Google entered MIT Chen Gang's name, and news related to him dominated the mainstream media in the United States, from the Washington Post to the New York Times, which paid attention to Chen Gang's case!
The key words in this case involve: "well-known Chinese professor", "MIT", "China", "Trump administration", all of which are eye-catching hot words. The New York Times described the case as an embarrassing setback for the U.S. government.
Born in 1964 in Nanzhang, Hubei Province, Chen Gang is a leading figure in international heat transfer, broke the formula of the law of blackbody radiation for the first time in 2009, was elected an academician of the National Academy of Engineering in 2010, the first Chinese director of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2013, and an academician of the American Academy of Humanities and Sciences in 2018.
MIT official list of Chen Gang's achievements
Such an accomplished scientist was arrested by the U.S. Department of Justice on January 14, 2021, for failing to disclose his work and awards in China to the U.S. Department of Energy when applying for government grants.
According to reports, in the early morning of January 14 last year, Chen Gang was arrested at his home in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The U.S. Department of Justice's website published a 23-page criminal indictment with "touching" details. The indictment charged Mr. Chen with "wire fraud," "failure to file reports on foreign banks and financial accounts," and "making false statements to U.S. government agencies."
The so-called evidence includes a number of positions held by Chen Gang in China since 2012, with the aim of promoting China's scientific and technological development and obtaining financial compensation by providing expertise. In 2013, Chen Gang accepted $19 million from Southern University of Science and Technology in China. The FBI also went through Chen Gang's emails, claiming that the amount of information was huge. Key details disclosed by the FBI include: Chen Gang said it would promote cooperation with China and suggested that China make innovative science the key and core. Boston Attorney Lelin said he believes Chen Gang, who has been a U.S. citizen for more than 20 years, remains loyal to his country of birth.
However, in the face of these seemingly mountain-like "ironclad evidence", the US Department of Justice finally gave up after smearing Chen Gang for a year. Federal Prosecutor Rachael Rollins wrote in a statement today: "The withdrawal of criminal charges against Gang Chen today is the result of our continued investigation, and we have recently obtained significant information about what Gang Chen allegedly omitted in the process of funding review in this case, and we conclude that we cannot continue to bear the burden of proof at trial." ”
In short, the prosecution can't find anything, and it can't go on.
Criminalize science
MIT wrote online that "all charges against Chen Gang have been dropped," one of the most prominent scientists MIT has been charged for its "China initiative."
From the beginning, Chen Gang was innocent, and MIT proved at the time that Chen Gang was establishing a cooperative relationship with China on behalf of MIT. MIT President Rieve once slapped U.S. prosecutors in the face that the "$19 million from China" funding cited in the criminal proceedings was not Chen Gang's personal income, but part of a well-known collaboration between MIT and the Southern University of Science and Technology of China. Therefore, in the past year, MIT has paid for Chen Gang's legal defense.
But during the course of the investigation, officials, including the U.S. Department of Energy, said they did not believe Professor Chen was obligated to disclose his position in China, and that even if the Department of Energy knew about it, it would not affect his application for grants.
Chen Gang's lawyer, Robert Fisher, also issued a statement today: The government finally acknowledges what we have been saying that Professor Chen Gang is innocent. Our defense never gave any legal technical details, and Chen Gang did not commit any of the crimes he was charged with at all. He was never an overseas scientist in Beijing, he disclosed everything he was supposed to disclose, he never lied to the government or anyone else.
Mr. Chen said that while he was relieved that his ordeal was over, he noted that the U.S. government's grossly misguided China Initiative had created unnecessary fear in academia, and that other scientists still faced charges. Chen Gang also revealed that he will soon have more content to reveal.
The infamous China Action Plan
MIT noted that Chen Gang is one of the most prominent scientists accused of being accused under the China Action Plan, a plan launched by the Justice Department during the Trump administration to counter China's threats to U.S. security and theft of American technology.
But MIT's technology review site found that the plan, in the name of preserving U.S. national security, was in fact largely only targeted at academics with ties to China, not the theft of trade secret information. Of the 77 cases, only 19 (25 percent) were economically related and 23 were related to academic and visa fraud. Of the 148 people accused, up to 130 are Chinese scientists.
Chen Gang's case was the eighth to be dropped before trial, after Professor Hu Anming of the University of Tennessee was the first to be falsely accused by the FBI, submitted to a jury, and then eventually acquitted. But charles Lieber, head of Harvard's department of chemistry and biochemistry, was convicted a month ago.
"We are all Chen Gang"
As one of the most well-known victims of the China Action Plan, Chen Gang's case has made the outside world aware of this clumsy plan and sparked opposition to it in Chinese and American academic circles. Colleagues at MIT who signed a joint letter in support of Gang Chen, titled "We Are All Chen Gang," expressed not only their support for Gang Chen, but also their concerns about the U.S. government's censorship.
U.S. law professor Maggie Levis also blamed U.S. behavior in an article, saying that the strong support chen garnered showed that the U.S. Department of Justice's "China Initiative" program had failed, and that the Chen Gang case highlighted the main problem of the "China Action Plan," namely, the overemphasis on national security and bias. She called for the plan to end and the Biden administration to make changes.
Rao Yi, a well-known Chinese biologist and professor at Peking University, wrote to the president and vice president of MIT. In a letter titled "Raise your head and straighten your spine," Rao Pointed out that Chen Gang's relationship with China is a very normal relationship in academia, and hopes that MIT can raise his head and straighten his spine to protect Chen Gang.
Patrick Toomey, a lawyer for the Acliberties Union, represents two researchers under investigation by the China Action Plan, urged the U.S. government to fundamentally reform its policies, and racial discrimination in the name of national security is unacceptable.
Margaret Lewis, a law professor at Seton Hall University, said the end of the criminal case was a big news for Chen Gang and his defense team was commendable, but let's not forget that he was first questioned at the airport two years ago, first prosecuted a year ago, and even if the lawsuit is withdrawn now, the labor costs used in the process are quite high. Lewis hopes the Justice Department can issue a broader statement ending the China action plan.
Under the crusade of all parties, China's action plan has been shaky. Sources say the Biden administration may announce changes to the plan in the coming weeks. The U.S. Department of Justice is considering abandoning the China Action Plan project name and reclassifying existing cases. John Demers, a former Justice Department official overseeing the program, has actually said he favors an amnesty program that would allow researchers to be exempt from prosecution after disclosing undisclosed relationships. It sounds more like finding yourself a step down. Smearing China in the name of national security, positioning science as a crime, and spreading fear in American academic circles, the victims of the "China Action Plan" have always been the United States itself.