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National Security & Profiling of Asian Americans

The Justice Department’s China Initiative formalized a program of xenophobic anti-Asian prejudice under the guise of combating Chinese economic espionage. Rather than protect national security, the program discriminated against Asian American academics and researchers, particularly those with ancestral or professional connections to China. While the China Initiative program was officially disbanded in 2022, the heated anti-China rhetoric and improper targeting of Chinese and Asian American scientists and scholars as national security threats has continued, causing harm to countless individuals and intensifying anti-Asian discrimination.

Published: June 21, 2023

Introduction

In 2018, the Department of Justice launched the China Initiative, a program intended to combat the threat of economic espionage by the Chinese government. In reality, the program indiscriminately targeted Chinese Nationals and Chinese American academics and researchers through dubious investigations of minor administrative errors and abusive prosecutions. The initiative followed a long history of US national security initiatives entrenching xenophobic anti-Asian sentiment, from the Chinese Exclusion Act, which banned Chinese laborers from immigrating to the United States, to the incarceration of Japanese Americans during WWII.

While the DOJ announced they would shutter the program in March of 2022, irreparable damage had already been done to the scientific community. Three years after the program began, only 40 of 148 individuals charged pled or were found guilty, and several high-profile cases were inexplicably dropped, nonetheless ruining the lives and careers of innocent researchers. Ultimately, the initiative failed to investigate and prosecute serious security threats, and instead fueled “a narrative of intolerance and bias” against Chinese and Asian American scientists with serious consequences for American scientific advancement. Joint publications by Chinese and American scientists have since declined, and many Chinese and Asian American researchers are unwilling to apply for federal grants out of fear of attracting scrutiny. 

The inappropriate scrutiny of academics has “only intensified” as the US security officials have continued  to promote a narrative that Chinese and Chinese American scientists pose a unique risk research security. While the number of prosecutions has slowed, intrusive and intimidating FBI investigations have continued apace. Asian American scholars and scientists continue to face scrutiny of U.S. government grant applications. States have also fueled xenophobic hostility toward Asian Americans, introducing legislation to ban Chinese nationals from owning real property. Relationships between US and Chinese academic institutions and the US’s ability to attract foreign talent, both vital to strengthening US security, are being significantly compromised.

The threat of economic espionage by intelligence agents from a multitude of foreign nations—including China—is a legitimate one. But until the U.S government focuses its attention on genuine threats instead of targeting Asian American researchers and academics because of their national origin or ancestry and stoking anti-Asian xenophobia that threat will continue unchecked.

This page details the Brennan Center’s work on the topic and collects related resources and reportage from external sources.

Webinar Series

Webinar series produced in collaboration with APA Justice, United Chinese Americans, Asian Americans Advancing Justice/AAJC, and Asian Pacific American Public Affairs. 

Webinar hosted by APA Justice on the reauthorization of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), featuring Elizabeth Goitein [16:02 mark]. A summary of this webinar presentation is available here

Webinar produced by the Asian American Scholar Forum on "Understanding the FBI: It's Mission, Motivation, and Tactics," featuring Mike German.

Brennan Center Analysis

Michael German and Alex Liang, “Why Ending the Justice Department’s ‘China Initiative is Vital to U.S. Security’,” Just Security (January 3, 2022)

Michael German and Alex Liang, “Amid New Trial, End of Chinese Espionage ‘Initiative’ Brings Little Relief to US Academics Caught in Net of Fear,” Just Security (March 22, 2022)

External Research & Resources

Andrew Chongseh Kim, “Prosecuting Chinese ‘Spies’: An Empirical Analysis of the Economic Espionage Act, Cardozo Law Review 

Andrew Chongseh Kim and Committee of 100, “Racial Disparities in Economic Espionage Act Prosecutions: A Window into the New Red Scare,” (September 21, 2021)

Committee of 100, “Racial Profiling Among Scientists of Chinese Descent and Consequences for the U.S. Scientific Community

Committee of 100, “National Survey Data Shows Nearly 3 Out Of Every 4 Chinese Americans Have Experienced Racial Discrimination In The Past 12 Months” (April 27, 2023)

Eileen Guo, Jess Aloe, and Karen Hao, “We built a database to understand the China Initiative. Then the government changed its records,” Technology Review (December 2, 2021)

JASON, “Fundamental Research Security,” National Science Foundation (December 2019) 

Leo Yu, “From Criminalizing China to Criminalizing the Chinese,” Columbia Human Rights Law Review (October 2, 2022)

Margaret K. Lewis, “Criminalizing China,” Northwestern Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology (March 1, 2021)

Yu Xie, Xihong Lin, Ju Li, and Junming Huang, "Caught in the crossfire: Fears of Chinese-American scientists," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (June 27, 2023)

Media Roundup

Ryan Quinn, "Chinese Scientists Increasingly Leaving U.S.," Inside Higher Ed (July 5, 2023)

"Are US Colleges Losing Their Appeal to Chinese Students," VOA News (May 9, 2023) 

"Eight Chinese-American Scientists Named as Members of US National Academy of Sciences," Global Times (May 5, 2023)

Karin Fischer, “Can U.S. Research Recover from the China Initiative,” Chronicle of Higher Education (April 6, 2023)

Jeffrey Mervis, "Pall of Suspicion," Science (March 23, 2023) 

Natasha Gilbert, "'I Lost Two years of My Life': US Scientist Falsely Accused of Hiding Ties to China Speaks Out," Nature (March 7, 2022)

Mara Hvistendahl, "Terminations of Scientists Sparks Concern About Possible China-Related Probe," Intercept (September 24, 2021) 

Don Lee, "Why Trump's Anti-Spy 'China Initiative' Is Unraveling," LA Times (September 16, 2021) 

Coalition Letters

Michael S. Lauer and Patricia A. Valdez, “Safeguarding Integrity and Collaborations,” Science (May 25, 2023)

Legal Resources

Anti-Racial Profiling: “APA Justice Task Force Anti-Racial Profiling” APA Justice

Asian American Scholar Forum: The Asian American Scholar Forum

Hate Crimes Reporting Page: “Stand Against Hatred,” Asian Americans Advancing Justice/AAJC

Understand and Fully Exercise Your Rights: “Know Your Rights,” Asian Americans Advancing Justice/AAJC

The Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) page