Press Release

In a significant victory this week, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals has reversed the conviction of Dr. Feng “Franklin” Tao for making a materially false statement regarding his relationship with a university in China. AASF celebrates Dr. Tao's relief and views this court decision as a crucial step toward rectifying the unjust treatment of Chinese American and immigrant scientists under the now-defunct “China Initiative”—a program that sparked concerns about racial profiling and targeting of Asian Americans and immigrants, particularly of Chinese descent.
The Asian American Scholar Forum (AASF), an organization that led 50+ organizations with coalition partners to prevent the reinstatement of the Department of Justice’s “China Initiative,” condemns the recent committee mark-up vote of HR 1398 “Protect America’s Innovation and Economic Security from CCP Act,” and all efforts to reinstate the discriminatory ‘China Initiative’ program.
In a victory for the Asian American scholar community, AASF and allies have succeeded in preventing the relaunch of the ‘China Initiative.’
To celebrate and acknowledge the vast contributions of Asian American scholars, White House officials hosted a roundtable convening of prominent Asian American scholars and leaders from the Asian American Scholar Forum (AASF) to discuss the issues and challenges facing the community.
Today marks two years since the Department of Justice’s ‘China Initiative’ was formally terminated, a critical step in the right direction to addressing serious concerns of racial profiling and discrimination against Asian American scholars, particularly those of Chinese descent. While a crucial step, we must remain vigilant and work to ensure the ‘China Initiative’ is not reinstated.
The American Academy of Arts & Sciences (The Academy), one of the nation’s oldest learned societies, founded in 1780 by the nation’s Founding Fathers, recently announced AASF Board Member and Yale Stem Cell Biologist Dr. Haifan Lin as the recipient of its esteemed Francis Amory Prize in Reproductive Medicine and Physiology.