CAPAC Members Lead Effort to Prevent the Relaunch Trump-Era China Initiative
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Yesterday, Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) Members Rep. Judy Chu (CA-28), Rep. Grace Meng (NY-06), and Senator Mazie Hirono (HI) led an effort to stop Republican Members of Congress from reinstating the China Initiative, a Trump-era program created in 2018 that purported to combat espionage but in effect targeted and profiled those of Chinese descent.
The Department of Justice ended the program in 2022, after several of the alleged espionage and national security cases ended in acquittal, dismissal or were dropped altogether. But Republicans in Congress are now attempting to restart the program using a provision in a key House spending bill—at the same time that they are reviving racially motivated rhetoric against Chinese Americans. Republicans are attempting to relaunch the China Initiative in the Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies (CJS) Appropriations Act (H.R. 5893) which funds the Departments of Commerce, Justice and other science-related programs.
In a letter to House and Senate leaders, Reps. Chu and Meng and Sen. Hirono—joined by a dozen other lawmakers—called for the provision to be removed.
“The Trump-era China Initiative undermined our nation’s scientific innovation and global partnerships while perpetuating the ‘forever foreigner’ stereotype and ruining the careers and lives of the innocent scholars targeted for investigations solely because of their Chinese ancestry,” said Rep. Chu, Chair of CAPAC. “In fact, the China Initiative was such a failure at collecting evidence of economic espionage that the DOJ was forced to switch its investigations from trade secret thefts to grant application mistakes. That is why CAPAC successfully pushed the DOJ under President Biden to eliminate the initiative and why we led a letter to Congressional leadership today to avoid resuscitating a program based on xenophobia, not evidence.”
“Republicans are essentially pushing the Chinese Exclusion Act 2.0,” said Rep. Meng, First Vice Chair of CAPAC. “When the China Initiative was in effect, we saw the Department of Justice direct animosity, suspicion and bigotry toward Asian American researchers and scholars. This was not only an attack on academic freedom; it was yet another expression of anti-Asian sentiment and scapegoating in the United States. As a member of the House Appropriations Subcommittees on State and Foreign Operations and Commerce, Justice, Science, I fully believe that our government must take every necessary action to safeguard national security and protect Americans from threats posed by foreign entities, including China. But the China Initiative is not that. The China Initiative came at the expense of innocent Asian Americans, by questioning their loyalty and reinforcing negative and harmful stereotypes. We must not put targets on the backs of Asian American citizens and those who are lawfully working here. We cannot return to this.”
“The Trump-era China Initiative fostered bigotry and discrimination against Asian Americans, particularly those with connections to China, while doing little to actually advance national security interests,” saidSen. Hirono, Executive Board Member of CAPAC. “While it is crucial that we protect our national security and intellectual property, codified discrimination is not the answer. At a time when anti-Asian hate and violence is still rampant across the country, we must do everything we can to prevent programs like this—founded in racism and xenophobia—from happening again.”
Others who signed the letter include: Senators Tammy Duckworth (IL), Raphael Warnock (GA) and Peter Welch (VT) and Reps. Jake Auchincloss (MA-04), Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01), Andy Kim (NJ-03), Barbara Lee (CA-12), Katie Porter (CA-47), Linda Sánchez (CA-38), Adam Schiff (CA-30), Brad Sherman (CA-32) and Jill Tokuda (HI-02).
Click here to read the full letter.