US ‘China Initiative’ racially profiled scientists, ruined careers

The Chinese-American scientific community marshalled more ammunition on Thursday in its bid to roll back the Justice Department’s “China Initiative” with the release of a detailed study aimed at fighting racial bias in national security investigations.

Since the Justice Department launched the initiative in 2018, designed to fight suspected Chinese theft of technical secrets and intellectual property, indictments have risen; so too have stories on the cost of the programme measured in baseless accusations and ruined careers, activists and community members have said. But they have argued that hard data needed to fight against well-entrenched policy in Washington is lacking.