📢 Asian American Civil Rights Groups Express Cautious Optimism After DOJ Concludes Review of China Initiative

Washington, D.C. — A top Justice Department official unveiled changes to the “China Initiative” on Wednesday, announcing modifications to the controversial Trump-era effort after years of bias concerns from Asian American civil rights activists and lawmakers.

At an event hosted by George Mason University, U.S. Assistant Attorney General Matt Olsen confirmed that the U.S. Department of Justice had finished an internal review of the program, concluding that the initiative “is not the right approach” and that the agency would pursue a “broader” global strategy beyond China. Olsen further noted that the Justice Department’s national security division would take an “active supervisory role” in investigations and prosecutions going forward while scrapping the initiative’s name.

“We have heard concerns from the civil rights community that the ‘China Initiative’ fueled a narrative of intolerance and bias,” he said. “The rise in anti-Asian hate crime and hate incidents only heightens these concerns. The Department is keenly aware of this threat and is enhancing efforts to combat acts of hate.”

“The China Initiative and the broader rhetoric around it have harmed our nation’s competitiveness, ruined the careers of innocent scholars, and severely damaged the government’s relationship with Asian American communities,” said OCA-Asian Pacific American Advocates’ National President Linda Ng. “While we are cautiously optimistic about the Justice Department's announcement, it cannot be a rebranding exercise and more needs to be done to combat racial profiling, especially when we continue to see academics step forward with stories about being targeted. Attorney General Garland and Assistant Attorney General Olsen must commit to continued dialogue and implement substantive reforms focused on preventing unfair targeting. National security interests should never be used as an excuse to systematically strip Asian Americans and Asian immigrant scientists of their civil liberties.”

“The Justice Department’s changes hopefully mean that law enforcement resources will be spent on cases of unlawful transfer on intellectual property, not immigrants who maintain connections with their homeland,” added Aryani Ong, Co-Founder of Asian American Federal Employees for Nondiscrimination (AAFEN). “71 percent of Asian American adults are foreign born, making them susceptible to government overreach in investigations and prosecutions because of the scrutiny of their foreign connections.”

Criticism of the China Initiative, an anti-espionage effort launched by the Trump administration in 2018, has intensified in recent months as multiple high-profile cases brought by the Justice Department against Asian American and Asian immigrant scientists have crumbled in court. Federal prosecutors recently dropped charges against MIT professor Gang Chen, while other researchers falsely accused of hiding ties to China, such as University of Tennessee professor Anming Hu, have been acquitted or had their cases dismissed.

In July 2021, nearly 100 members of Congress, led by Rep. Ted Lieu, sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland urging for an investigation into the Justice Department’s “wrongful targeting of individuals of Asian descent.” In August 2021, OCA-Asian Pacific American Advocates and other groups also urged the Biden administration to probe whether the agency unfairly targeted individuals based on their race, ethnicity, or ancestry.

Academics across the country have also denounced the program for its chilling effect on scientific research and contributing to a rise in anti-Chinese sentiment. Nearly 90 percent of those charged under the China Initiative are of Chinese heritage, according to the MIT Technology Review.

In November, OCA joined with Asian Americans Advancing Justice — AAJC in lobbying lawmakers to end the program, mobilizing chapter members to speak out in meetings with U.S. senators.