Your current location:HOME >health >Relaunch of controversial program may send 'shock waves of fear' in U.S. 正文
TIME:2024-05-21 07:18:38 Source: Internet compilationEdit:health
Almost two years after the "China Initiative" ended in the U.S., more than a dozen U.S. lawmakers an
Almost two years after the "China Initiative" ended in the U.S., more than a dozen U.S. lawmakers and nearly 50 organizations are warning of the potential reinstatement of the controversial program.
They are urging congressional leadership to remove concerning language from a key House of Representatives spending bill.
Their warning pertains to the Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, which funds the Commerce and Justice departments and other science-related programs.
The legislation demands that the so-called China Initiative be reactivated. In the explanatory materials for the appropriations proposal, Republican members of Congress called the decision to end the initiative "unwise" and "deeply irresponsible".
The legislative language has generated backlash from both lawmakers and civil rights activists as well as academic organizations since it was introduced in October.
"A budget is a representation of our priorities and values," read a recent letter signed by 15 Democratic U.S. senators and representatives to House and Senate leaders. "It would be both a misallocation of resources and a backsliding for civil rights to restart the China Initiative."
They said they object to the initiative's characterization in the explanatory materials, calling on the language of relaunching the program to be stricken.
The initiative was launched by former United States president Donald Trump in 2018 to combat so-called economic espionage.
Racial profiling
It officially ended in February 2022 after several of the alleged espionage and national security cases ended in acquittal, dismissal or were dropped. The Justice Department admitted the program was racially profiling Chinese Americans and other residents of Chinese origin or ancestry.
U.S. Representative Judy Chu, chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, who along with Representative Grace Meng and Senator Mazie Hirono, initiated the letter, warning that the "China Initiative" undermined the country's scientific innovation and global partnerships while "perpetuating the 'forever foreigner' stereotype and ruining the careers and lives of the innocent scholars" solely because of their Chinese ancestry.
The initiative was also a failure at collecting evidence of economic espionage so that the Justice Department had to switch its investigations from espionage to academic integrity issues, Chu said. That is why the program was canceled and why congressional leadership should stop resuscitating a program based on xenophobia, not evidence.
"Reimplementing this program would send shock waves of fear across the AAPI community," Cindy Tsai, interim president and executive director of the Committee of 100, said in a statement on Friday.
Joint research by the Committee of 100 and the University of Arizona unveiled that the "China Initiative" was producing a wave of fear among scientists of Chinese descent, with 42 percent of them feeling they were racially profiled by the U.S. government in contrast to only 8 percent for scientists of non-Chinese descent.
Mystery artist who erected signs comparing pothole2024-05-21 06:23
U.S. bears a lot of responsibility for deglobalization trend: former Secretary of Commerce2024-05-21 05:49
Xinhua Headlines2024-05-21 05:48
CPPCC National Committee Holds Gathering to Ring in New Year, Xi Jinping Delivers Important Speech2024-05-21 05:44
Young Boys seals 6th Swiss soccer league title in 7 years after rallying from firing coach Wicky2024-05-21 05:41
Feature: Race against time to find survivors at epicenter of Türkiye's massive earthquakes2024-05-21 05:19
Senior Chinese diplomat meets delegation of Brazilian Workers' Party2024-05-21 05:18
The Latest: UN chief calls for restraint after Iran's retaliatory attacks on Israel2024-05-21 05:00
I was 'brokefished' by my friend for £4002024-05-21 04:44
Eurozone inflation slows to 8.5 pct in January: Eurostat2024-05-21 04:40
Kosovo prepares a new draft law on renting prison cells to Denmark after the first proposal failed2024-05-21 07:14
UN responds to devastating ferry tragedy in Mozambique2024-05-21 07:02
Hungarian parliament approves Finland's accession to NATO2024-05-21 06:54
G20 Summit to be held in Bali, Indonesia2024-05-21 06:49
Fresh heartache for cancer2024-05-21 06:47
World Insights: WTO members confront U.S. abuse of security exception for protectionist purpose2024-05-21 06:11
(W.E. Talk) Tamara Prosic: How China and the World Benefit from Collectivism2024-05-21 05:02
With secret contract, U.S. uses spyware to supervise world: NYT2024-05-21 04:54
A warrant for Netanyahu’s arrest was requested. But no decision was made about whether to issue it2024-05-21 04:53
5G covers all prefecture2024-05-21 04:52