Candidate Night in Hilliard today at 5:30pm; APS Webinar on Immigration and Science tomorrow

In This Issue:

• AACG Candidate Night Today, Thursday, September 16, 5:30 pm

• APS Webinar: Effects of Federal Immigration Policy on US Science and All Scientists, Friday, September 17, 2 pm

• Washington Post report Questions the Legitimacy of DOJ’s Controversial “China Initiative” Program

• The Yellow Whistle has became a symbol against anti-Asian hate

• Chinese Historical Society of America documentary on the legacy of McCarthyism on the Chinese American community

AACG Candidate Night on Thursday, September 16

This is a Free, In-Person event with food and drink provided. However, registration is required. To be conscious of COVID, the event will be held outside to the upstairs patio of Otie’s Tavern and Grill, 5344 Center Street in Hillard, Ohio. This event is open to all local candidates - see our open invitation here. In order to speak, all candidates must check in with AACG Advisory Board Member Adam Lanter, who will be at the front desk. Due to the large number of candidates participating, there will be no question and answer session. Candidates are encouraged to stay and answer constituent questions individually during the networking session. Agenda below:

5:30 – 6:30 p.m. Registration & Hors d’oeuvres

6:30 – 6:35 p.m. Welcome by Shyam Rajadhyaksha, AACG President

6:35 – 7:25 p.m. Candidates Presentations

7:25 – 7:30 p.m. Closing Remarks

7:30 – 8:00 p.m. Social Hour with One & One Networking W/ Candidates

The 2021 Election is November 2nd. Asian American Commerce Group (AACG) is hosting a candidate night with the support of Asian Pacific American Public Affairs Ohio (APAPA Ohio) and Ohio Chinese American Association (OCAA). Meet candidates for Congress, state and local offices, and let them hear our voice! Network with AACG, APAPA Ohio and OCAA members, community leaders and elected officials.

List of candidates that participating:

• Mike Carey, Representative to Congress

• Allison Russo, Representative to Congress

• Megan N. Kilgore, City of Columbus Auditor

• Nick Bankston, City of Columbus Council Member

• Lourdes Barroso de Padilla, City of Columbus Council Member

• Shannon Granville Hardin, City of Columbus Council Member

• Ajmerri Hoque, City of Dublin Council Member

• Imran M. Malik, Dublin City Schools Board of Education Member

• Nidhi Satiani, Upper Arlington City Schools Board of Education Member

• Ted Sun, Dublin City Schools Board of Education Member

• Tom Sussi, City of Columbus Council Member

This is a Free, In-Person event with food and drink provided. However, registration is required.

Date and Time: Thursday Sep 16, 2021, 5:30 PM - 8:00 PM EDT

Location: Otie's Tavern & Grill, Second Floor

5344 Center Street

Hillard, OH 43026

Contact Information: Shyam Rajadhyaksha, srajcolumbus@outlook.com

Registration: https://members.aacg.org/events/details/aacg-candidates-night-61

APS Webinar: Effects of Federal Immigration Policy on US Science and All Scientists

On September 17, 2021, the American Physical Society (APS) will host a webinar titled "Effects of Federal Immigration Policy on US Science and All Scientists." The webinar will summarize the history regarding the effects of immigration on US science, describe how attitudes in the United States towards students and scientists of Chinese ethnic origin are changing, describe the human toll of this change in attitude and policy, and discuss how the scientific community can best support international students and scientists.

Former Energy Secretary Dr. Steven Chu headlines a panel with four other speakers. Dr. Andrea Liu, who will speak in the September 13 APA Justice meeting, will serve as moderator. The webinar is co-sponsored by American Institute of Physics, American Association of Physics Teachers, Asian American Scholar Forum, APA Justice, International Organization of Chinese Physicists and Astronomers (OCPA), and National Society of Black Physicists.

For more details and register for the event, please visit, click here.

Washington Post report Questions the Legitimacy of DOJ’s Controversial “China Initiative” Program

On September 15, Washington Post published a comprehensive report titled “China Initiative aims to stop economic espionage. Is targeting academics over grant fraud ‘overkill’?”, which lists a number of cases under the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ)’s China Initiative program, and several prior to it, and describes how the government targeted scientists of Chinese descent for “spying” but was only able to come up with charges like “wire fraud” or “false statement” based on trivial clerical errors. However, the government ended up dropping a string of cases after lengthy investigations caused much damage to both the scientists and their families. One case went to trial but the jury entered into “deadlock”, and the judge acquitted the defendant (Dr. Anming Hu) of all charges, citing no evidence supports the government’s claims.

The string of DOJ’s failed cases have amplified concerns among lawmakers and activists about

• Whether federal prosecutors have been overzealous in pursuing researchers of Chinese descent

• Whether a program designed to address a national security threat posed by the Chinese government has strayed, targeting researchers on lesser allegations of fraud without compelling evidence that they pose a danger to the United States

• Chilling scientific research and fueling the perception that Chinese American scientists are disloyal to the United States at a time of rising anti-Asian sentiment.

John Hemann, a former federal prosecutor in San Francisco, who worked on a China Initiative case, said pressure to demonstrate the China Initiative’s success “has caused a program focused on the Chinese government to morph into a people-of-Chinese-descent initiative,’’ including Chinese-born scientists working in the United States.

Juror Wendy Chandler during Anming Hu’s trial said before the trial began she assumed the government would have a strong case. Instead, she said, she was “pretty horrified by the lack of evidence.”

Read the full Washington Post report here.

The Yellow Whistle has became a symbol against anti-Asian hate

On September 5, 2021, Axios reported How the yellow whistle became a symbol against anti-Asian hate. "The Yellow Whistle" is a self-protection program launched this year by Agnes Hsu-Tang and Oscar Tang and four others in the wake of pandemic-fueled anti-Asian hate. More than 350,000 free whistles have been distributed at hundreds of locations since April across North America. Non-Asians are also encouraged to take a whistle as a sign of solidarity.

According to CNBC on August 30, 2021, FBI reported that hate crimes targeting people of Asian descent in the U.S. rose by 70% last year compared with the number of such incidents in 2019. That increase coincided with the outbreak in the U.S. of the Covid pandemic, which some racists have unjustly blamed on Asian Americans. President Joe Biden in April signed the Covid-19 Hate Crimes Act to address the rise in anti-Asian American crimes seen in 2020. Read more here.

On August 12, 2021, AP reported More than 9,000 anti-Asian incidents since pandemic began. The frequency of anti-Asian incidents — from taunts to outright assaults — reported in the United States so far this year seems poised to surpass last year despite months of political and social activism, according to the latest report by Stop AAPI Hate.

Chinese Historical Society of America documentary on the legacy of McCarthyism on the Chinese American community

On September 11, 2021, the Chinese Historical Society of America (CHSA) showed a documentary on the legacy of McCarthyism on the Chinese American community. Chinese American men and women who were hunted down, jailed, and targeted for deportation speak for the first time about how they and their friends were investigated and prosecuted by government agents during the McCarthy witch hunts of the 1950s. At the height of the hysteria, thousands of Chinese immigrants and American citizens of Chinese descent were targeted because of their ethnicity and alleged risk to national security. This cautionary tale of xenophobia and hysteria serves as a reminder of the fragility of constitutional protections today. A Q&A session with the Director Amy Chen and UC Berkeley Professor Emeritus Ling-Chi Wang followed. For more details of the event, click here.

On September 25, CHSA will host a sequel event, “The Chinatown Files Documentary—a History Repeated Part II”. There will be a panel presentation and discussion on the Cold War repression on the Mun Ching (Chinese American Democratic Youth League). This panel talk will be about the McCarthy-Cold War repression during the 1950s and 1960s on the Mun Ching, a San Francisco Chinatown based organization also known as the Chinese American Democratic Youth League. Jean and William Dere grew up in San Francisco Chinatown. Register here to participate.

Be well,

Ohio Chinese American Association

Asian Pacific Islander American Public Affairs Ohio

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