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Other Commentary: Guilt is assumed in alleged China spying
(Published April 29, 1999)
Dr. Wen Ho Lee is the Taiwan-born, former Los Alamos National Laboratory scientist under investigation for allegedly giving classified nuclear weapons information to China, which Lee denies. He has not been charged with any crime, but he was fired from the lab in March.
We protest the insinuations of disloyalty against Chinese Americans and the irresponsible treatment of the Dr. Wen Ho Lee spying case by a majority of the U.S. media and some public figures and officials.
His innocence or guilt is not the issue here. We do not know him, and we are not defending him. However, he has been branded with hardly any facts, and in so doing the media have started a feeding frenzy about China espionage in this country.
Almost every mention of this spying case by some U.S. officials is coupled with a recounting of the numerous Chinese American professionals who have access to sensitive information invaluable to a China intent on developing its nuclear arsenal. These professionals' supposed susceptibility to being recruited by the Chinese government to pass on this information intentionally or unintentionally is noted in the same breath.
In their haste to decry the alleged espionage by an individual, not only are the public officials and news media guilty of a rush to judgment, they also are tarring with a broad brush other American citizens who are guilty of nothing other than of having the same ethnicity as the suspect.
Their actions are egregious and despicable, precisely because they are not subject to redress. A minority group cannot protect itself effectively from insinuations of disloyalty to its adoptive country and of susceptibility to spying for its country of origin, nor can its good name and reputation be restored once this incident blows over. Witness the short trip from the questioning of Japanese Americans' loyalty during World War II to their internment on the West Coast. Note also how Arab Americans were wrongly blamed shortly after the bombing in Oklahoma City, though no apology has ever been publicly offered.
As Asian Americans, we ask what is due every citizen of this country: to be treated with respect and dignity. We resent those who would question our loyalty any time an Asian American is suspected of an egregious act. We do not relish our current role as potential spies any more than our role as model minority, both being straitjackets forced on us.
We request that fundamental principles of fair play be applied to Lee. The reasons for his dismissal should be publicized and his response, if any, be heard as loudly and clearly as declarations of his supposed misdeed.
Lee's firing should be rescinded and he should be allowed to avail himself of all employee grievance rights, including a fair hearing. If no misdeed is proven in the hearing, Lee should be restored to his former position with full pay and a formal, written apology from his employers and those who have cast aspersions on him in public.
If Lee is charged with a crime, he should be accorded the usual presumption of innocence and the due process of a fair trial.
--Chinese American Association of Solano County
--Solano County Language School
--Elk Grove Chinese Association
--Chinese American Council of Sacramento
--Japanese American Citizens League, Sacramento
--Korean American Coalition, Sacramento
--Sacramento Chinese Culture Foundation
--Sacramento Mandarin School
--Organization of Chinese Americans, Greater Sacramento Area
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