“The differences are undeniable in ways that are quite profound for those of Chinese descent,” Lee says. In 2020, the US National Institutes of Health funded 27% of Asian applicants, compared with 31% of white applicants.) (The US National Science Foundation in 2019 funded 21% of Asian applicants’ grants, compared with 29% of white applicants. More scientists of Chinese descent than others said they feel it is harder to obtain research funding because of their race or ethnicity, and feel they face professional challenges for similar reasons. A little more than 42% of scientists of Chinese descent reported feeling racially profiled by the US government, compared with 9% of non-Chinese scientists. Only 12% of non-Chinese scientists reported that concern (see ‘Scientists fearful’). Source: Jenny Lee/XiaoJie Li/Committee of 100Ībout half of the scientists of Chinese descent reported experiencing “considerable” fear, anxiety or a mixture of both that they are being surveilled by the US government. About 40% were not Chinese, and one-quarter did not report their racial or ethnic background.
Of the respondents, one-third identified as being of Chinese descent.
The project was supported by the Committee of 100, an organization of Chinese American leaders in New York City. “The study makes clear that the effects are far-reaching.” Far-reaching effectsīetween May and July 2021, 1,949 scientists working in the United States participated in the survey, the results of which were released on 28 October in a white paper. “We’ve seen anecdotal evidence about the chilling effects of the China Initiative,” says Ashley Gorski, a senior staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union in New York City.
They have also warned that researchers of Chinese descent feel unduly scrutinized because of their race and ethnicity, which amounts to racial profiling.
The US government has said the goal of the effort is to stop the theft of US trade secrets by the Chinese government.īut civil-rights groups and individual researchers have warned that the US government’s scrutiny of scientists under this programme has hampered valuable scientific collaborations with researchers in China. The China Initiative, launched under former US president Donald Trump, has led to several well-publicized arrests of scientists since 2018, often over links to collaborators or institutions in China. US civil-rights group offers support to researchers facing China scrutiny
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