The US Department of Justice launched the so-called "China Action Plan", and Chinese scientists fought back: Nearly half of Chinese scientists said they were racially discriminated against

In 2018, Us Attorney General Sessions proposed the so-called "China Action Plan" aimed at cracking down on economic espionage activities and secret influence activities in the United States. Since then, the U.S. Department of Justice has continued to launch investigations into researchers participating in cooperation with Chinese universities or scientific research institutions, including scientists of native Americans and scientists of Chinese descent. On the 28th local time, two Chinese scientists working in the United States released a detailed research report to counter the so-called "national security investigation" carried out by the United States in the name of the "China Action Plan" through the survey data. According to the report, the investigation was suspected of racial discrimination.

According to Hong Kong's "South China Morning Post" reported on the 29th, the research report is 30 pages long, jointly completed by two professors from the American Chinese Organization Hundred People's Association and the University of Arizona. The study surveyed 1,949 Chinese and non-Chinese researchers working at top U.S. universities and research institutes. According to the results, more than 90 percent of respondents said Chinese scientists have made important contributions to research and teaching programs in the United States. More than three-quarters of scientists believe the United States should strengthen scientific cooperation with Chinese mainland.

The report also reveals the differences between Chinese and non-Chinese scientists, such as nearly half of Chinese scientists (including Chinese Americans) who say they are racially discriminated against by the U.S. government, while only 8 percent of non-Chinese scientists have experienced discrimination. Nearly 40 percent of Chinese scientists say they have difficulty in obtaining financial assistance because of race, nearly three times as many as non-Chinese scientists. The report also shows that 50.7 percent of Chinese-American scientists are quite frightened and anxious about being monitored by the U.S. government, up from just 11.7 percent of non-Chinese scientists.

According to the South China Morning Post, the study used data to quantify the racial image of Chinese scientists in the American academic community and the indifferent attitude towards their research. The head of APA Justice, which supports ending the China Action Plan, said: "The results of this study are not surprising. The problem is how to deal with it, if you want to combat espionage, you will take appropriate measures to punish the criminals, but you cannot make racial characterization. ”

The British "Higher Education Times" reported on the 29th that one of the above-mentioned study authors, Jenny Lee, a professor of education at the University of Arizona, said in an interview that from this study, Chinese scientists and researchers in the United States and non-Chinese have a completely different experience of their work due to racism. Racial discrimination, stereotypes, xenophobia and government policy all play a role here.

Since the U.S. Department of Justice launched the China Action Plan, it has continuously launched investigations into researchers participating in cooperation with Chinese universities or scientific research institutions, including scientists of native Americans and scientists of Chinese descent. However, as of the end of March this year, the vast majority of the so-called "typical cases" compiled on the US Department of Justice's "China Action Plan" website were accused of telecommunications fraud, misrepresentation, tax concealment, etc., rather than so-called economic espionage or theft of trade secrets. Many of these Chinese scientists were acquitted after being charged, but their professional reputations and research careers have been considerably damaged.

At the same time, the China Action Plan has created an atmosphere of fear among non-Chinese scientists. The scientists say they have cut ties with Chinese collaborators, stopped hiring Chinese postdocs and restricted exchanges with Chinese scholars. Even those who see their work as insensitive to China or have no potential benefits feel the chilling effect. The Chinese scientists involved in the survey also said they would deliberately not secure federal funding for the project for fear of greater scrutiny, and some Chinese scientists began to consider working in a less hostile environment outside the United States. At present, the number of international graduate students from China in the United States is already declining. Huang Zhengyu, president of the 100 American Society, said: "We keep hearing about Chinese-American scientists being fired or leaving the United States for no reason because the United States feels hostile or because it is afraid to stop interacting with China. ”

The South China Morning Post mentioned that some people believe that the stated goal of the U.S. implementation of the "China Action Plan" is to "enhance U.S. competitiveness and thwart the global strategic technology market dominated by Beijing," but ironically, the plan has harmed talented Chinese researchers who are critical to U.S. innovation, and has weakened U.S. competitiveness.

However, the U.S. government did not realize the mistakes of its policy and was prepared to intensify. On the same day that the report was released, FBI Director Christopher Ray further declared in a speech at the Economic Club in New York that the "China Action Plan" was more important than ever. He claimed that Beijing is expanding its use of "non-traditional information collectors" to include businessmen, researchers, graduate students and scientists, "virtually under the control of the Chinese Communist Party, all of which are for a common goal of trying to steal our information and make China the only superpower in the world." The South China Morning Post commented that this highlights the challenges faced by the Asian American community in ending the China Action Plan.

Jenny Lee said that even if the China Action Plan is ended, other U.S. policies, such as tightening visa restrictions on some Chinese graduate students, will affect perceptions of whether the United States welcomes Chinese students and scholars. She added that the sense of crisis that Chinese-American scientists actually face in the United States may be more serious than the report suggests.

Source: World Wide Web