Washington’s smear campaign against China severely harms Asian Americans in US: Beijing

The Chinese government says Washington’s acts to smear and suppress China have harshly harmed the Asian Americans and intensified the racial discrimination in the US.

The US Justice Department started the China Initiative three years ago under former President Donald Trump to counter what it termed China’s “national security threats” and with a declared goal of investigating and prosecuting the so-called trade secret theft and economic espionage activities.

However, more than 20 Asian-American groups reportedly urged US President Joe Biden in a joint letter on Thursday to halt the so-called initiative by the Department of Justice.

They said the initiative essentially exposes Asian immigrants, particularly Chinese scientists, to racial discrimination, surveillance, and wrongful prosecution. The signatories called for the suspension of relevant acts.

On Monday, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin also lambasted the so-called initiative at a regular press conference, saying it is no more than a tool aimed at smearing and suppressing China. He also confirmed that the initiative has done severe harm to Asian Americans.

“Previously, the US media revealed that the so-called China Initiative set case targets first, and carried out investigation accordingly. Such acts, in total disregard of justice, will only result in wrongful convictions,” he said.

“Facts have proven that the China Initiative implemented by the former US administration is, in essence, a tool for a handful anti-China politicians to abuse the concept of national security and go all out to contain and suppress China. It not only exerts severe impact on China-US relations, but also exacerbates racial discrimination in the US, severely harming Asian-American groups.”

The Chinese official also urged Washington to stop considering China as an “imaginary enemy.”

“The US should earnestly correct its above-mentioned wrong practices, and stop perceiving China as an imaginary enemy, stop making up excuses to slander and suppress China, and stop interfering in normal exchanges and cooperation between China and the US in areas such as science and technology, and people-to-people exchanges,” Wang said.

The US and China are at odds over a range of issues, including alleged human rights abuses in Xinjiang, and Beijing’s policies in regard to Hong Kong, the Chinese Taipei, and the disputed territories in the South China Sea, as well as the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic.