U.S. lawmakers request investigation into arrests of Chinese-American scientists

Four U.S. lawmakers on Tuesday urged the country's Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate whether race, ethnicity or national origin played a part in the recent cases against Chinese-American scientists who were wrongfully suspected of economic espionage.

The move came one day before members of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC), including Judy Chu, Ted Lieu, Grace Meng and Michael Honda, are to meet Attorney General Loretta Lynch, over the cases of National Weather Service hydrologist Sherry Chen, Temple University professor Xiaoxing Xi and other similar cases.

Chen and Xi had been suspected of economic espionage, only to have those charges later dropped. The prestigious Science magazine reported last Friday that in just the past year, charges have been dropped against five Chinese-born scientists accused of crimes related to trade secrets theft or economic spying.

There "appears to be a practice and a pattern of federal government profiling Chinese-American scientists as spies for China even when there's no credible evidence to support it," Congresswoman Chu told a press conference.

"I want to stress that Congress will not tolerate Chinese-Americans are being treated as second class citizens," Chu said. "Our message to the DOJ is clear. Chinese Americans and Asian-Americans are just that Americans. As such, this is not just an Asian issue, but an American issue."

Congressman Lieu noted that the United States has its own "blind spots," one of which is "a history of discrimination against Asian-Americans."

Lieu said it has become clear innocent Chinese-American scientists are targeted because of their ethnicity. "If it was just one case, that might be a mistake. But when it is multiple cases, you now have a pattern," he added.

Their concerns were echoed by Congresswoman Meng, who stressed that a practice of targeting of Chinese-Americans based on their background is "unacceptable."

Meng said these investigations turned the world of the accused upside down and incurred a huge financial and economic cost for them.

Honda also called for an independent investigation into possible profiling of Chinese-American scientists.

Xi and Chen were present at the news conference in Washington, D.C. and shared their stories respectively.

Previously, Chu and dozens of other U.S. lawmakers have sent two letters to Lynch, on May 21 and Nov. 5, calling for a full and independent investigation by the Department of Justice. The second letter, signed by 42 members of Congress, also was joined by the Chairs of the Congressional Black and Hispanic Caucuses. Endit