China Initiative

In a victory for the Asian American scholar community, AASF and allies have succeeded in preventing the relaunch of the ‘China Initiative.’
Today marks two years since the Department of Justice’s ‘China Initiative’ was formally terminated, a critical step in the right direction to addressing serious concerns of racial profiling and discrimination against Asian American scholars, particularly those of Chinese descent. While a crucial step, we must remain vigilant and work to ensure the ‘China Initiative’ is not reinstated.
As the new year begins and civil rights groups prepare for Congress to return, Asian American scholars and allies are at the ready to keep pushing back against some policymakers’ attempts to reinstate the DOJ’s now-defunct “China Initiative”—a devastating program ended nearly two years ago that raised concerns of racial profiling and targeting of Asian Americans and immigrants, particularly of Chinese descent. 
Today, the Asian American Scholar Forum (AASF) joins the Society of Chinese Bioscientists in America, the Chinese American Hematologist and Oncologist Network, and the Chinese Biological Investigators Society in a letter published in Science Magazine that raised concerns about widespread investigations of Asian American and immigrant scientists under what science policy reporter Jeffrey Mervis has called the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) “China Initiative.”
On March 14th, 2022, Asian American Scholar Forum (AASF) submitted the following letter to request Judge Rya W. Zobel to take into account the special conditions and circumstances of Professor Charles Lieber's case.
The Asian American Scholar Forum appreciates that the DOJ heard the voices and concerns of the scientific and the Asian American communities. We support the new strategy and welcome the termination of a flawed program that targeted scientists based on national heritage. 
AASF fully supports AAJC's statement made on Feb 23, 2022. Today, the U.S. Department of Justice announced an end to the controversial “China Initiative,” and a series of changes to their national security approach to address concerns of profiling of Asian Americans and immigrants lifted up by Advancing Justice - AAJC and other civil rights and academic groups.  
In this webinar, Dr. Xi will present his personal experience and discuss other actual criminal cases to illustrate the risks faced by academics with ties in China. Links to resources concerning case information, legal rights, attorney referral, fundraising, and activism will be provided.
In view of the recent investigations of the Chinese American academic and scientific communities, a white collar defense attorney and former federal prosecutor will provide community members in this presentation with guidance on their legal rights and strategies to employ when interacting with law enforcement officials and university counsel conducting investigations.