1 of 7

Chinese-American Surveillance

Andrew Liu and Matthew Huang

2 of 7

Intro

Harry Sheng

Wen Ho Lee

Sherry Chen

3 of 7

Tracing Chinese Surveillance

4 of 7

Harry Sheng

  • Mechanical Engineer at Spartan Defense Corporation.

​

  • Investigated by the FBI after returning to China to visit his mother.

​

  • He is laid off, his job offers are rescinded, and the FBI continues to monitor him.

​

  • 13 years later, the FBI deems him not a security risk and close his case. Harry never receives an official explanation or an apology

​

5 of 7

Wen Ho Lee

  • Nuclear scientist at Los Alamos

​

  • Suspected of disclosing nuclear secrets to the PRC despite being Taiwanese, a naturalized US citizen, and a former FBI informant

​

  • Subjected to harassment by the news followed by more than 250 days of solitary confinement

​

  • 58/59 charges were dropped in a plea agreement only pleading guilty to mishandling of classified information

6 of 7

Sherry Chen

  • Ohio-based hydrologist at the National Weather Service

​

  • Arrested 2014 on suspicion of Chinese espionage despite being naturalized for over 15 years

​

  • Charges are dropped 1 week prior to trial due to lack of evidence, still terminated from NWS

​

  • To this day, still seeking recourse for the faulty arrest and termination

7 of 7

Conclusion

  • Multimedia presentation 3 separate Chinese-American stories and the American surveillance apparatus

​

  • Accentuates how hypervisibility of Chinese-Americans interfaces with racial constructions today

​

  • Grappled with the challenges of picking events of significance in retelling the stories of Asian Americans