BOSTON:A Harvard University professor was convicted on Tuesday of U.S. charges that he lied about his ties to a China-run recruitment program in a closely-watched case stemming from a crackdown on Chinese influence within U.S. research.
A federal jury in Boston found Charles Lieber, a renowned nanoscientist and the former chairman of Harvard’s chemistry department, guilty on all six counts he faced including that he made false statements to authorities and filed false tax returns.
Prosecutors had said that Lieber, in his quest for a Nobel Prize, in 2011 agreed to become a “strategic scientist” at Wuhan University of Technology in China and through it participated in a Chinese recruitment drive called the Thousand Talents Program.
Prosecutors say China uses that program to recruit foreign researchers to share their knowledge with the country. Participation is not a crime, but prosecutors contend Lieber, 62, illegally lied to authorities about his involvement.
Defense lawyer Marc Mukasey had countered that prosecutors had “mangled” evidence to prove Lieber’s guilt, lacked key documents to support their claims and relied too heavily on a “confused” FBI interview with the scientist after his arrest.
He was charged in January 2020 as part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s “China Initiative,” launched during former President Donald Trump’s administration to counter Chinese “economic espionage” and “research theft.”
President Joe Biden’s administration has continued the initiative, though the Justice Department has said it is reviewing its approach.
Critics contend https://www.reuters.com/world/us/stanford-professors-urge-us-end-program-looking-chinese-spies-academia-2021-09-13 the initiative harms academic research, racially profiles Chinese researchers and terrorized some scientists. A Tennessee professor was acquitted by a judge this year following a mistrial, and prosecutors dropped charges against six other researchers.
Prosecutors said Lieber lied about his role in the recruitment program in response to inquiries from the U.S. Defense Department and the U.S. National Institutes of Health, which had awarded him $15 million in research grants.
During an interview with FBI agents following his arrest, Lieber said he was “younger and stupid” when he linked up with the Wuhan university and believed his collaboration would boost his recognition.
Through that school, he was paid up to $50,000 per month plus $158,000 in annual living expenses, and received his salary half in cash and half in deposits to a Chinese bank account, prosecutors said.
But they said Lieber failed to report his salary on his 2013 and 2014 income tax returns and for two years failed to report the bank account.
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