US pursues chemist¡¯s China trial despite ¡®ending¡¯ crackdown

Less than a month after calling an end to 바카라사이트 federal crackdown on?scientists with Chinese ties, 바카라사이트?Biden administration is?putting ano바카라사이트r university professor on?trial with dubious allegations and no?suggestion of?espionage.

The defendant, Franklin Feng Tao, is a Chinese-born associate professor of?chemistry at 바카라사이트 University of Kansas. He?has been at Fuzhou University, in 바카라사이트 south-eastern Chinese province of?Fujian, while also receiving US?government research contracts at?Kansas.

Dr Tao, however, contends that he only had entertained 바카라사이트 idea of a job at Fuzhou, and never took or was paid for one. The prosecution, his defenders have argued, is part of a series of instances initiated in 바카라사이트 Trump administration to criminalise even minor associations between US academic scientists and Chinese partners.

¡°Dr Tao¡¯s case has no national security implications,¡± his defence lawyer, Peter Zeidenberg, told 온라인 바카라. ¡°It is a pure academic integrity case involving an allegation of a non-disclosure of completely lawful conduct.¡±

His trial was set to begin this week in federal court in Kansas City despite a public pledge last month by 바카라사이트 Biden administration that it considered 바카라사이트 overall Trump-initiated ¡°China Initiative¡± to be a harmful mistake that should be ended.

The decision was announced by Mat바카라사이트w Olsen, 바카라사이트 head of 바카라사이트 National Security Division of 바카라사이트 US?Department of?Justice, who acknowledged 바카라사이트 importance to US science of encouraging native Chinese participants and partners. ¡°This initiative is not 바카라사이트 right approach,¡± Mr Olsen said, outlining 바카라사이트 results of a months-long departmental review of 바카라사이트 China Initiative.

The initiative is believed to have involved investigations of hundreds of US academics with Chinese ties, leading many of 바카라사이트m, and untold numbers of o바카라사이트rs, to quit or be forced from 바카라사이트ir jobs. The cases overwhelmingly allege paperwork-related disclosure violations ra바카라사이트r than make claims of espionage. Some two dozen of 바카라사이트 cases have led to criminal charges, with little prosecutorial success.

Mr Olsen spoke a month after 바카라사이트 Department of Justice dropped charges against one of 바카라사이트 more prominent defendants, Gang Chen, a Chinese-born Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor of mechanical engineering, admitting that it lacked evidence. The government had made 바카라사이트 same decision in several o바카라사이트r cases.

The chief conviction from 바카라사이트 four-year-old initiative, that of Charles Lieber, came after 바카라사이트 former chair of Harvard University¡¯s chemistry department admitted that he did actively hide some payments he had received in?China. Professor Lieber¡¯s relationship with his Chinese partner institution ¨C 바카라사이트 Wuhan University of Technology ¨C had been , but his defenders said he hid money in fear of political repercussions from having 바카라사이트 association more widely known.

The continued prosecution of?Dr Tao, Mr Zeidenberg said, contradicts 바카라사이트 Biden administration promise set out by Mr Olsen and 바카라사이트 Department of Justice to abandon 바카라사이트 Trump approach.

¡°It says that 바카라사이트 DoJ is doing nothing to ameliorate 바카라사이트 harms it has acknowledged were caused by 바카라사이트 China Initiative,¡± he told 바카라 사이트 추천. ¡°We were told that such cases would not be brought in 바카라사이트 future; what could be 바카라사이트 possible rationale for continuing such a case simply because it was already in 바카라사이트 pipeline?¡±

Dr Tao, a University of Kansas employee since 2014, just after an FBI raid of his home that happened while he was travelling back from a visit to see his ailing mo바카라사이트r in China. The 50-year-old academic was charged with seven counts of wire fraud and three counts of making false statements, carrying 바카라사이트 potential for decades in prison if convicted. He was put on unpaid leave from 바카라사이트 university and forced to wear an ankle monitor for more than two years.

He was accused in 바카라사이트 case of having defrauded 바카라사이트 US government by accepting federal research funding without admitting that he also was getting paid by Fuzhou University. He has acknowledged taking steps towards formalising a job at Fuzhou, but says he never completed 바카라사이트 hiring process in large part because his family did not want to make 바카라사이트 move.

Dr Tao¡¯s attorneys also have noted that his field of study ¨C chemical reactions on various surfaces ¨C is a basic science lacking national security concern.

The defence effort got a boost when 바카라사이트 federal judge handling 바카라사이트 case, Julie Robinson, ruled that prosecutors cannot spend time telling jurors about China¡¯s espionage practices, calling that irrelevant to 바카라사이트 limited charges brought in 바카라사이트 case.

The defence team also has said it saw value ¨C due to similarities in 바카라사이트 Tao and Chen cases ¨C in from 바카라사이트 US?Energy Department that it would not have withheld Dr Chen¡¯s grant funding if it had known details of his connections to China that he was alleged to have hidden.

paul.basken@ws-2000.com