Wen Ho Lee—A True APA Hero
by Emil Guillermo

It’s Asian Pacific American Heritage month. What better time to thank the hero of the hour, Wen Ho Lee.

Lee is right up there with the master architect I.M. Pei, cellist Yo Yo Ma and the sexy Hong Kong actress, Gong Li. Okay, maybe Li should get her own category.

But so should Lee.

He’s the University of California contract worker who was fired from his job at Los Alamos Labs this year for alleged security breaches. Lee is said to have transferred millions of lines of computer codes containing U.S. nuclear secrets from a high security computer to a more accessible one.

And thank goodness, he did it. He has singlehandedly saved the notion of what it means to be “Asian Pacific American.”

Lee’s lit our fire. He’s made us realize the importance of the term “Asian Pacific American.” Before Lee, I was starting to wonder if the phrase had any real meaning at all.

I’ve noticed the ongoing trend to go “ethnic,” meaning to identify more readily with one’s ethnicity. For example, even census surveys in the past have shown that groups tend to self-identify.We’re Filipinos, Chinese, Hmong. And so forth and so on. Essentially, Asians in America.

But how many just say out loud, “I’m Asian Pacific American,” the all-inclusive term encompassing Samoans, Guamanians, Polynesians, etc., or even the less inclusive shorthand—Asian American.”

The term just never seems to fit all that well. Too artificial. Too political. Not real enough.

But now you’d better use it proudly—out of necessity. You’re not some kind of foreigner, are you? Such is the existing and potential backlash over the allegations in the Lee spy case. Especially if it becomes our community’s unique little Y2K problem—a xenophobic wedge issue in the next presidential campaign.

The whole thing struck me as I was waiting for the next Tae-Bo infomercial to come on cable. When I didn’t see Spandex, I went to my second choice, C-SPAN.

Energy Secretary Bill Richardson was speaking last week in New York to a Chinese American community organization—the Committee of 100.

It was still April, but it was probably as good as any APA Heritage Month speech you’ll hear in May—mostly because it had some frank talk about Lee.

Richardson was there to explain why the government was taking a hard line on Lee, though Lee’s name was never mentioned. We all knew exactly who he was talking about.

“Now, I know some are concerned, and rightly so, that a recently terminated employee at Los Alamos might have been singled out for particular treatment,” Richardson said. “Let me tell you frankly that this perception is wrong.”

Richardson outlined the sins of this “recently terminated employee,” saying that he had failed to inform the Department of Energy properly about contact with persons from a sensitive country; that there were specific instances of failing to safeguard classified material; and that there were attempts to deceive the laboratory about security related issues.

“The personnel action was taken because these are serious violations of our security requirements. Period,” Richardson said.

So why was Lee fired without being charged?

“These actions were taken separate and apart from the law enforcement investigation,” Richardson said. “A legal case and any indictments are a separate matter ... I can tell you that espionage cases take a long time.”

So with Richardson’s clarification, we know that Lee’s on his own. But Richardson was also there to assuage fears that the actions of one would be applied to the entire community.

“I know there are concerns about the dismissal of a Los Alamos employee and how it would impact the careers of Asian Americans [in science],” Richardson said. “Let me tell you directly: I will fight vigorously to ensure that that will not happen. I swear to you.”

We’ll see. But it’s good to have that on the record, just in case. And just for good measure, the secretary sent a message back to all of us.

“I understand that Asian Pacific Americans are concerned that their loyalty and patriotism are being challenged. That’s because of racism,” Richardson said. “In the rush to judgment, some individuals react in ignorance or malice.

“In the wake of the recent espionage allegations, we have received at the DOE numerous inquiries ... like how many Chinese Americans are at the lab, Indian Americans, Russian Americans. The answer we give: ‘We don’t distinguish between Americans. Americans are Americans. Period.’ “

Okay, but what if some of us Americans don’t have that WASPy Mayflower look? In this case, we get mistaken for foreigners even if we’ve been here for generations. Are you Chinese? Really? Filipino? Or are you really American?

What’s worse is that suddenly we get bonehead, reactionary calls for legislation. Richardson acknowledged that, as a response to the Lee case, bills have been introduced in the House and Senate to prohibit foreigners from even seeing the unclassified parts of the national laboratories. “Now, the individual in question is a lab employee, not an outside visitor,” Richardson said. “Therefore, this is all so startlingly misconstrued and short-sighted. And it is wrong.”

Still, the debate will go on. As will the evolution of Lee’s saga. And as the 2000 presidential campaign heats up, expect it all to be a sure-fire hot button.

Where should we stand? Together—preferably, as Asian Pacific Americans.

“This is not just a Chinese American issue,” said Lillian Kimura, past president of the national Japanese American Citizens League. Kimura knows that the Lee case has the same xenophobic strains that resulted in the incarceration of Japanese during World War II.

That’s why Asian Pacific Americans better be proud to say what and who we are, not just in May, but at all times, lest anyone try to take away that right. We’re having a pan-Asian surge, and it couldn’t have come at a better time. And there’s one man to thank: Wen Ho Lee.