三大华裔科学家组织联合发声：种族歧视伤害科研
2019年3月21日，星期四
陌上美国
【编者按】经过一段时间的努力，近日，在美国知名的三个华人科学家组织：美国华裔生物科学家协会（SCBA）、美国华裔血液和肿瘤专家网络（CAHON）以及华人生物学者教授学会（CBIS）联合在美国最权威的《科学》杂志上发文，表达了对当下政治环境给科学界造成的冲击和变化的强烈关注。对一些特定针对在美华人科研人员的偏见和歧视，发出了理性抗议和深切担忧。现附上全文翻译（版权属于《科学》杂志和作者）。
标题：种族歧视伤害科研
“我们代表美国华裔生物科学家协会（SCBA），美国华裔血液和肿瘤学家网络（CAHON）以及华人生物学者教授学会（CBIS）撰文，表达我们对近期一些政治言论和政策的担忧。
类似于”在美国工作的华人学生和学者是对美国国家利益的威胁“之类的言论，给高度敬业的华裔专业人士带来困惑、恐惧和沮丧。他们面临着被专门针对，成为替罪羊、种族歧视和偏见伤害的对象的可能。
美国的国家政策需要避免对特定人群的特别针对，正如加州国会众议员赵美心所说，“整个华裔群体都被怀疑是中国的间谍”。
现有的美国法律，立足于保护美国的利益，惩罚盗窃商业机密或从事非法活动行为的人。我们绝对支持保护知识产权，和为避免就业和治理中出现的利益冲突而既定的相关政策。
近年来，这些政策得到了进一步加强，包括美国国立卫生研究院（NIH）在内的各种联邦和州机构提出了更为详细和具体的要求。绝大多数华人科学家和学生都是遵守这些规则的守法公民、居民或短期留学访问的学生学者。
在不触及国家安全的前提下，美国科学界完全可以做到开放数据访问和数据共享。这些对于加速研究进步，非常重要。美国国立卫生研究院多年来一直支持这些政策。
大多数华裔科学家认为，生物医学研究对全人类都有益，多国合作加速了科学进步和发现。但是，一些NIH的推荐，如果一旦渗入了偏见，则可能伤害良性合作。例如，NIH建议培养与外国合作伙伴的“信任关系”，但没有说明是否必须通过官方正式渠道。美国国立卫生研究院还建议，当与外国合作者进行科学交流的时候，要受到更多的限制，这可能会妨碍一些正常的合作。
近几十年来，有几个引人注目的案例，涉及的美籍华裔科学家都被错误地指控成间谍。虽然所有指控最终都被撤销或当事人被证明无罪，但这些诉讼不仅对这些人的职业生涯造成了破坏性影响，而且对整个美国华人科学界产生了令人不寒而栗的负面影响。同时，中国学生和学者越来越难以获得签证，严重妨碍进入美国进行科学会议、探访和研究的机会。
我们真诚地希望，这些我们认为相当于种族歧视的行为能立即停止，加强国家安全措施同时不要玷污守法的科学家，导致限制正常和富有成效的科学交流。
因此，我们敦促联邦和地方政府与我们的学术和研究机构合作，不分种族地为每个人创造一个被尊重，透明而富有成效的环境。我们也希望，美国和外国学术界之间的科学合作和交流，能够得到加强而不是被压制。
美国的科学进步和技术创新是全球努力的结果。它的未来将取决于在全球舞台上，能否延续这一经受了时间考验的、开放和合作的传统。”
SCBA会员
CBCBIS会员
CACAHON会员
本函中所表达的观点仅代表作者和三个组织的立场，而非作者附属的工作单位和机构的观点。
原文链接：
http://science.sciencemag.org/content/363/6433/1290
On behalf of the Society of Chinese Bioscientists in America (SCBA), the Chinese American Hematologist and Oncologist Network (CAHON), and the Chinese Biological Investigators Society (CBIS), we write to express our concerns about the recent political rhetoric and policies that single out students and scholars of Chinese descent working in the United States as threats to U.S. national interests [e.g., (1) and pp. 6–7 in (2)]. These developments have led to confusion, fear, and frustration among these highly dedicated professionals, who are in danger of being singled out for scape-goating, stereotyping, and racial profiling. U.S. policies must avoid targeting, as Representative Judy Chu (D–California) put it, “an entire ethnic group of people for suspicion that they're spies for China” (3).
Existing U.S. laws are in place to safeguard America's interests and to punish perpetrators for stealing trade secrets or engaging in illegal activities. We absolutely support the well-established policies regarding intellectual property, employment, and governance of conflicts of interest. Such policies have been further enhanced in recent years with more detailed and specific requirements from various federal and state agencies, including the National Institutes of Health (NIH) (4). The vast majority of scientists and students of Chinese descent are law-abiding citizens, residents, or visitors who have followed these rules.
Open data access and data sharing are important for accelerating research advancement and can be implemented without putting U.S. security at risk. NIH has espoused such policies for years (5). Most Chinese-American scientists believe that biomedical research benefits all mankind and that multinational collaborations accelerate scientific progress and discovery. However, some NIH recommendations could target collaborations if implemented with bias. For example, NIH recommends fostering “trusted relationships” [p. 12 in (2)] with foreign partners but does not specify whether the trust must be established through official channels. NIH also suggests more disclosure requirements for foreign collaborators than domestic colleagues (pp. 12–13 in (2)], which could hinder collaborations.
In recent decades, there have been several high-profile cases in which Chinese-American scientists were wrongfully accused of spying [e.g., (6–10)]. Although all charges were eventually dropped and/or the individuals legally exonerated, the lawsuits have had not only devastating effects on the careers of these individuals but also a chilling and negative impact on the Chinese-American scientific community at large. It has also become increasingly difficult for Chinese students and scholars to obtain visas to enter the United States for scientific meetings, visits, and research opportunities (3).
It is our sincere hope that these actions, which we believe amount to racial profiling, will stop immediately and that increased security measures will not be used to tarnish law-abiding scientists and limit normal and productive scientific exchanges. We thus urge both federal and local governments to work with our academic and research institutions to create a respectful, transparent, and productive environment for everyone, regardless of their ethnic origin. We also hope that scientific collaborations and exchanges between the United States and foreign academic communities will be strengthened rather than suppressed. American scientific advances and technological innovations are the result of global efforts, and their future depends on the continuation of time-tested traditions of openness and cooperation on the global stage.
↵* SCBA member.
↵† CBIS member.
↵‡ CAHON member.
The views expressed in this Letter are solely those of the authors and the three organizations, not the affiliated institutions of the authors.
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