U.S. prosecutors dropped criminal charges against Chinese professor Chen Gang

WASHINGTON, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Department of Justice's Massachusetts federal prosecutor dropped criminal charges against MIT professor Chen Gang on january 20. The Chinese professor had previously been arrested by the U.S. side on charges of not disclosing cooperation in China. Us media said that this is the latest setback encountered by the US Department of Justice's so-called "China Action Plan".

U.S. Attorney Rachel Rawlings issued a statement on the same day saying that after carefully evaluating the latest evidence information obtained, the prosecution has determined that it cannot fulfill the burden of proof in subsequent trials. A local Court judge in Massachusetts subsequently granted the rescind of all charges against Mr. Chen.

Chen Gang said in a statement that the so-called "China Action Plan" continues to cause unnecessary panic in academia, and other scientists still face charges.

The so-called "China Action Plan," officially launched by the U.S. Department of Justice in 2018, claims to be designed to investigate trade secret theft and economic espionage that are considered a threat to U.S. national security. As part of the China Action Plan, the U.S. side has prosecuted dozens of scholars and researchers, most of them Chinese, as part of the "China Action Plan" in the past three years, according to US media reports.

On January 14, 2021, Chen Gang was arrested by the US side. MIT Dean Rafael Reeve has said the funds received from Chen Gang's alleged actions were used to advance the group's work and the college's research and education missions.

As more and more Chinese scientists are being groundlessly accused, U.S. civil society groups and scholars at Stanford University, Yale University, and other universities have spoken out, criticizing the "China Action Plan" for harming American academic freedom and scientific competitiveness. In September 2021, 177 stanford scholars sent a joint letter to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland calling for an end to the U.S. Department of Justice's ongoing China Action Plan. (End)