in opposition to efficiency,” she said.In a recent analysis, titled “ Running Down DOGE’s Department of Education Receipts ,” Nat Malkus , deputy director of education policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, compared a leaked list of the 89 terminated Institute of Education Sciences contracts, along with detailed data from USASpending.gov * , to those DOGE had posted on its website. He said he found major inconsistencies in how savings were calculated. Antoinette Flores , director of higher education accountability and quality at New America, conducted similar research and also found that the DOGE data does not add up and exaggerates the savings. “It’s absolutely hypocrisy,” she said. “It feels like we’re all being gaslit. I don’t know why they are saying they want to be transparent without being transparent.” * What is USASpending.gov ? USASpending.gov is the official U.S. government website that tracks federal spending. It provides public access to data on how taxpayer dollars are allocated, including details on federal contracts, grants, loans, and other financial assistance. The site is managed by the U.S. Department of the Treasury and aims to enhance transparency by allowing users to search and analyze government expenditures across agencies, recipients, and specific programs.USASpending.gov was created as part of the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act (FFATA) of 2006, which was signed into law by President George W. Bush on September 26, 2006. The website was launched in 2007. News and Activities for the Communities 1. APA Justice Community Calendar Upcoming Events: 2025/03/12 MSU Webinar on China Initiative2025/03/16 Rep. Gene Wu's Town Hall Meeting2025/03/26 Policing White Supremacy: The Enemy Within2025/03/30 Rep. Gene Wu's Town Hall Meeting2025/04/07 APA Justice Monthly Meeting2025/04/13 Rep. Gene Wu's Town Hall Meeting2025/04/24-26 Committee of 100 Annual Conference and Gala2025/04/27 Rep. Gene Wu's Town Hall Meeting2025/05/05 APA Justice Monthly MeetingVisit https://bit.ly/3XD61qV for event details. 2. 03/12 MSU Webinar: The China Initiative On March 12, 2025, please join the webinar hosted by Michigan State University's Asian Pacific American Studies Program for an insightful discussion of the past and present of the China Initiative, a Trump administration program that targeted Asian American scholars and researchers for investigation and prosecution. Dr. Lok Siu of UC Berkeley and Dr. Jeremy Wu of APA Justice will speak at the event moderated by Dr. Kent Weber of Michigan State University.Register to attend: https://bit.ly/4hVaITO 3. USCET 2025 Summer Internship Opens The U.S.-China Education Trust (USCET) is accepting applications from undergraduate juniors, seniors, and graduate students passionate about U.S.-China relations. This hybrid, part-time internship at a nonprofit dedicated to cross-cultural dialogue offers hands-on experience and the opportunity to earn a stipend or academic credit. Read the job description and follow application steps here: https://bit.ly/3Nz4Tyi . Application Deadline: March 28, 2025, at 11:59 PM ET. 4. Erratum In APA Justice Newsletter Issue #316 , Jeremy Berg was incorrectly identified as a former director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). He previously served as the director of the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, a division of NIH. We regret the error. Back View PDF March 7, 2025 Previous Newsletter Next Newsletter