Racial Profiling or Protecting America’s Intellectual Property? Government Focus on Chinese Workers - American Society of Employers - Anthony Kaylin

Racial Profiling or Protecting America’s Intellectual Property? Government Focus on Chinese Workers

Xifeng Wu, an award-winning epidemiologist and naturalized American citizen, quietly stepped down as director of the Center for Public Health and Translational Genomics at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center after a three-month investigation into her professional ties in China.   When she came to the Anderson Center, she had been encouraged to develop and collaborate with Chinese institutions. racial profiling

Scientific research in general was moving across borders in a collaborative effort to come to solutions.  It was the way of work in the scientific community.  “Faculty don’t see international borders anymore,” says Adam Kuspa, dean of research at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. “If someone in another country has a piece of the puzzle, they want to work with them.” In fact, in 2015, China awarded MD Anderson its top honor for international scientific cooperation, in a ceremony attended by President Xi Jinping.

However, the Trump administration has a policy to counter Chinese influence at U.S. research institutions. The aim is to stop China’s well-documented and costly theft of U.S. innovation and know-how. The National Institute of Health, in coordination with the FBI, conducted the investigation, not only of Wu but of other researchers. “Even something that is in the fundamental research space, that’s absolutely not classified, has an intrinsic value,” says Lawrence Tabak, principal deputy director of the NIH, explaining his approach. “This pre-patented material is the antecedent to creating intellectual property. In essence, what you’re doing is stealing other people’s ideas.”

Wu was never charged with a crime but lost her job.  She landed as dean in a school in Shanghai. 

The manner of the events show that it was assumed that she aided and abetted to obtain cancer research information, although she was not charged with a crime.  She performed as she was requested to, having attended Chinese medical conferences, hosted visiting Chinese professors in Houston, and published 87 research papers with co-authors from 26 Chinese institutions. She is a highly cited cancer investigator. 

Wu, after stepping down, filed a charge of racial profiling discrimination with the EEOC.

The government does have evidence of Chinese bad actors.  For example, a Chinese researcher at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee was arrested on federal charges of economic espionage; prosecutors said he stole three vials of a cancer drug in early-stage lab testing.  A former ethnic Chinese Apple Inc. engineer was arrested for stealing driverless car secrets for a Chinese startup after he passed through the security checkpoint at San Jose International Airport to board a flight to China.  Another Chinese national was hired as a research engineer at the Phillips 66 battery development group but later arrested for stealing company secrets.  And most recently an alleged Chinese spymaster was arrested in Europe and extradited to the U.S. 

Overall from 1997 to 2009, 17% of defendants indicted under the U.S. Economic Espionage Act had Chinese names and from 2009 to 2015, that rate tripled to 52%.

Director Christopher Wray discussed with the Council on Foreign Relations in April this year the focus on ethnic Chinese nationals working in the U. S.  and stated that “China has pioneered a societal approach to stealing innovation in any way it can from a wide array of businesses, universities, and organizations.”  Everyone’s in on it, Wray said: China’s intelligence services; its state-owned and what he called “ostensibly” private enterprises; and the 130,000 Chinese graduate students and researchers who work and study in the U.S. every year. “Put plainly, China seems determined to steal its way up the economic ladder at our expense.”

These actions and publicity will have impact on employers.  First, political actions will likely dry up the pipeline of qualified technical workers for jobs in the U. S., and employers will have to be more wary and diligent in hiring ethnic Chinese workers who need sponsorship. Not hiring those who need sponsorship will not give rise to any employment right if rejected.  Second, the number of Chinese students, currently estimated at 350,000, studying in the U.S. will likely drop, pushing more pressure on universities to make up that lost tuition and research, and drying up another pipeline for qualified workers.  Finally, HR will have to be vigilant to prevent any actions against ethnic Chinese who have the right to work in the United States (or other East Asian employees who may be assumed to be Chinese) against any racial profiling or discriminatory decision making, such as hiring, promotions, or terminations, yet still be alert to stop corporate espionage.  It’s a tough line to tow. 

 

Source:  Bloomberg 6/13/19, USAToday 7/11/19, OK Energy Today 4/19/19

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