"When handling relevant cases, some departments of the US side should stop engaging in political manipulation in a professional and fair form, stop stigmatizing China's relevant talent introduction plan, and stop interfering with and undermining normal exchanges and cooperation between China and the United States in the field of science and technology and humanities." ”
A year ago, on January 14, Gang Chen, a member of the U.S. Academy of Engineering and a prominent Chinese-American professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), was indicted and arrested for allegedly "failing to disclose to the U.S. Department of Energy his work in China and the huge rewards he received" and accused of "concealing the fact that he worked for the Chinese government while working on U.S. government-funded nanotechnology." A year later, on January 20, the U.S. Department of Justice formally dismissed the case on the grounds of insufficient evidence.
1. Accused of collecting "huge sums of money" from China, and now withdrawing the charges
On Thursday (Jan. 20), local time, all charges against the prominent Chinese professor at MIT were dropped, and the U.S. Department of Justice filed a short one-page document in the Federal Court of Boston revealing the ruling in the case of Gang Chen, a mechanical engineering professor and nanotechnology expert. Rachael Rollins, a new federal prosecutor in Massachusetts, said the prosecution "can no longer bear the burden of proof at trial" after receiving the new information.
According to the information on the MIT official website, Gang Chen was born in China, has been a naturalized American, and is a Chinese-American. In 1987, he graduated from Huazhong University of Science and Technology with a master's degree. He currently serves as a professor in the MIT Nanoengineering Group, where he is director of the MIT Pappalardo Micro and Nano Engineering Laboratory and Director of the Solid State Solar Thermal Conversion Center. Last year, he was accused of allegedly "concealing ties with China" while collecting dollars for his nanotechnology research. Still, his lawyers have consistently said he didn't do anything wrong.
The case was brought a year ago by Andrew Lelling, a former federal prosecutor in Massachusetts who also indicted several other academics who allegedly had "allegedly had illegal ties to China," while the new federal prosecutor, Rawlings, took over the office earlier this month. In a statement, Rawlings said, "The withdrawal of criminal charges against Chen Gang today is the result of our continued investigation into the matter." Through this effort, we recently obtained additional information on the importance of Professor Chan's alleged omissions in the grant review process. After carefully evaluating this new information in the context of all the evidence, our Office concluded that we could no longer bear the burden of proof at trial. ”
Federal Prosecutor Rachel Rawlings continued, "As prosecutors, we have an obligation to conduct an ongoing investigation into everything we pursue, while receiving and discovering new information. We understand that our accusation decisions profoundly affect people's lives. As a federal prosecutor, I will always encourage prosecutors in our office to conduct this rigorous and ongoing review at every stage of the proceedings. Today's withdrawal is the result of this process and is in the interest of justice. ”
After the charges were dropped, MIT President L. Raphael Reif Rafael Reif) sent a statement to the school's teachers, students and staff, saying: "The government has requested the court to dismiss all charges against Chen Gang, and all those who know Chen Gang are relieved", "We extend our most sincere wishes and heartfelt support to Chen Gang and his family." ”
2. The statement of MIT Dean L. Raphael Reif is as follows:
"Fellow MIT students, I am writing to confirm the long-awaited progress in the case of our dear colleague and friend, Professor Gang Chen: the government has asked the court to dismiss all charges against him, and all those who know Gang are relieved. While MIT is unable to comment further on the details of the government motion, we extend our sincerest wishes and heartfelt support to Gang and his family.
Professor Gang Chen and students completed the "Ice Bucket Challenge"
Gang was detained for the first time at Logan Airport about six weeks before the pandemic hit our community; since then, the burden on him and his family has been beyond imagination. It is difficult for us to reconcile and accept the suffering of those we have proudly and fortunately known over the past two years. Of course, the case has also caused ongoing pain to our community, especially for Gang's friends, students, and colleagues, as well as Chinese at MIT and elsewhere.
We had faith in Gang from the start, and we should all rejoice that a just outcome of a destructive process is coming. We look forward to his full return to our community, and there are high hopes for the full dismissal of this case."
3. The Chinese side has responded to this matter
Earlier, in response to Chen Gang's arrest, the Chinese Foreign Ministry responded at that time: the Chinese government has always maintained that relevant talent exchanges and cooperation must be based on abiding by the law, upholding scientific integrity and abiding by professional ethics, and that the relevant policy measures are not fundamentally different from the common practices of various countries.
At that time, the Chinese side also stressed that "when handling relevant cases, some departments of the US side should stop engaging in political manipulation in a professional and fair manner, stop stigmatizing China's relevant talent introduction plan, and stop interfering with and undermining normal exchanges and cooperation between China and the United States in the field of science and technology and humanities." ”