Bid to resurrect US government’s controversial ‘China Initiative’ fails

Efforts to reestablish the US’s controversial ‘China Initiative’ are dead. The programme was created during the first Trump administration and cancelled by former President Biden almost four years ago amid criticisms that it created a hostile environment for Chinese scientists in the US and constituted racial profiling. An attempt within Congress to restart it was scrapped earlier this month following significant opposition mounted by the Asian American Scholar Forum (AASF), the broader Asian American community and allies, including more than 1000 professors, scientists and higher education advocates across the country.