USA: MIT professor arrested for hiding hyperlinks with China

A professor and researcher at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) was arrested by the FBI officers in Massachusetts on Thursday for failing to reveal his shut ties with the People’s Republic of China (PRC) when searching for federal grant cash.
According to the reviews, the 56-year-old nanotechnology scientist Gang Chen was charged by felony grievance with wire fraud and failing to file a international checking account report (FBAR). The authorities have accused him of hiding particulars about his contracts, appointments and awards from varied entities in China to the US Department of Energy. Prof Chan can also be accused of constructing a false assertion in a tax return.
The prosecutors mentioned Chen was concerned in varied efforts to advertise China’s technological and scientific improvement, together with appearing as an “overseas expert” for the Chinese authorities on the request of its New York consulate.
As per reviews, Chen did not disclose his international financial institution accounts and didn’t point out his hyperlinks with China whereas taking US authorities grants from the Department of Energy.
@MIT Prof. Gang Chen can also be accused of accepting approx. $29M in international funding, primarily from entities tied to the People’s Republic of China. As alleged, he additionally acquired a minimum of $355K via a wide range of Chinese expertise plans he by no means disclosed to @MIT or the federal govt.— FBI Boston (@FBIBoston) January 14, 2021
The press launch issued by the District of Massachusetts acknowledged that Chen is a naturalized US citizen who was born in China. At the time of his arrest, Chen was a professor and researcher at MIT the place he served as Director of the MIT Pappalardo Micro/Nano Engineering Laboratory and Director of the Solid-State Solar Thermal Energy Conversion Center (S3TEC). Chen’s analysis at MIT has been funded by greater than $19 million in grants awarded by varied US federal companies.
Since 2012, Chen has allegedly held varied appointments with the PRC designed to advertise the PRC’s technological and scientific improvement by offering recommendation and experience, typically on to Chinese authorities officers and acquired monetary compensation in change. Chen acted as an “overseas expert” for the Chinese authorities on the request of the Chinese Consulate Office in New York and serving as a member of a minimum of two PRC Talent Programs.
As per the FBI, from 2013, Chen allegedly acquired roughly $29 million of international funding, together with $19 million from the PRC’s Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech). It is additional alleged that Chen’s efforts to advertise the PRC’s scientific and financial improvement had been partially detailed in a February 2016 e mail that Chen despatched himself utilizing his MIT e-mail account.
Following his arrest, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has executed search warrants at his house in Cambridge and workplace at MIT. According to the US legal guidelines, Chen may find yourself in jail for as much as 20 years and a positive of as much as $250,000 if costs are proved.
Chen was later launched on bail. In an announcement, MIT claimed that it was “deeply distressed” by the arrest. Meanwhile, Chen’s lawyer, Robert Fisher, mentioned the 56-year-old “loves the United States and looks forward to vigorously defending these allegations.”
Chinese infiltration into US universities, allegation of CPC spy ring
Earlier in December, stunning revelations had come forth relating to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)’s huge funding into US universities and its analysis programme. We had reported intimately about how the Chinese Communist Party not solely spends some huge cash on presents to researches in US universities but in addition about the way it ran a spy ring contained in the United States.
Shockingly, the Chinese have infiltrated into the highest US universities, similar to Princeton and Harvard within the US and have been profitable in not solely stealing strategic analysis paperwork but in addition using researches in these universities as Chinese spies. The Communist Party of China underneath the management of Ji Xinping has pumped some huge cash into universities, particularly Harvard and Yale, reviews have claimed.
It is estimated that the overall tally of presents and contracts from China to US universities for the reason that begin of 2013 is round $1 billion. Nearly 115 schools acquired financial presents, contracts or each from sources in mainland China from 2013 to 2019, based on US authorities knowledge. 
China funds huge quantity on US universities
Most suspect that China was investing billions of {dollars} into college after totally realising the necessity for trapping the world’s most good minds who educate at these universities. The China has efficiently established a spy ring at prime US universities, together with Harvard and different Boston universities.
Reportedly, the Chinese army sends its spies disguised as college students, who’re particularly skilled to steal mental property and analysis paperwork from the college labs and ship it again to China.
Addition to that, a leak from the CCP information had revealed that the Chinse authorities via a recruitment company carried out a well-coordinated infiltration by getting its members employed in senior, specialist and advisory positions in consulates of nations similar to India, UK, USA and Australia.
The leak had urged that CCP has infiltrated the consulates of some international locations in Shanghai via a government-run recruitment company. Through a well-coordinated effort, advisers had been positioned in western international locations for over a decade. At least 10 consulates in Shanghai employed CCP members as senior political and authorities affairs specialists, clerks, financial advisers and government assistants.