122 Chinese American Organizations Asking White House to Rescind its Executive Order on WeChat Ban
For Immediate Release
Today (September 16, 2020), one day before a Federal district court in San Francisco is going to hold a hearing on Executive Order on Addressing the Threat Posed by WeChat, 122 Chinese American organizations from over 35 states have endorsed UCA’s Open Letter to the White House Regarding WeChat Ban, asking the White House to reverse or rescind this Executive Order.
The Executive Order on WeChat is problematic on many levels. Whether it is the technology difficulty in implementing such a ban or its shaky legal groundwork, this ban just makes no sense, as we have pointed out in our letter (below). It is potentially violating First Amendment rights and disrupting the way of life for millions of Americans.
Banning WeChat isn’t just causing an inconvenience to millions of Chinese Americans, it is part of the far larger effort by this administration to implement the dubious Clean Network, a hawkish initiative to decouple China technically from US and the rest of the world. This goes against the consensus and sustained policy of all previous administrations to maintain a universally open and free Internet.
Furthermore, the President is creating barriers that will hurt Americans and American businesses. Almost all business communication in China is conducted through WeChat, to prevent Americans from having access to this essential business tool puts American businesses and American workers at an extreme disadvantage.
As an organization of Chinese Americans, our members stay connected to family and friends in China through WeChat, as well as family and friends in America. Indeed, much of the political, civic and charitable activities in Chinese American communities is done through WeChat these days. UCA, for example, has just recently organized 2020 Census events, voter registration and education discussions, and the pandemic relief efforts through WeChat.
“Although we very much loath the restriction on freedom of speech imposed on WeChat by the Chinese government, the overwhelming majority of our community is strongly against such an outright ban. But more importantly, we at UCA think this executive order is just wrong. All I can say is Mr. President, it is unAmerican to restrict the freedom of American people. Just rescind your executive order, please,” says UCA President Haipei Shue.
Open Letter to the White House Regarding WeChat Ban
Dear President Trump,
The undersigned organizations would like to express our grave concern about the two Executive Orders you issued on August 6th, 2020, effectively banning the WeChat and TikTok applications.
If fully implemented, these Executive Orders will likely violate constitutional protections for all Americans and erode the American rule of law. In addition, these orders will most certainly harm American business operations and their ability to compete in China. But most importantly, these orders will tarnish America’s moral standing in the world, and certainly have an adverse and disparate impact on the lives of many Americans, including millions of Chinese Americans, by chilling their ability to freely communicate with others throughout the world. As such, we respectfully request that you rescind the two Executive Orders.
WeChat and TikTok are popular applications owned by companies in China that are used by hundreds of millions of people globally, not just in China. In the case of WeChat, a mobile communication and commercial platform, many Chinese Americans rely on the application for daily communication with their families and loved ones in China, for conducting business internationally, for civic participation and free political expression in America, and also for exchanging news and opinions that may not be easily available inside China. Thus, these Executive Orders would severely disrupt and uproot the way of life for millions of Americans, as well as limit the free exchange of ideas and facts both here and abroad.
While we recognize the privacy and cyber security concerns noted in the Executive Orders, and we loathe the restriction of freedom of speech on Wechat by the Chinese Government, to dictate and control the way Americans choose the Internet platforms and access information would fly against the openness and democratic values that are at the core of the American spirit. This unnecessarily restrictive and imperious action is out of sync with our core values and American constitutional principles like freedom of speech, and the right to due process under the rule of law. Furthermore, by banning these popular platforms according to the dictates of US government, we are moving dangerously close to the very censorship we so much loathe and often condemn in autocratic societies.
Mr. President, the United States has long stood for an open and free Internet. These Executive Orders, coupled with the Clean Network initiative your Administration has taken targeting China, would effectively create two separate and decoupled internets, which will only serve to restrict the free flow of information to and from China, and reverse the long-held national policy of an open and free Internet held by all previous administrations.
At a time of global pandemic and economic crises, this world needs more free and open communication and cooperation among the nations, not less. Starting an all-out Cold War on the technology front with China during a pandemic is certainly not in the best interest of the United States and this world.
As such, we respectfully request that you revoke the two Executive Orders. Sincerely yours,
Haipei Shue
(202) 672-5060; haipei.shue@ucausa.org
UCA President
Related: UCA Statement Regarding the White House EOs
The Undersigned Organizations:
| ACP Foundation in DFW |
| All America Chinese Youth Federation |
| Alliance of Chinese Americans San Diego |
| American Chinese Experts Association |
| American Ginseng Association |
| APAPA Ohio |
| Arizona Chinese History Association |
| Asian Caribbean Exchange |
| Association for Justice |
| Association of Chinese Americans |
| Association of Chinese Professionals (Dallas) |
| Association of Chinese-American Scientists and Engineers |
| Atlanta Chinese IT Association |
| Beijing Associations of New York |
| Belles Far Go LLC |
| Birmingham Chinese Professor Association |
| Boston Chinese Photography Association |
| Bridge Road International Foundation |
| Carolinas Chinese American Civic Center |
| CASEC (Miami) |
| Chicago North Shore Chinese Center |
| Chicago Professors and Scholars Group |
| China Media LLC |
| China’s Children International |
| Chinese Amercan Voters Alliance Corp |
| Chinese American CEO Organization (LA) |
| Chinese American Chamber |
| Chinese American Federation (LA) |
| Chinese American Society of Ann Arbor |
| Chinese Association of Columbia (SC) |
| Chinese Association of Northwest Arkansas |
| Chinese Association of West Michigan |
| Chinese Chamber of Commerce of Arizona |
| Chinese Club of Western New York |
| Chinese Culture Society of Greater Nashua (NH) |
| Chinese Golden Voice Choir |
| Chinese Language School of Baton Rouge |
| Chinese School Association in the United States |
| Chinese-American Association of Newton (MA) |
| Chineses American Business Association in Birmingham (AL) |
| Civic Education Alliance (Boston) |
| Coalition for a Better Chinese American Community (Chicago) |
| Ding Ding TV |
| Dream Workshop Entertainment & Advertising LLC |
| East Tennessee Chinese/Chinese American Care |
| Families with Children from China (FCC) Capital Area |
| Families With Children From China Louisville Chapter |
| Florida Asian Services |
| Florida Asian Women Alliance |
| Florida Chinese Business Associates |
| Florida Chinese Federation |
| Fujian Association of Southeast USA |
| Gee Tuck Sam Tuck Association |
| Greater Cincinnati Chinese Cultural Exchange Association |
| Greater Cincinnati Chinese Music Society |
| Greater NY New Asia College Alumni Association |
| Greater Philadephia Chinese Restaurant Association |
| Hand in Hand International Adoptions |
| Hanlin Education Foundation of America |
| Henan Chinese Associates USA, Inc, |
| Hip Sing Association |
| Hotel Chinese Association of USA |
| Huntsville Chinese Association |
| International Child Search Alliance (ICSA) |
| International Institute for Hakka Studies IIHS |
| J&W PharmLab, LLC |
| Jinan University Alumni Assiciation at MA |
| Kentucky Chinese American Association |
| Knowledge Tree, Inc |
| Marathon Ginseng International Inc |
| Mental Health Association for Chinese Communities |
| Milwaukee Chinese Community Center |
| Mingdao School(Seattle) |
| Minnesota Chinse Association |
| Minnesota Chinse Chamber of Commerce |
| Nanchang Project |
| National Asian American PAC FL |
| New Mexico Chinese American Association |
| New Orleans Chinese Association |
| New York Pan-Asian Democratic Club |
| North American Hangzhou Association |
| North Texas Hubei Association |
| Northeastern Wisconsin Chinese Association. |
| Northern California Chinese Culture Athletic Federation |
| OCA Greater Chicago |
| OCA South Florida Chapter |
| Ohio Chinese American Association |
| Olympia Area Chinese Organization |
| Portland Cantonese Opera Art Center |
| Seattle Chinese Bar Association |
| SHANA Chapter of Philadelphia |
| SHANA Washington Chapter |
| Shandong Fellowship Association |
| Shanghang Hakka Association of North America – Chicago/Midwest US Chapter |
| Shanghang Hakka Association of North America SHANA |
| Sioux Falls Chinese Association(South Dakota) |
| Smallish Homes and Gardens |
| Soap Lake Resort |
| Southwest Chinese Association |
| Southwest Chinese Association |
| SW Florida Chinese Association |
| The Association for Justice |
| The Greater Cincinnati Chinese Association |
| The i-Center for Composites |
| The PEARL Institute of New York, Inc. |
| UCA – MA |
| UCA National |
| UCA-Connenticut |
| UCA-IL |
| UCA-NJ |
| UCA-SF |
| UCA-WA |
| UCA-WI |
| United Chinese Association of Oregon |
| US China Corporate Brand Association |
| US Shandong Fellowship Association |
| US Vancouver Chinese Association |
| Utah Chinese Association of Utah |
| West Virginia Chinese Assocciation |
| Westlake Chinese Culture Association |
| Wisconsin Chinese Chamber of Commerce |
| Wuhan University Ohio Alumni Association |
| Youth Coding and Innovation Club |
WE DO NEED WECHAT EVERY DAY.