By Randall Yip, Executive Editor
(This story was updated at 1:45 pm ET September 12, 2025 with information about a joint letter from more than 80 Asian American organizations)
A measure that critics say led to the unfair prosecution of Chinese scientists is once again making its way through Congress.
The so-called China Initiative originated during Trump’s first term. The goal of the Initiative was to stop China from engaging in economic espionage.
The Biden administration later abandoned it following a string of unsuccessful prosecutions of Chinese scientists.
On Wednesday, the House Approrpriations Committee advanced a bill that would reinstate the much-maligned program by a vote of 34-28.
“Let us be clear: Congress has a responsibility to protect our national security interests, but the China Initiative did not achieve this goal. Instead, it led to the racial profiling of Asian American and Asian immigrant scientists, perpetuated racist tropes of dual loyalty, and fueled division,” a statement from the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus reads.
Asian American civil rights groups point to numerous innocent Chinese scientists who have been caught in its dragnet and unsuccessfully, and in their view, unfairly prosecuted.
- Gang Chen, a professor at MIT, allegedly failed to disclose his connection to Chinese institutions on grant applications. The case was dropped due to lack of evidence.
- Anming Hu of the University of Tennessee faced charges of wire fraud and making false statements about ties to Chinese universities. He ultimately won an acquittal and the University offered his job back.
- Franklin Tao faced similar charges while working as a researcher at the University of Kansas. Like Hu, he also beat the charges. But unlike Hu, the university has refused to rehire him.
Critics says it impacts Asian Americans beyond the scientific community.
“People don’t know, just by looking at you, whether you’re from China or not. And so, of course, those who people may perceive as being Chinese are also going to be impacted,” said Cindy Tsai, general counsel and Executive Vice President for the Committee of 100 to AsAmNews. “This really goes back to the safety issue and the sense of belonging for those who have been part of this country contributing and integrating their lives here.”
The China Initiative is included as part of a larger appropriations bill. Republicans believe the Initiative is necessary to protect the country’s interests.
“We’re in a conflict with China on multiple levels, and too many people are asleep at the wheel,” Rep Mark Green (R-TN) said this past December, according to Reuters. Green has since resigned from Congress.
The bill:
- Prohibits NASA from hosting any official Chinese visitors to its facilities.
- Requires the The Department of Commerce, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the National Science Foundation to report any official travel to China by its employees.
- Bans universities from using any federal funds in partnership with universities controlled by the Chinese Communist Party or People’s Republic of China.
On Friday, September 12, a coalition of more than 80 Asian American groups released a letter opposing the possible return of the China Initiative.
“Reinstating the China Initiative would revive a failed and shortsighted policy that hurt the workforce of scientists and innovators that our country depends on to stay globally competitive,” said Gisela Perez Kusakawa, Executive Director of the Asian American Scholar Forum. “In a global race for talent, we cannot afford to lose the very people driving advances in medicine, energy, artificial intelligence, and other critical fields that impact all Americans.
Joanna Derman of Asian Americans Advancing Justice, AAJC, urged the public to educate themselves about the bill and urge Congress to remove it from appropriations.
“We’ve seen how that can result in unfair and harmful discrimination against Asia American and Asian immigrant scientists, researchers and academics. So by putting in the appropriation bill, pretty much anybody who votes for the appropriation bill can deny that they supported the China Initiative, because it’s part of a larger a larger bill,” she said to AsAmNews.
Registration is closed for Common Ground: Building Together conference and gala award banquet in San Francisco on January 24. A shoutout to our planning committee: Jane Chin, Frank Mah, Jeannie Young, Akemi Tamanaha, Nathan Soohoo, Mark Young, Dave Liu, and Yiming Fu.
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