Garland expected to roll back elements of DOJ program to combat Chinese spying

The Department of Justice is set to make changes to its “China Initiative” very soon, sources tell Fox News, likely rolling back some of the program’s efforts to combat Chinese spying in the U.S. after pressure from activists. 

The program was started in 2018 to protect U.S. national security against Chinese snooping on U.S. intellectual property and in academia – a rampant problem Congress is currently trying to address. 

“In addition to identifying and prosecuting those engaged in trade secret theft, hacking, and economic espionage, the Initiative focuses on protecting our critical infrastructure against external threats through foreign direct investment and supply chain compromises,” a description of the program on the DOJ website says. 

JUSTICE DEPARTMENT PRESSURED TO END CHINA INITIATIVE AIMED AT TARGETING ESPIONAGE

The description also says the program aims to stymie “covert efforts to influence the American public and policymakers without proper transparency.”

A review of the program by the DOJ is currently nearing completion, Fox News is told, and some changes will be made to the program. What those changes will be is not yet clear. 

Attorney General Merrick Garland and the Biden administration are under pressure from activists and faculty at some universities over the effort. They say it is harming U.S. competitiveness in research and disproportionately targeting people based on race. 

Last month, protesters stood outside the DOJ saying the initiative unfairly targets Chinese professors. And nearly 200 Yale professors recently signed a letter to Garland asking him to end the initiative. 

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China…