g*q
发帖数: 26623 | 1 【 以下文字转载自 SanFrancisco 讨论区 】
发信人: sjoption (QianFei), 信区: SanFrancisco
标 题: 国会议员要求调查指控中国间谍的案件
关键字: 法律， 维权
发信站: BBS 未名空间站 (Thu May 21 20:46:19 2015, 美东)
对华人/华裔的不信任， 严重影响华人/华裔的职业发现！
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Members of Congress Ask for Review of Dropped Espionage Case
http://mobile.nytimes.com/blogs/bits/2015/05/21/members-of-cong
Twenty-two members of Congress have asked Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch
to determine whether race played a factor in espionage-related charges
brought against a Chinese-American hydrologist and are asking her to
investigate whether there is a practice of targeting federal employees based
on their race or national origin.
Representative Ted W. Lieu, a Democrat of California, said in an interview
Tuesday that he was concerned that the investigation of Sherry Chen, a 59-
year-old National Weather Service employee who was targeted in a high-
profile espionage case that was dropped shortly before a trial was set to
begin, may be indicative of a broader racial profiling campaign against
Asian-Americans.
“There’s been a history of discrimination against Asian Pacific Americans,
and the recurrent theme is one of suspicion,” Mr. Lieu said. “We now have
Sherry Chen’s case, and I want to make sure our federal government does
not discriminate against any Americans, especially federal employees.”
In a letter to Ms. Lynch, Mr. Lieu and 21 members of Congress said they were
responding to a recent article in The New York Times that reported federal
agents investigated Mrs. Chen as a possible Chinese spy, found no evidence,
but still arrested her for lesser charges that could have led to 25 years in
prison and $1 million in fines.
The government dropped its charges, without explanation, in March. Mrs. Chen
was initially suspended without pay, but her benefits and pay have been
restored. She is still awaiting a decision from the Commerce Department,
which oversees the weather service, on whether it plans to reinstate her.
Mrs. Chen has said in interviews that she would like her job back. She has
not been back to her Wilmington, Ohio, office since the day she was escorted
away in handcuffs by six F.B.I. agents.
Representatives from the Commerce Department did not respond to requests for
an update of her employment status.
Mr. Lieu, as well as members of Asian-American rights groups, are asking for
Mrs. Chen’s reinstatement, including five months’ back pay and a public
apology.
“We are all in favor of catching the bad guys when the bad guys do
something bad, but we are seriously concerned that the F.B.I. and company
are jumping to conclusions, not based on any evidence, but on racial
profiling,” said George Koo, a member of the Committee of 100, a Chinese-
American advocacy group formed in 1990 to promote relations between the
United States and China.
“Whenever the relationship is poor, Chinese-Americans suddenly become
suspected spies for China,” Mr. Koo said in an interview. “Sherry Chen is
just the latest example.”
In the letter to Ms. Lynch, Mr. Lieu and other members of Congress,
including California Democrats Barbara Lee, Michael M. Honda, Judy Chu and
Mark Takano, said they were particularly concerned that a government insider
-threat program, introduced in response to leaks by Edward J. Snowden in
2013, might have led to spurious investigations.
Mr. Lieu noted that it was a government employee who first reported Mrs.
Chen. “Federal employees are trained that naturalized citizens are more
suspicious and that people who speak a foreign language at home are more
suspicious,” he added. “Well that would also apply to me, and I find it
offensive.”
The Justice Department has been under significant pressure for the last two
years, following reports of Chinese cyberattacks, to investigate and
prosecute cases under the Economic Espionage Act. In 2013, the White House
introduced a five-part strategy to tackle trade secret theft, a cornerstone
of which was more investigations and prosecutions.
Mr. Koo of the Committee of 100 said Asian-American groups hoped to help Mrs
. Chen get her job back.
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