Racial profiling of Asian Americans

The House Appropriations Committee approved legislation last Wednesday that would direct the Justice Department to reestablish an office focused on countering threats from China...

The Rebel Yellow - Issue #120

The Trump-era “China Initiative” may soon return, after a House committee approved a bill to revive a DOJ office widely criticized for racial profiling of Asian Americans. Elsewhere, conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s Asia tour drew backlash just days before his fatal shooting, prompting U.S. officials to threaten action against foreigners mocking his death. Rep. Marco Rubio is pushing a bill to revoke passports based on speech, raising free speech concerns. In Dallas, an Indian-origin motel manager was beheaded by a coworker with a machete. Hong Kong lawmakers rejected their own government’s same-sex bill. And in South Korea, a woman wrongly convicted for biting her attacker’s tongue 61 years ago has finally been acquitted.

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Trump’s China Initiative could soon make a comeback

The House Appropriations Committee approved legislation last Wednesday that would direct the Justice Department to reestablish an office focused on countering threats from China, effectively reviving the controversial “China Initiative” program that was terminated in 2022.

About the bill: The Fiscal Year 2026 Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, passed by a 34-28 vote, includes language directing the DOJ’s National Security Division to reestablish an office dedicated to countering espionage and influence efforts against perceived threats from China.

Chairman Tom Cole (R-Okla.) has defended the measure, saying it “stands firm against Communist China’s theft of American technology and innovation” while investing in law enforcement to combat crime and fentanyl. The $76.824 billion appropriations package represents a 2.8% decrease from fiscal year 2025 levels but prioritizes countering China while maintaining funding for state and local law enforcement.

Dangers of the Initiative: The original China Initiative, launched in 2018 under the first Trump administration, was terminated under the Biden administration in 2022 after widespread criticism that it unfairly targeted Asian American scientists and academics based on their ethnicity rather than actual security threats. At the time, Matthew Olsen, then-assistant attorney general of the National Security Division, acknowledged that the program “helped give rise to a harmful perception that the department applies a lower standard to investigate and prosecute criminal conduct related to that country or that we in some way view people with racial, ethnic or familial ties to China differently.”

The policy’s track record reveals troubling outcomes, with scores of scientists losing their jobs during investigations, many of which were ultimately dropped or dismissed. High-profile cases like those of Dr. Gang Chen and Dr. Anming Hu illustrate the program’s problems: Chen faced federal grant fraud charges that were dropped in January 2022 after he described going through a “living hell” for 371 days, while Hu was acquitted of all charges in September 2021 after a federal judge found prosecutors failed to prove intent to deceive NASA. There is also the tragic case of Dr. Jane Wu, a Northwestern University neuroscientist who died by suicide in July 2024 following years of investigation and institutional abandonment. The China Initiative has also contributed to a documented brain drain, with Chinese-born scientists leaving the U.S. rising from 900 in 2010 to over 2,600 in 2021.

Groups push back: Civil rights advocates are mobilizing against the revival effort. A coalition of more than 80 Asian American organizations sent a letter to Appropriations Committee leaders ahead of its approval, urging the controversial language be removed from the legislation. The groups warned that “reinstating the ‘China Initiative’ or any iteration would be a dangerous step back, reversing the progress made to address these civil rights concerns” and argued the program “diverted crucial resources away from investigating national security threats and economic espionage to instead focus on people who had a ‘nexus to China.’”

Gisela Perez Kusakawa, executive director of the Asian American Scholar Forum (AASF), previously told The Rebel Yellow that “discrimination and isolation are fairly common for Asian Americans and have increased in recent years, in part due to the coronavirus pandemic and the China Initiative.”

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Charlie Kirk fanned far-right flame in Asia before fatal Utah shooting

Days before his death, conservative activist Charlie Kirk brought his polarizing brand of American politics to Asia, delivering speeches in Seoul and Tokyo that warned against globalism and immigration. The 31-year-old Turning Point USA founder aligned himself with far-right groups abroad that have been criticized for nationalist and exclusionary rhetoric. Less than a week later, Kirk was fatally shot during a speaking event in Utah.

Kirk appeared at the Build Up Korea 2025 conference in Seoul on Sept. 5, addressing a crowd that included evangelical Christians and young conservatives. He framed what he described as a global conservative surge as evidence of a broader political shift. “The phenomenon of young people, especially men, turning conservative is occurring simultaneously across multiple continents,” Kirk told the audience. He added that he deliberately chose South Korea as the first stop on his Asia tour, calling it proof that the movement was not limited to the U.S.

Days later, Kirk traveled to Tokyo to participate in a symposium hosted by Sanseito, a nationalist party that has opposed immigration and vaccines. He repeated warnings of a “globalist menace” and praised Sanseito for resisting what he characterized as cultural threats to sovereignty. In a pre-event video message released on YouTube, Kirk said he hoped to “invigorate the people of your great nation to keep fighting this globalist menace.” His remarks placed Japanese and South Korean political debates alongside those in the U.S., presenting them as part of the same struggle.

Kirk’s visit came at a time when nationalist movements were gaining strength in both countries. Sanseito secured 14 seats in the Upper House election in Japan last July with its “Japanese First” campaign that warned of a “silent invasion” by foreigners. In South Korea, Lee Kang-san of the Liberty Unification Party ran in the April 2 by-election in Seoul on an anti-immigrant platform that tied foreign workers to social decline, drawing significant attention despite his defeat.