February 17, 2003

UNDER THE GLARE OF A GLOBAL MICROSCOPE

By Tom Plate

Why homeland insensitivity is as dangerous as homeland insecurity

First, there was the unwelcome revival of the World War II Japanese-American internment controversy. President Ronald Reagan had sought to bury it forever with a 1988 apology and reparations to survivors of the notorious roundup and imprisonment of 120,000 American citizens who just happened to be of Japanese descent.

Alas, this sorry chapter won't die as long as there are dippy dinosaurs like Rep. Howard Coble (R-N.C.). For there, as if in a time warp, was the new House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security chairman responding to a call-in radio show question about whether America's internment of some Arab-Americans was appropriate. Not only was the current internment just fine, he answered, so was the Japanese-American internment. "We were at war," he declaimed, as if that explained everything.

Well, it looks as if we'll be at war again soon, with Iraq and -- who knows? -- possibly North Korea. "Whether Japanese American, Arab American or otherwise," said Rep. David Wu (D-Ore.), chairman of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, "there is nothing to justify interning Americans because of their ancestry." Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), the House Minority Leader from San Francisco, rightly added: "His remarks demonstrated an appalling disregard for civil liberties and an inexcusable ignorance of history." Coble's comment was condemned by the Japanese American Citizens League, the US' oldest and largest Asian Pacific American civil rights group.

Next up for potential paranoids was a revival of the issues raised by 1999 Cox Commission Report alleging widespread spying in the US by China. The Federal Bureau of Investigation admitted it was recruiting Chinese students to monitor renewed efforts by Beijing to obtain military technologies. The recruitment campaign, cooking for months, is aimed at China-born students in the physical and computer sciences. But not many U.S.-based China experts would back up the FBI's claim that China is doing more spying now than ever -- or more than anyone else.

In fact, authorities admitted that students working for Beijing were probably scouring public information in libraries and on Web sites. While no law prevents the Bureau from recruiting Chinese operatives (heck, the students could use the spare change), there's no such thing as "felony surfing." With tensions rising between Beijing and Washington over how best to deal with North Korea and Iraq, the timing of the FBI effort seems awkward and the cloud cast on the tens of thousands of Chinese students doubly unfortunate.

And, speaking of North Korea, where a heated revival of the Cold War on the peninsula is possible, the U.S. government arrested a businessman for failing to register with Washington as an agent of North Korea. The Korean-American, a naturalized citizen born in Seoul, admitted taking cash payments from Pyongyang for something. But authorities said that the spying was low-level and have not charged the 59-year-old resident of Santa Monica, a seaside L.A. suburb, with espionage. So the arrest, amid heightened tension between Washington and Pyongyang, was puzzling and worried many in Southern California's Korean-American community. It was also headline news in South Korea, where suspicions grow that Washington prefers a permanent North-South divide in order to justify its 37,000-plus garrison there.

Last week's triad of official actions and statements added to the tension in an already tense America, stirred up by new official warnings of domestic terrorist threats. To be sure, the U.S. government is obliged to take all responsible steps to monitor internal security; indeed, most Americans, unnerved by the prospect of terrorism, fully support law enforcement. But, seen from abroad, such developments are disconcerting. Is America so shaken by Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein and Kim Jong Ill that it is losing its cool?

That may be unfair, but at the moment every U.S. movement is being viewed under a gigantic microscope that magnifies every misstep, over-reach or mini-hysteria. For Asians abroad, not to mention ethnic Asians here who have been battling stereotypes and prejudices for decades, the fear is that the U.S. definition of the enemy may grow so extensive that before long a two-front war will surface -- at home as well as abroad. Perhaps America needs not only its Office of Homeland Security but also, for balance, something like an Office of Homeland Sensitivity.

The above weekly column has just appeared in the Honolulu Advertiser, The South China Morning Post and The Straits Times of Singapore. The author, Tom Plate, is a regular columnist at these three papers. The column also appears in other world newspapers, including The San Francisco Chronicle, The Seattle Times, The Japan Times and The Korea Times. Email him at: tplate@ucla.edu.

For publication and reprint rights, contact the author directly or John Simpson (john.simpson@latsi.com) of the Los Angeles Times Syndicate International.

Previous Columns:

No Pause for the Chinese Space Program (February 10, 2003)

The Pendulum Swing on China vs. Japan (February 3, 2003)

Beijing Worries About U.S. Designs on the Korean Peninsula (January 27, 2003)

The World Could Lose A Vital International Voice (January 21, 2003)

Japan '42 Redux -- Or Is It Vietnam All Over Again? (January 20, 2003)

Columns From Davos:

Sunshine in Davos? (January 27, 2003)

Hawkish Policy Best Defended By the Dove (January 26, 2003)