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Chemical and Engineering News Print Article by Board Members of CCS on Racial Profiling of Chinese American Scientists/Academics

November 20, 2019

Eugene Chudnovsky and Alexander Greer, two Board members of the Committee of Concerned Scientists, wrote an Opinion piece for the Chemical and Engineering News addressing problems of racial profiling of Chinese American academics and scientists.

 

 

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

C&EN: Free academic exchange

We would like to expand on “Amid Tensions with China, US Emphasizes Research Security Rules” (C&EN, Sept. 30, page 36), as this topic is relevant to chemists.

Ethnic profiling of Chinese scientists in the US was a subject of the National Civic Leadership Forum Sept. 15–18, a nonpartisan event for the Asian American and Pacific Islander community. There have been about 240 prosecutions and over 1,000 investigations since the Economic Espionage Act (EEA) was enacted in 1996.

Findings show that people with Asian names are indicted more, dismissed more, and when convicted, punished about twice as severely in EEA cases (see “Prosecuting Chinese ‘Spies’: An Empirical Analysis of the Economic Espionage Act,” Cardoza Law Review, 2018). Scientists wrongfully accused of espionage can have their reputations, families, and careers ruined. Here, we come to the defense of Chinese American scientists and call for a better balance of security, but not at the expense of civil liberties.

US universities encouraged exchanges and collaborations with Chinese universities until a few years ago. Currently, they are not encouraged and in some cases deemed criminal. Ethnic profiling is not only illegal but also counterproductive. Free academic exchange between scientists in the US and China is crucial for discoveries to be made that will in turn benefit the US.

This pattern of targeting Chinese scientists is not new. Cases include those of Wen Ho Lee, Sherry Chen, Xiaoxing Xi, and Franklin Tao. Ethnic Chinese scientists have been terminated or forced to resign or retire from MD Anderson Cancer Center and Emory University.

On Sept. 10, we at the Committee of Concerned Scientists posted “Should the United States Hide Its Cancer Research from China?” We explain that “the idea that science innovations flow one way from the U.S. to China, promulgated in some circles of the U.S. government, is completely outdated. It has led to human rights abuses and is negatively affecting U.S. universities and research centers.” We indicate that the US government should recognize that China is a major source of science innovations and a force in research.

Chemists should speak up on countering ethnic profiling and unwarranted investigations of Chinese scientists in the US. Such actions by our government should cease. These issues facing ethnic Chinese scientists in the US are in need of vocal condemnation, as they often lack due process. It is important that chemists become involved in this civic engagement.

Alexander Greer and Eugene Chudnovsky
New York City

https://cen.acs.org/policy/research-funding/Reactions/97/i44

Filed Under: CCS Board, CCS Cases Tagged With: Alexander Greer, Eugene Chudnovsky

Who We Are

Co-chairs

Joel L. Lebowitz, Rutgers University

Paul H. Plotz, M.D., Washington, DC

Walter Reich, George Washington University

Eugene Chudnovsky, Lehman College

Alexander Greer, Brooklyn College

Vice-chairs

Astronomy – Arno Penzias, New Enterprises Associates*

Biology – Max E. Gottesman, Columbia University

Chemistry – Zafra Lerman, MIMSAD Inc.

Computer Science – Rachelle Heller, The George Washington University

Computer Science – Jack Minker, University of Maryland, College Park

Engineering – Philip Sarachik, NYU Polytechnic School of Engineering

Mathematics – Simon Levin, Princeton University

Medical Sciences – J. Joseph Blum, Duke University

Honorary Board Members

Nancy Andrews, Duke University

David Baltimore, California Institute of Technology*

Alan J. Bard, University of Texas

Jacob Bigeleisen (deceased), SUNY, Stony Brook

Raoul Bott (deceased), Harvard University

Owen Chamberlain (deceased), University of California, Berkeley

Stanley Deser, Brandeis University

Edward Gerjuoy, University of Pittsburg

David Gross, (2004 Nobel Prize in Physics), Kavil Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara*

Pierre Hohenberg (deceased), New York University

Walter Kohn (deceased), University of California, Santa Barbara*

James Langer, University of California, Santa Barbara

Peter Lax, New York University

Louis Nirenberg, New York University

Marshall Nirenberg (deceased), National Institutes of Health*

Honorary Board Members

John C. Polanyi, University of Toronto*

Stuart Rice, University of Chicago

Sir Richard J. Roberts, (1993 Nobel Prize in Physiology & Medicine), New England Biolabs*

Myriam Sarachick, City College of New York

Harold Scheraga, Cornell University

Sylvan Schweber (deceased), Brandeis University

Maxine Singer, Carnegie Institution of Washington

Alfred I. Tauber, Boston University

Steven Weinberg, University of Texas, Austin*

Myrna Weissman, Columbia University

Rosalyn S. Yalow (deceased), Mount Sinai School of Medicine*

* Nobel laureate

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