On January 14, 2021, Chen Gang, a Chinese-American professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), was arrested at home and charged with multiple charges. Just a year later, on January 15, foreign media quoted three people familiar with the matter as saying that federal prosecutors would soon seek to drop the charges against Professor Chen Gang, which would mark the most closely watched setback of the "China Initiative" launched by the Justice Department since 2018.
The Chinese professor was accused
The school helped him pay his lawyer's fees
Prosecutors in Boston have sent a recall memo to the Justice Department this week, according to sources. The Justice Department has not yet passed, but it is expected to pass in the coming weeks. The U.S. Attorney's Office in Boston, which prosecuted Chen's case, did not comment on the matter.
U.S. Department of Justice Headquarters Building
A year ago, Professor Chen Gang was charged with telecommunications fraud, making false statements on tax forms, and failing to submit information about a foreign bank account. Notably, the case was brought because of the China Action Plan, but Professor Chen was not charged with the core content of the plan, the so-called "theft of secrets and leaks to China."
It is reported that in 2017, Professor Chen Gang, as the then head of the mechanical engineering department of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, applied to the U.S. Department of Energy for a grant to support the school's project. Prosecutors allege that Professor Chen Gang did not disclose his relationship with the Chinese government and the Southern University of Science and Technology in his application. In response, MIT officials responded that Chen Gang's application form in 2017 did not require disclosure of information such as his relationship with foreign institutions. Prosecutors also accused Professor Chen gang and his team of receiving a $19 million grant from Southern University of Science and Technology. In this regard, MIT Dean Rafael Reif also took a very rare approach to support Chen Gang. He issued an open letter clarifying that the funding was not provided for Mr. Chen's personal collaborative project, but rather for a "departmental" collaborative project at MIT to advance "MIT's research and teaching mission."
It is reported that while the university openly supported Professor Chen Gang, it also bore legal costs for him. Professor Chen Gang has been suspended with pay since his arrest in January last year.
Many parties supported Chen Gang
Facilitate the revocation of charges
How can Professor Chen Gang's case be reversed? During the past year's investigation, a colleague of Professor Chen Gang reportedly confirmed to investigators that she was not aware of Chen Gang's involvement in any talent programs related to the Chinese government. The evidence, which could prove the defense's innocence, must be disclosed, under the law, but the government did not hand it over until last December under pressure from Professor Chan's lawyers. But what really turned the tide was the new information prosecutors received last week that led to their decision to seek rescinding the charges.
Professor Gang Chen charts the network
Prosecutors learned about the situation last week from a senior energy department official. It is the person who decides what information on the grant application form is important and which should be disclosed. The official confirmed that the 2017 form did not require disclosure of Professor Chen Gang's relationship with THE SOUTHERN University of Science and Technology, other Chinese government organizations or projects. According to people familiar with the matter, the conversation with the official was key to Chen's withdrawal of charges.
In fact, the case sparked controversy from the start. At the time, Boston's then-prosecutor, Andrew Lyling, announced charges against Mr. Chen on the trump administration's last full working day. Last July, magistrate Donald Cabell warned Mr. Lynn of his remarks in a written order, calling them "unwise." Mr. Lyrin himself later told multiple media outlets that he was in favor of ending the plan's cases of prosecuting people for "undisclosed information."
The "China Action Plan" has been protested continuously
The U.S. Department of Justice's review is expected to adjust
Professor Chen Gang is one of more than 20 academics and researchers who have been indicted under the China Action Plan over the past three years. Most of them have been accused of making false statements and failing to disclose their ties to China in federal grant applications or visa applications, rather than being accused of intending to engage in espionage. Moreover, the vast majority of them are of Chinese descent.
And a "fund fraud case" like Professor Chen Gang became the "Achilles heel" of the project. Investigators have used vague information from federal grant applications to try to prove that the scholars deliberately omitted the information, but this is actually difficult. At least eight academics or researchers have been dismissed or acquitted in the past year. Previously, Hu Anming, a Chinese-American professor at the University of Tennessee and an expert in nanotechnology, was also found not guilty. That's exactly what critics of the program fear, that prosecutors have filed lawsuits without enough evidence that these people pose a danger to the United States.
Juan Ming Hu according to the network
Protests against the China Action Plan have continued since the program was launched, with scholars at American universities, including Stanford and Yale, criticizing the program for harming america's own research capabilities and academic freedom, and calling for an end to discriminatory investigations of Students and Scholars of Chinese descent. Just this week, 192 professors from Yale University sent a joint letter to Attorney General Garland pointing out that the program has "fundamental flaws" and includes many aspects of racial profiling. Earlier, more than 20 Asia-Pacific American groups had sent letters to U.S. President Joe Biden calling for the program to be scrapped.
Currently, Attorney General Garland has assigned Matthew Olson, head of the Justice Department's national security unit, to review the program, with changes expected.
Red Star News reporter Lin Rong
Edited by Guo Yu
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