A letter signed by 177 Stanford professors in over 40 departments demanded Attorney General Merrick Garland end the “China Initiative.”
The initiative began in 2018 to root out Chinese spies in universities. The professors and human rights group claim the program “caused racial profiling and was terrorizing some scientists.”
The professors acknowledged the importance “of protecting intellectual property and information that is essential to our national and economic security.”
However, the professors feel the initiative “has deviated significantly from its claimed mission.” They believe “it is harming the United States’ research and technology competitiveness and it is fueling biases that, in turn, raise concerns about racial profiling.”
“This initiative has led to a significant increase of investigations and prosecutions to researchers in academia, with most cases unrelated to intellectual property theft or scientific/economic espionage,” continued the professors.
If this were almost any other school, I wouldn’t think twice about motives. But it turns out Stanford has close ties to China. The College Fix, which is one of the best sources for higher education news, has followed the situation for years:
Over the past decade, few schools in America have been entwined with China as closely as Stanford. According to the U.S. Education Department, only three schools (Harvard University, the University of Southern California and the University of Pennsylvania) have accepted more money from Chinese sources than Stanford.According to Education Department data reviewed by The College Fix, Stanford has accepted $395 million in foreign-based gifts and contracts since 2014, including $64 million in unidentified, anonymous gifts and contracts from and with the People’s Republic of China.In July 2020, Stanford researcher Chen Song was charged with visa fraud after she lied on her visa application and concealed her membership in the military arm of the People’s Republic of China. But new charges from the DOJ further accused Song of obstruction of justice, destruction of documents, and for additional false statements regarding her scheme to remain undercover. In February of this year, DOJ expanded the slate of charges against Chen.
In June, the DOJ said it is sticking with the “China Initiative” after a recent prosecution ended in a mistrial due to a deadlocked jury.
DOJ spokesman Marc Raimondi said they will “not back off prosecuting crimes involving a nexus with the People’s Republic of China.”
The DOJ is still sticking with it:
Asked about criticism of the China Initiative, Justice Department spokesperson Wyn Hornbuckle said the government was “dedicated to countering unlawful (Chinese) government efforts to undermine America’s national security and harm our economy,” while acknowledging the threat of hate crimes against Asia Americans. “We take seriously concerns about discrimination,” he said.
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