Federal Court, Federal Bar Association, U of MN China Center, and Kingsfield Law Public Outreach Event to Examine Pitfalls for All S.T.E.M. Professionals in a New Era of U.S.-China Relations
Minneapolis, MN – China was involved in 90 percent of all economic espionage cases handled by the
Department of Justice over the last seven years, according to a report submitted December 2018 to the
Senate Intelligence Committee.
This fact illustrates a new backdrop for thousands of Twin Cities S.T.E.M. (science, technology,
engineering, and mathematics) professionals of all ethnicities navigating career opportunities and
avoiding pitfalls in the 21st Century of U.S.-China relations.
It will be the topic of a program free to the public on Thursday, April 4 at 6 p.m. at the University of
Minnesota’s McNamara Alumni Center. The program co-sponsors are the United States District Court for
the District of Minnesota’s Outreach Committee, Federal Bar Association Minnesota Chapter’s Diversity
and Outreach Committees, University of Minnesota’s China Center, and Kingsfield Law.
The goal of the program is educate all Twin Cities S.T.E.M. professionals, academics, and students =
many of whom are Asian American – on two competing and ever-emerging phenomena in the U.S.
justice system: potential threats on national security and economic espionage with the ascendancy of
China on the one hand, and on the other, the potential racial profiling of Asians and Asian Pacific
Americans resulting in accusations, such as those against Dr. Wen Ho Lee, Professor Xiaoxing Xi, and
National Weather Service hydrologist Xiafen Sherry Chen.
The government perspective will be represented by Jay Bratt, the U.S. Department of Justice’s Chief of
the Counterintelligence and Export Control Section (CES) of the National Security Division, who will
speak about U.S. efforts to safeguard national security and curb economic espionage. The two other
featured speakers will be Brian A. Sun, a lawyer with Jones Day in Los Angeles, who represented Dr. Lee,
and Peter R. Zeidenberg, a Washington D.C.-based attorney with Arent Fox, who represented Dr. Xi and
Ms. Chen. The discussion will be moderated by U.S. Magistrate Judge Tony N. Leung
The general public is invited to attend a free reception at 6 p.m. with light refreshments. The main
program will begin at 6:45 p.m. and a Q&A session will close out the program at 8 p.m. Anyone
interested in attending is encouraged to RSVP through the China Center at: www.bit.ly/2Njxess. The
McNamara Alumni Center is located at 200 Oak St. SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455.
