Geopolitical tensions fuel bias concerns

In Maryland, State Delegate Chao Wu, a Chinese American, was targeted by fellow Republican Delegates Mark Fisher and Brian Chisholm over different political stances on an AI bill proposed by Wu.

In a 13-minute podcast video in May, the pair questioned Wu's political loyalties solely on the basis of his birthplace in China, mocked his accent, repeatedly used a derogatory term, and accused him of being a spy for China.

In Texas, State Representative Gene Wu's race and birthplace have often been targets of attacks by his political opponents. Grand Old Party, or GOP State Senator Mayes Middleton once accused Wu of "fighting to put China first and Texas second" when Wu led Texas Democratic lawmakers to fight against GOP lawmakers' efforts to redraw Texas' congressional map.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott even filed a lawsuit to remove Wu from the legislative body over the redistricting fight, a move the Supreme Court of Texas rejected.

The geopolitical tensions between China and the US have been shaping the lives of Asian American communities in the US. Occurrences of political criticism descending into racialized suspicion and conspiracy framing, particularly for Asian Americans, are increasingly frequent.

How to understand and deal with the consequences of the US-China strains on domestic policies and Asian Americans' lives was the topic of an early June webinar discussion organized by APA Justice, the Committee of 100 and US-China Education Trust.

Joanna Derman, director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice, gave a rough picture of policies based on race and often specifically targeted at Chinese in recent years.

Primarily, alien land laws, which sought to prohibit certain foreign citizens from purchasing land in the United States, have been revived in many states across the US.

"According to the Committee of 100, no less than 525 bills have been introduced since 2021, 63 percent of which restrict Chinese citizens from owning property," she said.

As of May, approximately 28 states have enacted such legislation. However, China-affiliated entities own about 0.03 percent of total US farmland, while Canada accounts for roughly 1.2 percent, making it the largest foreign holder of US agricultural land.

"These laws send an unmistakable signal about who is welcome and who is not welcome in this country. And that kind of chilling effect has consequences," Derman said.

In the end, national security concerns have been translated into domestic economic policies, Derman said, and they are evolving and spreading into new policy issue areas beyond land purchases.

At the federal level, the Trump administration recently changed the Small Business Administration loan eligibility criteria, that render small businesses that are even partially owned by noncitizens ineligible.

"This cut off access to capital for immigrant entrepreneurs who have been working really hard to comply with immigration laws," she said.

At the state level, Iowa recently passed a law that would bar businesses and individuals from certain countries, including China, from obtaining licensure to establish or operate healthcare centers and hospitals. It will take effect on July 1.

That kind of policy is "a truly mind-boggling and striking move given how vital immigrants are to our healthcare systems", Derman said.

Frank Wu, president of Queens College in New York, said that for Asian Americans, if you visit your cousins in China, if you go to Chinese school, if you like Chinese food, that somehow makes you a spy or foreign agent. People confuse cultural heritage with identity.

Civil rights issue

When national security is invoked, Asian Americans are viewed as foreigners. "Part of the struggle is to explain this is a civil rights issue," Wu said.

He cited historian Ronald Takaki's famous saying that Asian Americans have historically been punished not for their vices, but for their virtues.

They work hard and compete fairly. Yet they are viewed to be taking over the country because they are not seen as Americans, Wu said.

Edgar Chen, special advisor to the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association, said that understanding what's going on in foreign relations is necessary to grasp some of the rationales for issues such as the alien land laws.

Derman said the notion that if China rises, the other has to fall is "a very zero-sum way of thinking" and the two countries "have to learn how to coexist".

Both Chen and Wu suggested that active participation in civic and political affairs, as well as building coalitions with other groups, is the only way to fight the stereotype of Asian Americans being perpetual foreigners.