We, the under-signed Chinese American organizations from (50) states of the United States of America, would like to express our grave concerns to you about the disturbing case of Sherry Chen and other well-documented similar cases and strongly support the call by many Members of Congress and major Asian American organizations urging you to conduct a timely investigation into whether race or country of origin or other unlawful profiling has played a role in such cases.
Chinese American community, along with other Asian American communities, has been subject to a long history of racism, discrimination, suspicion and stereotype throughout our history in the United States. No one in our community can afford to forget the infamous “Chinese Exclusion Act” of 1882. Nor could we afford to forget the internment camps for fellow Japanese Americans during World War II. More recently, despite of the enormous progress in civil rights for all Americans, such violation or infringement of our constitutional and civil rights still occur, from Vincent Chen to Wen Ho Lee, to Cox Report, to CBS and FOX TV depicting Chinese Americans as suspicious or disloyal, and now to the case of Sherry Chen.
This long infamous history has made our community sensitized to any such violation; and that’s why cases like that of Sherry Chen are so disturbing to the larger Chinese American community, many of whom are research scientists, professors, engineers, government employees or international traders.
In this age of globalization and Internet, we fully understand the need by our government to do what is necessary to protect our country. We are also cognizant that bad apples in our community do exist that must be held accountable by the law of the land. By the same token, however, we fully expect our own government to enforce and protect our constitutional and civil rights and laws to the full extent of the letter and spirit. To the extent that any government actions violate or infringe upon such rights, we would hold our government to be fair and accountable.
At a time when US-China relations are testing the wisdom and vision of our leaders, and when more, not less, future prosecution regarding trade theft, economic espionage or other crimes are expected to be on the rise, it is timely and necessary that your Department should conduct such an investigation. Doing so will not only address the grave concerns from the Chinese and other Asian American communities, but also strengthen the rule of law and our multi-ethnic society.
