This statement has been republished from the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance
The APALA Massachusetts Chapter and UNITE HERE Local 26 are supporting a local worker who has been wrongfully targeted. Read the statement below and sign-on to show your support.
Sign-on Letter
Justice for Li Tang “Henry” Liang!
Chinese American community activist and hotel worker Li Tang “Henry” Liang is being wrongfully prosecuted for exercising his protected free speech rights. The federal government has targeted Liang for advocating peaceful relations between the U.S. and China. Liang has served on the boards of directors for Chinatown Main Street and the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association of New England, and is an active member of his union UNITE HERE Local 26. Following his indictment, his employer placed him on indefinite suspension, unfairly depriving his family of income and assuming his guilt without due process.
Liang is facing charges under the Foreign Agents Relations Act (FARA). In recent years, the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) has used FARA to intimidate peace activists, journalists, and others for voicing opposition towards hawkish U.S. foreign policy. Liang’s indictment is part of a wave of racial profiling and repression which has targeted Chinese and Chinese American scientists, engineers, professors, graduate students and now a hotel worker. These prosecutions are reminiscent of the shameful history of the McCarthy-era “Red Scare,” which destroyed the lives of many innocent people. These prosecutions also irresponsibly inflame racist hatred against Chinese people in the midst of worsening U.S.-China relations and surging anti-Asian
hate violence.
Although the Trump-era DoJ China Initiative was shut down in 2022 because of allegations of racial profiling, racially motivated prosecutions in the name of false national security concerns are intensifying across the country. Someone undergoing trial should not be presumed guilty and should have the right to due process and the right to livelihood. Everyone should have the right to exercise free speech and the right to advocate for peace between the U.S. and another country. Targeted prosecutions of Chinese Americans advocating for peace is racist and an infringement of our right to free speech.
We, the undersigned, demand that Liang be reinstated to his job; that the Department of Justice stop racial profiling and infringing free speech rights; and that the U.S. government drop its charges against Li Tang “Henry” Liang now!
Translation below:
为梁利棠《Henry Liang》伸张正义！
波士顿华埠社区组织人士和酒店工人梁利棠《Henry Liang》因行使受宪法保护的言论自由权而受到错误迫害。联邦政府将矛头指向梁利棠，因为他提倡美中之间的和平关系。梁利棠是波士顿唐人街社区公认的组织人士，曾在华埠主街和纽英崙中华公所的董事会任职，并且是他的工会 UNITE HERE Local 26 的工会会员。在他被起诉后，他的雇主将他无限期停职，不公平地剥夺了他家人的收入，并在未经正当程序的情况下认定他有罪。
根据《外国代理人关系法》(FARA)，他面临指控。近年来，美国司法部利用 FARA 恐吓和平活动人士、记者和其他反对鹰派美国外交政策的人。梁利棠的起诉是针对华裔和美籍华裔科学家、工程师、教授、研究生以及现在一名酒店员工的种族定性和镇压浪潮的一部分。这些起诉让人想起麦卡锡时代“红色恐慌”的可耻历史，它摧毁了许多无辜者的生命。 在美中关系恶化和反亚裔仇恨暴力激增的情况下，这些起诉也在不负责任地煽动对华人的种族主义仇恨。
尽管特朗普时代的美国司法部中国倡议因种族貌相指控于 2022 年被叫停，但以虚假的国家安全担忧为名的出于种族动机的起诉在全国范围内愈演愈烈。 接受审判的人不应被推定有罪，应享有正当程序的权利和谋生权。 每个人都应该有言论自由的权利和倡导美国与另一个国家之间和平的权利。 有针对性地起诉倡导和平的华裔美国人是种族主义，侵犯了我们的言论自由权。
我们，下面的签名者，要求恢复梁的工作； 司法部停止种族貌相和侵犯言论自由权； 并且美国政府现在撤销对梁利棠《Henry Liang》的指控！
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