Asian American groups are railing against a surveillance program the House GOP revived during 'China Week'

Asian American groups are sounding the alarm after the House passed a bill seeking to revive the controversial, Trump-era surveillance program the China Initiative.

Asian American groups are sounding the alarm after the House this week passed a bill seeking to revive the highly controversial, Trump-era surveillance program the China Initiative. 

Lawmakers approved the measure Wednesday on a 237-180 vote. While the China Initiative, which expired in 2022, was intended to curb Chinese economic and technological espionage, many Asian American groups accused the program of racial profiling toward Asian scholars in the U.S. Now, many scientists, lawmakers and advocates are speaking out, saying they are fearful that if signed into law, the program would again cast a cloud of suspicion over the community.

“Originally a Trump-era initiative sold as a national security measure, the China Initiative instead turned out to be a witch hunt,” leaders from civil rights groups Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC, Stop AAPI Hate, and the Asian American Scholar Forum said in a joint statement. 

The groups added that the initiative devastated families and impeded the United States’ ability to retain and attract academic talent. 

The congressman who introduced the bill, Rep. Lance Gooden, R-Texas, told NBC News that “23 Democrats joined me in standing up for Chinese Americans who have too long been the victim of CCP predatory practices.”

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/china-initiative-asian-americans-house-gop-rcna171060

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