March 24, 2022

The Honorable Merrick Garland

Attorney General
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, D.C. 20530

Dear Attorney General Garland:

On February 23, 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced it was
effectively ending the China Initiative and implementing a new “Strategy for Countering Nation-
State Threats,” which will subsume the China Initiative’s work in addition to efforts related to
countries such as Russia, Iran, and North Korea. Instituted in 2018, the China Initiative marked a
long overdue step towards recognizing the unique and large-scale threat posed by the Chinese
Communist Party (CCP) and combating espionage and other forms of illicit activity carried out
by CCP agents against domestic industry, government, and the people of the United States.
Specifically, the China Initiative focused on investigating and prosecuting economic espionage,
covert influence operations, and vigorously protecting cutting-edge American intellectual
property from foreign theft.1

Combatting the CCP threat should not be confused with bias toward Chinese people,
much less Americans of Chinese descent. In reality, the CCP represents neither of these groups
of people. Not only does the CCP not represent the Chinese people, but the greatest victims of
the CCP’s totalitarian model of governance are the Chinese people themselves. The DOJ should
continue to take all appropriate steps to dispel any narratives, often perpetuated by the CCP
itself, that countering real security threats posed by the CCP implicates Asian Americans. In light
of the continuing national security threat posed by the CCP, and the lack of clarity surrounding
DOJ’s new “Strategy for Countering Nation-State Threats,” we write seeking clarity with respect
to the changes in DOJ’s approach. Specifically, its enforcement efforts to counter espionage and
other illicit activities conducted by the CCP.

Assistant Attorney General for National Security, Matthew Olsen, recognized that threats
from the CCP are, “more brazen [and] more damaging than ever before.”2 Unfortunately,
because of the “harmful perception” that the program was “bias[ed]” and unjustly targeted the
Chinese, this critical initiative was terminated by DOJ.

1
Attorney General Jeff Sessions, DEP’T OF JUSTICE, Attorney General Jeff Sessions Announces New Initiative to
Combat Chinese Economic Espionage, (Nov. 7, 2018), https://www.justice.gov/opa/speech/attorney-general-jeff-
sessions-announces-new-initiative-combat-chinese-economic-espionage.
2
Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen, DEP’T OF JUSTICE, Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen Delivers
Remarks on countering Nation-State Threats, (Feb. 23, 2022), https://www.justice.gov/opa/speech/assistant-
attorney-general-matthew-olsen-delivers-remarks-countering-nation-state-threats.

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 Espionage often occurs at American universities and government agencies which are
among the most vulnerable and highly sought-after targets of the CCP because they are
responsible for conducting research in emerging fields that are critical to American innovation
and are often well funded by federal research dollars. In the academic setting especially, the
China Initiative has resulted in several successful prosecutions against individuals working for
the CCP.3 One of the most well-known is of Dr. Charles Lieber, former Chair of Harvard
University’s Chemistry and Chemical Biology Department.4 Dr. Lieber was convicted of making
false statements to authorities who later exposed his ties to the Chinese government. Dr. Lieber
was also convicted of failing to report income received from the Wuhan University of
Technology while conducting tax-payer funded research for the U.S. Department of Defense and
other U.S. agencies.5 This case is not an outlier.

If DOJ mishandled particular cases, pursued cases without sufficient evidence, or

otherwise acted in a manner that raised legitimate concerns about racial bias or other
improprieties, those problems should be addressed on a case-by-case basis. The wholesale
abandonment of a national security initiative because of unproven allegations of racial profiling
should not happen. As recently as January 31, 2022, FBI Director Christopher Wray reported
that the FBI opened a new case investigating Chinese intelligence operations about every 12
hours.6 Last month, AAG Olsen explained, “it is clear that the government of China stands apart”
in the threat it presents to the United States “through its concerted use of espionage, theft of trade
secrets, malicious cyber activity, transnational repression, and other tactics to advance its
interests – all to the detriment of the United States. . . .”7 The DOJ must prioritize ensuring the
integrity of the American research enterprise, particularly in key fields that include artificial
intelligence, biotechnology, big data, quantum computing, photonics and laser technology,
robotics, semiconductors, 5G/6G, new and advanced materials, and aerospace technology.

Despite this critical moment and the high stakes, DOJ chose to disband its China Initiative in
favor of a vague “Strategy for Countering Nation-State Threats” that appears to equate the
unique and extensive threats from the CCP with those of other nation-state threats. What
concrete policies and actions will emerge from this strategy, and their adequacy to the challenge
at hand, remain to be seen. We urge DOJ to formally recognize and reprioritize the threat
presented by the CCP to U.S. national security, and ask that you reconsider your decision to
disband the China Initiative. In addition, we request that you respond to the following questions:

3
Dep’t of Justice, Information About the Department of Justice’s China Initiative and a Compilation of China-
Related Prosecutions Since 2018, (Nov. 19, 2021), https://www.justice.gov/archives/nsd/information-about-
department-justice-s-china-initiative-and-compilation-china-related.
4
Dep’t of Justice, Harvard University Professor Convicted of Making False Statements and Tax Offenses, (Dec. 21,
2021), https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/pr/harvard-university-professor-convicted-making-false-statements-and-
tax-offenses.
5
Id.
6
Christopher Wray, Countering Threats Posed by the Chinese Government Inside the U.S., (Jan. 31, 2022),
https://www.fbi.gov/news/speeches/countering-threats-posed-by-the-chinese-government-inside-the-us-wray-
013122.
7
Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen, DEP’T OF JUSTICE, Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen Delivers
Remarks on countering Nation-State Threats, (Feb. 23, 2022), https://www.justice.gov/opa/speech/assistant-
attorney-general-matthew-olsen-delivers-remarks-countering-nation-state-threats.

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1. What concrete changes are expected from the Department of Justice as it relates to
prosecutorial or investigative discretion in transitioning from the China Initiative to the
“Strategy for Countering Nation-State Threats?”
2. Many of our administrative agencies and universities lack the manpower, expertise, or
enforcement powers to adequately deter, uncover, or punish actors working for the CCP.
With those limits in mind, what role will these entities play, if any, in the Department of
Justice’s new initiative?
3. Because of the nature of many of these cases, perpetrators are often charged with
disclosure violations, false statements, or fraud, in order to disrupt CCP malign actions.
Given your reference to the White House Office of Science and Technology’s changed
guidance for correcting incomplete, incorrect, or false disclosures, how heavily will
corrected statements “counsel against criminal prosecutions?”
4. Given that the CCP often, though by no means exclusively, seeks out recruits from within
the Chinese diaspora, if future prosecutions by the DOJ resulted in a “racially disparate
impact,” or one that activists allege creates a “chilling atmosphere for scientists,” will
your Department continue to “use all of [its] tools to block authoritarian regimes that seek
to extend their tactics of repression beyond their shores?”
5. Assistant Attorney General Olsen represented that safeguarding the integrity of research
institutions is a matter of national security. He also stated that equally important is
“ensuring that we continue to attract the best and the brightest researchers and scholars to
our country from all around the world.” Given that the CCP actively recruits the world’s
leading science and technology innovators and has crafted policies to develop key
technologies, shouldn’t universities and the Justice Department’s initiative account for
this unique threat?

Thank you for your prompt attention to this important issue.

Sincerely,

Marco Rubio Mike Lee

U.S. Senator U.S. Senator

Bill Cassidy, M.D. Ted Cruz

U.S. Senator U.S. Senator

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Rick Scott James Lankford
U.S. Senator U.S. Senator

Cynthia M. Lummis Ron Johnson

U.S. Senator U.S. Senator