Famous Chinese Americans Politics, Law and Civil Rights

	Who	What
Buy @Amazon.com	钱学森 Tsien Hsue-Shen (Qian Xuesen) b. 1911, Shanghai	Victim of McCarthy era paranoia and father of Chinese rocketry and spaceflight. Tsien was one of America's leading rocket scientist and a founder of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. A Caltech professor and a US Army colonel, he was accused by the FBI of being a spy in 1950 and his security clearance revoked the same day. The charges were never proven but he was under virtual house arrest for the next years until he was deported to China. Soon after, the PRC government put him in charge of its missile program, eventually leading to the building of Chinese intercontinental ballistic missiles, satellite launching capabilities, and even the Chinese manned space flight program. We may never know whether Tsien was a spy or a Communist while he was still in the US. His actions both before and after his return to China could be easily interpreted to either way. However, as in the case of Wen Ho Lee fifty years later, Tsien did not benefit from the presumption of innocence accorded by US laws. Had Tsien received a different treatment, the balance of military power could have been quite different today.
	黃清福 Wong Ching Foo	Civil rights activist. He was a political organizer and essayist who fought for the rights of the Chinese immigrants at a time where the Chinese were officially discriminated against via the Chinese Exclusion Act.
	吳仙標 S.B. Woo b. 1937, Shanghai	Politician (Democrat). A physics professor before entering politics, Woo was the first Chinese American lieutenant governor (for Delaware). He also served as President of the Organization of Chinese Americans. In the aftermath of a Democratic fund-raising scandal that tarnished the image of Asian-Americans, he formed the 80-20 Initiative, an effort to enhance the political clout of the Asian American community.
	吳振偉 David Wu b. 1955, Taiwan	Politician (Democrat). He co-founded a law firm before entering politics. He was first elected as a congressman from Oregon in 1999. He is currently the only Chinese American member of the House. He is serving as the Chairman of the Congressional Asian Pacific Caucus.
Buy @Amazon.com	吳弘達 Harry Wu b. 1937, Shanghai	Human rights activist. In 1960 he was arrested and spent 19 years in the PRC's system of forced labor camps, the Laogai. After regaining his freedom, he moved to the US and published his experience. On a return trip to China, he was arrested and charged with stealing state secrets. Under international pressure, he was sentenced but then deported. Wu exposed and documented the existence of prison labor and trading of human organs of executed prisoners. Wu established the Laogai Research Foundation to publicize the Laogai system.

Who

What

钱学森
Tsien Hsue-Shen (Qian Xuesen)

b. 1911, Shanghai

Victim of McCarthy era paranoia and father of Chinese rocketry and spaceflight. Tsien was one of America's leading rocket scientist and a founder of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. A Caltech professor and a US Army colonel, he was accused by the FBI of being a spy in 1950 and his security clearance revoked the same day. The charges were never proven but he was under virtual house arrest for the next years until he was deported to China. Soon after, the PRC government put him in charge of its missile program, eventually leading to the building of Chinese intercontinental ballistic missiles, satellite launching capabilities, and even the Chinese manned space flight program. We may never know whether Tsien was a spy or a Communist while he was still in the US. His actions both before and after his return to China could be easily interpreted to either way. However, as in the case of Wen Ho Lee fifty years later, Tsien did not benefit from the presumption of innocence accorded by US laws. Had Tsien received a different treatment, the balance of military power could have been quite different today.

黃清福
Wong Ching Foo

Civil rights activist. He was a political organizer and essayist who fought for the rights of the Chinese immigrants at a time where the Chinese were officially discriminated against via the Chinese Exclusion Act.

吳仙標
S.B. Woo

b. 1937, Shanghai

Politician (Democrat). A physics professor before entering politics, Woo was the first Chinese American lieutenant governor (for Delaware). He also served as President of the Organization of Chinese Americans. In the aftermath of a Democratic fund-raising scandal that tarnished the image of Asian-Americans, he formed the 80-20 Initiative, an effort to enhance the political clout of the Asian American community.

吳振偉
David Wu

b. 1955, Taiwan

Politician (Democrat). He co-founded a law firm before entering politics. He was first elected as a congressman from Oregon in 1999. He is currently the only Chinese American member of the House. He is serving as the Chairman of the Congressional Asian Pacific Caucus.

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吳弘達
Harry Wu

b. 1937, Shanghai

Human rights activist. In 1960 he was arrested and spent 19 years in the PRC's system of forced labor camps, the Laogai. After regaining his freedom, he moved to the US and published his experience. On a return trip to China, he was arrested and charged with stealing state secrets. Under international pressure, he was sentenced but then deported. Wu exposed and documented the existence of prison labor and trading of human organs of executed prisoners. Wu established the Laogai Research Foundation to publicize the Laogai system.