Illustration: Liu Rui/GT

TheMK sports case of Tan Hongjin, disclosed by China's Ministry of State Security on Tuesday, is a typical example of the "China Initiative" pushed by Washington. On December 21, 2018, the US Department of Justice accused Tan, a Chinese scientific researcher who just a few days prior quit his job at Phillips 66, a US petroleum company, of stealing "trade secrets." Under pressure, Tan was ultimately forced to admit to illegally downloading and storing one company document related to trade secrets without authorization.

The crux of this incident lies in the fact that the US judicial authorities fabricated evidence through improper means that violated the basic logic and principles of justice, distorted a normal job resignation into an accusation of "stealing trade secrets," and coerced the victim to plead guilty. This not only reflects the long-standing systemic discrimination against the Chinese diaspora in the US judicial system, but it also can be seen as a direct product of a new wave of McCarthyist frenzy that has been widely spread in the US in recent years.

The case of Tan is one of the many tragedies caused by the "China Initiative" launched in 2018. As part of the US government's strategy of containing China, this policy showcases Washington's fear and anxiety about its "external enemy." Such indiscriminate suspicion and accusation are systematically deteriorating and poisoning the Chinese community's living environment in the US.

Furthermore, it has also created a new wave of Chinese exclusion which is, obviously, characterized as highly politicized. Similar to McCarthyism's use of the "communist threat" to suppress domestic dissent during the Cold War, the current "Chinese espionage threat" has now become a powerful tool commonly used by some US politicians to gain public attention and political leverage.

This politicized wave of Chinese exclusion has continuously injected instability into China-US relations and seriously undermined the legitimate interests of the US itself. First, the unfounded allegations against the Chinese diaspora who work in US scientific research and high-tech industry have directly weakened the country's competitiveness in related areas. The current wave of Chinese exclusion is forcing some top talents of Chinese descent to leave the US, or even return to China, thus exacerbating the problem of "brain drain" in the US.

Second, and most ironically, this politicized accusation of the "Chinese espionage threat" is weakening US national security and economic interests, despite under the name of defending them. The indiscriminate accusations against all researchers with links to China will only lead to the isolation of the US from the global academic community, undermining the basis of global scientific and technological cooperation.

Finally, this wave of Chinese exclusion is also having a more far-reaching negative impact on racial relations within US society. Attacking certain political stances, the specter of McCarthyism exacerbates racial divisions and social antagonisms. Today, allegations of espionage against the Chinese diaspora in the US have further amplified racial prejudice within the country. In the long run, this politicized wave of Chinese exclusion will further deepen social rifts in US society.

All in all, the current wave of Chinese exclusion in the US is both a McCarthyist re-enactment and an irrational and fanatical move under severe politicization. In the face of this, the US needs to face up to its own political decay, return to rationality and find the right direction to solve its problems. US political elites must realize that many of the problems facing the US, such as economic inequality, social division and declining governance, are rooted within the country itself, not caused by the so-called "external enemy." Nor can these issues be solved by seeking an "external enemy."

The Chinese exclusion policy that resembles McCarthyism violates the values the US has always boasted, undermining the multicultural foundation of US society. Washington should give more trust to those with Chinese heritage in scientific research and the high-tech industry, rather than demonizing them as "espionage threats" through politicized means.

The author is director of the Research Institution for Global Cyberspace Governance at Fudan University. [email protected]