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China Initiative
Chen is one of the most prominent scientists charged under the “China Initiative,” a Justice Department program launched by the Trump administration to counter economic espionage and national security threats from the People’s Republic of China.
Despite a clear purpose, investigation MIT Technology Review The initiative was found to be increasingly focused on prosecuting academic integrity issues — hiding ties or funds to Chinese entities on grant or visa forms — rather than industrial espionage for the theft of trade secrets. Only 19 (25%) of the 77 cases found by MIT Technology Review involved alleged violations of the Economic Espionage Act, while 23 (30%) involved alleged academic grant or visa fraud.
Our report also found that the initiative disproportionately affected scientists of Chinese descent, who accounted for 130 (88%) of the 148 people charged with the initiative.
Chen’s case was the eighth research integrity case to be dismissed before trial.Last month, Harvard professor Charles Lieber convicted On six counts of misrepresentation and tax fraud, the trial of University of Tennessee-Knoxville professor Anmin Hu was the first research integrity case to be brought to a jury, ending first in a nullity trial and then a total acquittal.
Research Integrity Cases in the MIT Technology Review China Initiative Database
A case of catalysis
Chen’s indictment has drawn awareness and opposition to the initiative because of his prominence in the field and the seemingly routine activities for which he was indicted, including working with a Chinese university at the request of his institution. “We are all Gang Chen”, a group of MIT faculty wrote At the time, they expressed both support for their colleagues and concerns about how their activities could be subject to government scrutiny.
“The conclusion of the criminal case is huge news for Professor Chen, and his defense team deserves credit for the work,” said Margaret Lewis, a Seton Hall University law professor who has written about the China initiative. “But let’s not forget that he was interrogated at the airport for the first time two years ago and charged a year ago. Even if the charges were removed, the human cost would be high.”
Shortly after being fired, MIT Dean L. Rafael Reif provided more details on labor costs in a note to the MIT community. “Just about six weeks before the pandemic hit our community, he was first detained at Logan Airport; since then, the burden on him and his family has been unimaginable,” he wrote, while acknowledging “this case It has also been causing ongoing pain. Our community, especially to Gang’s friends, students and colleagues, as well as Chinese Americans at MIT and elsewhere.”
“Having faith in Gang from the beginning, we can all be thankful that a just outcome of a destructive process is coming. We are eager for his full return to our community,” added Reif.
Lewis added: “I hope that the Justice Department will soon move beyond the announcement on reviewing individual cases to make a broader statement ending the China initiative.”
But “rebranding the China initiative is not enough,” added Patrick Toomey, a senior staff attorney for the ACLU National Security Project, which represented two prominent researchers who were wrongly identified before the China initiative was announced in 2018. accusation. “The Justice Department must fundamentally reform its policy to racial profiling in the name of national security.”
It’s not just scholar and civil rights groups said. Criticism of the initiative has grown over the past year.Ninety members of Congress have ask Attorney General Merrick Garland investigated concerns over racial profiling, and former Justice Department officials have advocated for a change of course.
Former Justice Department head John Demers, who oversaw the initiative, said: it is said Favored a proposal for an amnesty program that would allow researchers to disclose previously undisclosed relationships without fear of prosecution. Meanwhile, in response to the MIT Technology Review report, former U.S. District Attorney Andrew Lelling of Massachusetts, who brought charges against Chen, debate Some programs for academics should be closed. There are also six research integrity cases still pending, four of which are scheduled to go to trial this spring.
Some kind of announcement could be imminent: Justice Department spokeswoman Wyn Hornbuckle told MIT Technology Review in an email last week that the Justice Department was “reviewing our approach to the threat posed by the Chinese government” and expected to “complete the review and More information to be provided in the next few weeks.”
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