The Shape of Their Eyes Isn't Right

NASA has included all Chinese people in their list of potential spies.

Washington loves China, but it doesn’t love the Chinese. We come to this paradoxical conclusion after Thursday’s news on the measures taken by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to protect its secrets.

During a congressional hearing, NASA head Charles Bolden stated that he has restricted access to NASA’s electronic database of facts for all those working under his authority … who are Chinese. Moreover, judging by the support that Bolden received from congressmen, this decision has been met favorably by the White House. However, it is not limited to the Chinese. A moratorium on access to NASA’s information has also been introduced for citizens of Myanmar, Eritrea, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Uzbekistan. We can also assume that the unspoken restrictions apply to Russians: Earlier, the U.S. director of counter-intelligence called Russia, along with China, Iran and Cuba, the most persistent and aggressive intelligence threats. The director of National Intelligence was just as specific about this, saying that “Russia and China are engaged in the destruction of the U.S.’ information structure.”* All the same, according to NASA’s information, the organization has deprived 281 foreigners of access to its database, 192 of whom are citizens of China.

The high level of psychosis regarding the Chinese living in the U.S. has already manifested itself for several years, demanding irrefutable proof of their guilt.

A good opportunity to demonstrate the evil intentions of Chinese citizens toward the American people has presented itself to the U.S. Secret Service. In mid-March they detained former NASA colleague Bo Jiang, who had worked on a contract, at Dulles airport. He was taken from a plane flying to Beijing. As one congressman confirmed, Bo Jiang was allegedly attempting to take home a huge collection of important documentation regarding information technology. However, the charges against Bo Jiang presented the situation entirely differently: There was false testimony about the technology that he was taking to Beijing. It is unclear exactly what is behind this vague wording.

Spy-related scandals regarding Chinese citizens in America are regularly reported. In 2008, an American citizen of Chinese origin was sentenced to 24 years in prison. He was an engineer employed by the Pentagon and, as the FBI stated, was attempting to take back documents “for official use only” on technologies used by the U.S. Navy. However, the former engineer’s lawyers stated that the information collected by him was not secret; moreover, many of the details were outdated. Another instance took place in February 2010. This also involved an American of Chinese origin, who tried to steal information about American shuttles and the Delta IV rocket. He was sentenced to 15 and a half years in prison under the law on commercial espionage.

However, these and other facts that demonstrate foreign interest in the U.S.’ military and commercial secrets have never before led to a professional ban on certain nationalities. Even in the time of McCarthyism, when the U.S. had a ban on certain actions for supporters of left-wing parties, there was no talk of a complete ban on a profession based on nationality or race.

However, looking at U.S. history shows that the type of discrimination that NASA has subjected an entire nation to out of fear of espionage has existed in the U.S. since the beginning of the 20th century. Then racial segregation lead to the existence of seats “just for whites” in buses; schools and even beaches were divided into areas dependent on race. NASA seems to have decided to remember that “experience,” and the wave of spy-mania has legally led to tried-and-tested methods of choosing specialists on the basis of nationality.

*Editor’s Note: This quotation, accurately translated, could not be verified.