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During President Trump's first term, dozens of Chinese academics were investigated for potential espionage. Thousands more students from China had their visas canceled and revoked. Many of these measures were later scaled back after criticism of their effectiveness and for alleged racial profiling. But now, as NPR's Emily Feng reports, there is a push to bring this approach back.
EMILY FENG, BYLINE: Kevin Wang left China in 2020 after what he describes as years of intense persecution for critical remarks he made about Chinese politics. And eventually, after he'd applied for asylum in the U.S., he found a job at New College of Florida, a public institution where he teaches Mandarin language classes - that is, until this past March when he was abruptly summoned by university administrators.
UNIDENTIFIED PRODUCER, BYLINE: (Reading) The HR staff and general counsel were already waiting with a notice of contract termination. They asked me to present my immigration documents.
FENG: This is not Wang's real voice. NPR had a producer read aloud a statement he prepared for this piece. Wang requested NPR not to use his voice nor his Chinese name because he fears for the safety of his family who are still in China. He said he thought he'd be safe in the U.S. But now his employer was citing something called the Florida Board of Governors Regulation 9.012 and firing him. That rule prohibits Florida from using public funds to pay for services from people from what are called countries of concern - countries like Russia, Iran and China. Wang said he was shocked.
UNIDENTIFIED PRODUCER: (Reading) As a foreign scholar seeking asylum in the U.S., I had obtained the legal permission to work here.
FENG: But he lacked permanent residency, and so he was booted in March. New College did not respond to NPR's request for comment. Wang's termination coincides with a bill put forward by House Republicans in Washington last month that seeks to ban all students from China from receiving visas to study or do research in the U.S. The bill was proposed by West Virginia Representative Riley Moore, who said he thinks a big source of espionage is coming from Chinese students.
CLAY ZHU: Since the November election, a lot of the United States are becoming more emboldened and aggressive in terms of implementing so-called anti-China policies and legislations.
FENG: This is Clay Zhu, a lawyer who has been active litigating many of the cases concerning Chinese academics. In March, he convinced a court to issue a preliminary injunction halting a Florida law that makes it virtually impossible for students from China and other countries of concern from studying here. He's currently trying to overturn another Florida law that prohibits them from working in public university research labs. He thinks the focus on anyone from China...
ZHU: Anyone from China or anyone with any Chinese connection - that's a wholesale treatment of people from one particular country as a national security threat.
FENG: Meanwhile, six major research universities, including Stanford and Carnegie Mellon, have just been tasked by John Moolenaar, a Republican representative from Michigan who chairs a House committee on China, to disclose which of their labs employ Chinese citizens, the research they do, how these students are paying for their tuition and whether anyone has ties to Chinese institutions. His fear? - Chinese students, quote, "transfer knowledge back to China." NPR reached out to all six universities which received the letter. None wanted to comment on the record.
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LOIS KOLKHORST: Senate Bill 17 is about ensuring that Texas' land and natural resources do not fall into the hands of an adversarial nation or their agents.
FENG: And then in March, Texas' state legislature revived this proposal that had fizzled out two years earlier, an alien land law banning any person from China and other countries of concern from buying any kind of land or real estate, matching a law already on the books in Florida. Opponents worry about racial profiling. China is not the biggest foreign owner of American land - European countries are. And they point out Texas already bans foreign companies from buying up critical infrastructure like energy.
JARLENE JIA: This bill needs me to approve where I'm from, or where I'm originally from, or what is my status of my citizenship? Those is discrimination, for sure.
FENG: This is Jarlene Jia, who lives in northern Texas and who protested outside the state legislature against the bill. Another opponent, Texas resident June Xu, says some Asian Americans are considering moving out of the Republican-dominated state. But she says that's not the solution.
JUNE XU: Our ancestors actually fought against these bills 80 years ago, and we fought furiously. We need to bring it back.
FENG: Bring back that spirit of resistance, she says, because she and other Asian Americans fear there will be more measures like it coming. Emily Feng, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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