U.S. prosecutors recommend dropping case against MIT professor over China ties 美國檢察官建議撤銷對麻省理工學院教授與中國關係的訴訟. 加州大學伯克利分校王靈智教授：令人驚訝的是，每個與陳鋼案有關的政府官員突然無話可說。 我很高興麻省理工學院的管理人員和教職員工為陳教授辯護.
Professor Ling-chi Wang of UC Berkeley: It is amazing how suddenly every government official connected to the Chen Gang case has nothing to say. I am glad MIT administration and faculty defended Prof. Chen.
It is time for DOJ to shut down the China Initiative and close the shop.
Unfortunately, President Biden is not likely to do that because in doing so, he will lose one of his important tools to incite fear and hatred of China and Chinese in the U.S. and across the world, a cornerstone of his aggressive policy of containment of China.
BOSTON, Jan 14 (Reuters) – Prosecutors have recommended that the U.S. Justice Department drop charges against a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor accused of concealing his ties to China when seeking federal grant money, a person familiar with the matter said Friday.
Federal prosecutors in Boston decided to seek dismissal of the case against Chinese-born mechanical engineer and nanotechnologist Gang Chen. It was the latest setback for a crackdown on Chinese influence within U.S. research.
Boston prosecutors recommended the case’s dismissal in recent weeks based on new information, the person said, adding the Justice Department has not made a final decision.
He was accused of failing to disclose, among other things, that he served as an “overseas expert” to the Chinese government and sat on the advisory board of Shenzhen’s Southern University of Science and Technology, or SUSTech, when applying for a U.S. Department of Energy grant.
But Brian Kelly, a lawyer for Chen at Nixon Peabody, has said last week that “nothing significant was omitted on his application and several of the government’s allegations were simply wrong.”
MIT President Rafael Reif has defended its $25 million collaboration SUSTech as furthering MIT’s research mission. Faculty in a letter last year rallied around Chen, saying the case against him vilified normal research activities.
Kelly and co-counsel Rob Fisher had no comment on Friday. MIT declined to comment. Wyn Hornbuckle, a Justice Department spokesperson, had no comment on Chen’s case.
The Wall Street Journal first reported the recommendation.
Chen was charged in January 2021 as part of the department’s “China Initiative,” launched during former President Donald Trump’s administration to counter suspected Chinese economic espionage and research theft.
Targets included university researchers. A Harvard professor, Charles Lieber, last month was convicted of lying about his ties to a China-run recruitment program. He is expected to appeal.
Critics say the initiative chilled academic research and targeted Chinese researchers through racial profiling. And despite the Harvard win, several other cases have faltered.
A Tennessee professor was acquitted by a judge last year following a mistrial, and prosecutors dropped charges against six other researchers.
President Joe Biden’s administration has continued the initiative, though Hornbuckle said the Justice Department is reviewing its approach, a review that should be completed in the coming weeks.
Rachael Rollins, newly appointed U.S. attorney in Massachusetts, during a meeting with reporters on Thursday would not address whether prosecutors should stop bringing China Initiative cases.
But she said “the government will always look to see whether we can prove our case at various points.”
Johnson Choi Biz 