The China Initiative had deviated far from its initial mission according to an MIT Technology Review investigation. The initiative appeared to be an umbrella for cases with some connection to China. Lesser offenses like grant fraud, visa fraud, and lying to investigators were often charged with defendants. Even though defendants were not being accused of espionage, federal prosecutors still painted them as national security threats.
US government officials have been concerned about Chinese economic espionage for years. The Justice Department brought a record number of cases under the Economic Espionage Act during the Obama administration. The first time that state actors had ever been indicted for hacking, it was this department that filed the charges.
The China Initiative was the first country-specific initiative in Justice Department history. The announcement followed months of rhetoric by Trump and administration officials that portrayed China as a threat requiring a response and cast all Chinese students in American universities as potential spies.
"While I remain focused on the evolving significant threat that China poses I have concluded that this initiative is not the right approach. And instead, the current threat landscape, demands a broader approach."
Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen
The department's lack of transparency made it impossible to pull together a complete list of all the cases that were part of the initiative.
The prosecution of a Taiwanese company and three individuals for stealing trade secrets from an American company was aligned with the stated purpose of the initiative.
Even though most of the academics involved worked, the review found that prosecutors were more focused on research integrity issues.
Almost all the defendants were ethnic Chinese, including many American citizens or people who had been living and working in the US for many years.
After MIT Technology Review published its findings, Andrew Lelling, a former federal prosecutor who helped shape the initiative as a member of its steering committee, wrote in a LinkedIn post that the initiative was sound policy.
In his announcement of the initiative, Attorney General Jeff Sessions pointed to researchers in labs, universities and the defense sector who were being co-opted to transfer technology contrary to US interests.
Gisela Kusakawa is a staff attorney for Asian Americans Advancing Justice.
The line between China's government and people of Chinese descent is blurred. The fixation on non-traditional collectors has the effect of focusing on people of Chinese descent, rather than on those committing State-sponsored acts of espionage.
Our investigation found that by the year 2021, cases classified by the federal government as China Initiative cases had become amishmash of prosecutions accusing defendants of a wide range of offenses. Justice Department officials have described a nexus to China as the only throughline.
Many of the groups and individuals who have advocated for the end of the initiative have said that they see some of the actions of the Chinese government and the Chinese Communist Party as posing legitimate economic or security threats.
Groups and individuals have said that the government can tackle these concerns without targeting Asian-Americans.
Guidelines for disclosure of foreign affiliations and other sources of funding were not always clear in many academic cases. Participation in a Chinese talent program is legal, although it has been a cause for suspicion and a factor in several China Initiative cases.
Collaboration with researchers at foreign institutions has long been accepted and encouraged in academic life. There is uncertainty about the future of cooperation between American and Chinese researchers because of the tense political relationship between the US and China.
The new guidelines from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy give some clarity on what kinds of international collaboration are allowed.
The guidelines are meant to clarify requirements for researchers who receive federal funding.
They set out a goal of standardized disclosure requirements and forms for researchers seeking federal funding, and give more information for when researchers should disclose potential conflicts of interest and participation in foreign programs. Potential consequences for violations are laid out in the guidelines.
The guidelines create more clarity, but it is not clear what impact they will have.
The OSTP called for the guidance to be implemented without negatively impacting scientific collaboration and recruitment.
The research security challenges we face are real and serious, and some foreign governments, including China's government, are working hard to acquire our most advanced technologies. The report introducing the guidelines was written by the former OSTP Director.
We will have done more damage to ourselves than any competitor or adversary if our policies to address those actions significantly diminish our superpower of attracting global scientific talent. We need an effective approach.
The guidelines should include a way for people who have been involved in talent programs and other affiliations to reveal their ties without fear of punishment.
An OSTP official pointed to language in the guidelines instructing research agencies to ensure that mechanisms for correction of disclosures exist, and are simple and straightforward, when asked how researchers should proceed in the absence of an amnesty provision.
Emily Weinstein, a China policy analyst at Georgetown University's Center for Security and Emerging Technology, said that the China Initiative was going after problems in academia that hadn't even been realized.
She says there needs to be a type of olive branch.
Even though the initiative is over, there is still a pervasive fear in the academic community.
Hundreds of people in the academic community have come together to fight back against the government.
Scientists and academics rarely act together.
Changes to the initiative may not fully address the concerns of the Asian American community.
The end of the DOJ's China Initiative is a huge step towards stopping the racial profiling of Chinese scientists.
Negative stereotypes and discrimination against the Asian community extend well beyond the courtroom.
The China Initiative has harmed our nation's competitiveness, ruined the careers of innocent scholars, and damaged the government's relationship with Asian American communities, according to the national president of OCA. Attorney General Garland and his assistant must commit to implementing reforms that are focused on preventing unfair racial targeting. National security interests should not be used as an excuse to strip Asian Americans and Asian immigrant scientists of their civil liberties.
Sometimes for years after they are exonerated, the scientists who have been prosecuted by the government still have to contend with it.
The cases of hydrologist Sherry Chen and physics professor Xi Xiaoxing were brought in the year before the China Initiative. Both are still pursuing legal actions against the federal government.
Gang Chen, a professor at MIT, was accused of wire fraud, making a false statement on a tax return, and failing to disclose a foreign bank account, but his charges were dismissed because the government could not meet its burden of evidence.
He is back in his laboratory and back in the classroom. He’s adamant that he will continue his work, but will not apply for federal grants in the future–even though government grants make up a significant portion of the money available to fund research. ”I don’t know how I’ll do that yet,” he told MIT Technology Review in an interview days after his dismissal. “I’ll have to figure it out.”
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