House Bill Aims to Restart "China Initiative"

Controversial Trump administration program targeted Chinese academics for possible espionage.

The Department of Justice ended a controversial program nearly two years ago called the China Initiative, which targeted mostly ethnic Chinese academics and their links to China. The program was stopped in 2022 after criticism of racial profiling. Now, a proposed House spending bill wants to bring the initiative back.

More here: House bill aims to restart controversial DOJ program that targeted Chinese academics

So yeah, we're still doing this. The China Initiative, created during the Trump administration, was an effort to investigate and prosecute Chinese espionage in the United States, and targeted academics and scientists of Chinese descent who found themselves under scrutiny for past affiliations with Chinese institutions.

About 90% of the more than 70 cases prosecuted under the initiative involved people who were ethnically Chinese. Just about a quarter were convicted and usually for much lesser charges. In February 2022, the Department of Justice ended the China Initiative, citing in part racial and ethnic bias, though the FBI says it still has more than 2,000 cases related to China. The DOJ did not respond to a request for comment. And now a proposed House spending bill wants to restart the initiative.

In some cases where the Justice Department was unable to find evidence of espionage, officials brought lesser charges, only to drop them -- but not before damage was done to the scientists' reputations and careers. The suspicion extends to national security employees with ties to Asia, who are regarded as potential intelligence threats because they have family members in, say, China or Taiwan.

More here: Asian American Officials Cite Unfair Scrutiny and Lost Jobs in China Spy Tensions

Is the government racially profiling Chinese American scientists?

Sherry Chen and Xiaoxing Xi were both falsely accused of espionage.



This week, congressional leaders held a press conference calling on the Department of Justice to investigate the recent cases against Chinese American scientists who were wrongfully suspected of economic espionage.

Backed by California Democrats, Chinese American scientists arrested on espionage charges demand answers

Rep. Judy Chu (CA-27), Rep. Ted Lieu (CA-33), Rep. Grace Meng (NY-06), and Rep. Michael Honda (CA-17) were joined by Sherry Chen, a U.S. citizen and employee of the National Weather Service in Ohio, as well as Dr. Xiaoxing Xi, a U.S. citizen and Interim Chair of the Physics Department at Temple University.

"This is not the America I thought I knew."

The case against falsely accused scientist Xiaoxing Xi reflects "America's most cherished ideals gone wrong."



Earlier this month, the Justice Department abruptly dropped criminal charges against Xiaoxing Xi, a scientist who was accused of sharing sensitive technology with China. Turns out, the evidence that prosecutors thought they had against Professor Xi was all wrong. In light of "additional information," they dropped the case. But that's after months of dragging his personal and professional reputation through the mud.

Joyce Xi, the daughter of Professor Xi, says the case "reflects some of America's most cherished ideals gone wrong." She has written an op-ed piece for USA Today in which she shares about her family's ordeal and the fallout of the government's false and reckless claims against her father. She's watched as the FBI raided her family's home, led her father away in handcuffs, and stripped away all senses of security and privacy.

She calls the case against her father and other falsely accused scientists "irresponsible government overreach."

U.S. drops charges against scientist accused of spying

The Justice Department has moved to drop the espionage case against physicist Xiaoxing Xi.



On Friday, the Justice Department abruptly dropped criminal charges against a scientist who was accused of sharing sensitive technology with China. Why? In a federal court filing, prosecutors stated that "additional information came to the attention of the government." In other words, they f*cked up. A lot.

U.S. Drops Charges That Professor Shared Technology With China

Last May, the Justice Department arrested 57-year-old Xiaoxing Xi, the former chairman of Temple University's physics department and a globally recognized expert in the field of superconductivity. Mr. Xi, a naturalized American citizen, was accused of sending sensitive information to scientists in China. Federal agents, guns drawn, raided his home and took him away in handcuffs.

The most damning piece of evidence appeared to be schematics for a piece of semiconductor research equipment known as a pocket heater. Prosecutors say Xi sent the schematics, which he had sworn to keep secret, to scientists in China. Unfortunately, neither the FBI nor the Justice Department bothered to put in the research to figure out the embarrassing truth: the schematics were not for a pocket heater.

Is the government racially profiling Asian Americans?

Members of Congress call on Attorney General to investigate Sherry Chen espionage case.



Members of Congress, joined by APA community leaders, are calling the U.S. Attorney General to investigate and determine whether race and national origin were factors in unfounded espionage-related charges brought against Sherry Chen, a Chinese American hydrologist with the National Weather Service.

Members of Congress Ask for Review of Dropped Espionage Case

Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch is being asked investigate not only if race was a factor in Mrs. Chen's arrest, but also to determine whether race, national origin, religion or gender are being used by federal agencies in targeting federal employees for arrest, surveillance or other actions.

In October 2014, Chen was publicly arrested at her workplace and charged with four felony charges, largely built on the suspicion that she had been working on behalf of the Chinese government to threaten U.S. infrastructure. But less than one week before trial, the government dismissed all charges against Mrs. Chen.

A letter to Attorney General Lynch, signed by twenty-two members of Congress, expresses concern that Chen's case is indicative of a broader campaign of racial profiling against Asian Americans. It certainly isn't the first time this has happened. Sherry Chen is just the latest example.

Leaving a guy in a holding cell for five days, nearly killing him, is apparently not bad enough to get you fired.

DEA agents responsible for Daniel Chong's mistreatment got off with a slap on the wrist.



Remember that UC San Diego student who got swept up in a drug raid and nearly died after being thrown in a holding cell and forgotten for five days without food or water? According to the Justice Department, the federal agents responsible for almost killing Daniel Chong received only reprimands or brief suspensions from the Drug Enforcement Administration. A slap in the wrist, as they say.

DEA agents jail student 5 days with no food, water; get slap on wrist

Chong, then 23, was taken into custody during a DEA raid in April 2012, placed in a cell, then promptly forgotten. He was handcuffed behind his back, locked up for five days without food or water (or access to a toilet), and later found delirious, dehydrated and suicidal. He was never charged with a crime.

Alabama cop indicted for assault on elderly Indian man

Officer Eric Parker is accused of using "unreasonable force" on 57-year-old Sureshbhai Patel.



Last week in Alabama, the U.S. Attorney's Office announced that the police officer who threw a 57-year-old Indian man to the ground, severely injuring him, has been indicted on civil rights violations charges.

Madison Police officer indicted for civil rights violation

Officer Eric Parker of the Madison Police Department was fired and charged with third-degree assault for using excessive force on Sureshbhai Patel, who had been visiting his family from India. The incident left him partially paralyzed and hospitalized with a fused vertebrae.

Mr. Patel, who does not speak English, was on an afternoon walk when he was stopped by police responding to a call about a "suspicious person." Police video shows Parker yanking Patel's arm and slamming him into the ground. He suffered serious injuries requiring surgery and months of rehabilitation.

Tell the Department of Justice to #LetUsVote!

40,000 voters in Georgia have no idea if they'll be able to vote tomorrow.



Got this passed along to me from our good friends at 18 Million Rising... In Georgia, at least 40,000 people don't know if they'll be able to vote in tomorrow's election. Forty thousand new eligible voters haven't been added to the state's voter registration rolls, even though they turned in all their completed registration paperwork.

The majority of these 40,000 voters come from Asian, Black, and Latino communities.

Despite a lawsuit filed by national and local organizations against Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp to speed up the processing of these "missing" new voter registrations, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Christopher Brasher failed to intervene on behalf of these voters.

It's being called "The Most Brazen Attempt at Voter Suppression Yet."

Last week, 18MR launched a petition demanding that the Department of Justice investigate Secretary of State Kemp's inaction, and to hold him and the state of Georgia accountable for these missing voter registrations. Today, with less than 24 hours until the polls open, let's turn up the pressure on the Department of Justice.

Are you active on Twitter? Here's 18MR's call to action:

Vanita Gupta to lead Justice Department's civil rights division

ACLU attorney is the first South Asian American appointed to lead the division.



On Wednesday, Attorney General Eric H. Holder appointed top civil rights lawyer Vanita Gupta to the position of Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General and Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division.

New DOJ Civil Rights Chief Vanita Gupta Known For 'Trailblazing' Work

Gupta, currently Deputy Legal Director of the American Civil Liberties Union and Director of its Center for Justice, will take over next week as acting head of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division.

Also, according to a White House official, President Obama is expected to nominate Gupta to be the permanent assistant attorney general for civil rights, a division that oversees voting rights and civil rights investigations, and has been without fixed leadership for more than a year.

Gupta will be the first South Asian American lawyer appointed to lead the division. Here's more on her background, according to the ACLU's press release: