The U.S. Department of Justice ends Trump-era China Initiative

Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building in Washington, D.C.

The Biden administration is shutting down the Department of Justice program known as the “China Initiative” which the DOJ previously said, “reflects the strategic priority of countering Chinese national security threats and reinforces the President’s overall national security strategy.”

In a speech at the National Security Institute and George Mason University, Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen delivered remarks regarding the anti-espionage program, saying:

The idea behind the initiative was to develop a coherent approach to the challenges posed by the PRC government. The initiative effectively focused attention on the multi-faceted threat from the PRC. But it has also engendered growing concerns that we must take seriously.

I want to take this opportunity today—discussing our approach to nation-state threats overall—to also address the China Initiative directly.

We have heard concerns from the civil rights community that the “China Initiative” fueled a narrative of intolerance and bias. To many, that narrative suggests that the Justice Department treats people from China or of Chinese descent differently. The rise in anti-Asian hate crime and hate incidents only heightens these concerns. The Department is keenly aware of this threat and is enhancing efforts to combat acts of hate. These efforts are reflected in the Attorney General’s memorandum issued last year following the enactment of the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act.

There are also increasing concerns from the academic and scientific community about the department’s pursuit of certain research grant fraud cases. We have heard that these prosecutions — and the public narrative they create — can lead to a chilling atmosphere for scientists and scholars that damages the scientific enterprise in this country.

Safeguarding the integrity and transparency of research institutions is a matter of national security. But so is ensuring that we continue to attract the best and the brightest researchers and scholars to our country from all around the world — and that we all continue to honor our tradition of academic openness and collaboration.

In light of these concerns, we began a review soon after I took office. The review’s purpose was forward-looking. The key question was whether this framework still best serves the strategic needs and priorities of the department. While I remain focused on the evolving, significant threat that the government of China poses, I have concluded that this initiative is not the right approach. Instead, the current threat landscape demands a broader approach.

I want to emphasize my belief that the department’s actions have been driven by genuine national security concerns. But by grouping cases under the China Initiative rubric, we helped give rise to a harmful perception that the department applies a lower standard to investigate and prosecute criminal conduct related to that country or that we in some way view people with racial, ethnic or familial ties to China differently.

Assistant Attorney Olsen went on to say that the DOJ will continue to defend the U.S. from China’s espionage efforts but a new and broader approach is needed to tackle the most severe threats from a range of hostile nation-states including China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea.

The China Initiative was introduced under the Trump administration in 2018 by Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

Republican Senator Tom Cotton (AR) criticized the announcement saying, “The Biden administration announced it’s cancelling the initiative tasked with combatting the Chinese government’s unprecedented domestic sabotage and aggression because they claim it’s racist. Cancelling this initiative is just another instance of weakness from an administration more concerned with being politically correct than protecting Americans. And you can be sure our adversaries are watching.”