Well-known Chinese professor Chen Gang was arrested in the U.S. and was opened to counterattack in Chinese and foreign academic circles
The New York Times reported that in the 10 days after Chen Gang was arrested, the principal of MIT and more than 160 faculty members signed an open letter in support of Chen Gang.
Recently, Chen Gang, a leading figure in international heat transfer science, a member of the American Academy of Engineering, and a professor at MIT was arrested by the FBI. On the 27th, the New York Times reported that Professor Chen had been released on bail.
This incident aroused great attention from the Chinese and aesthetic circles.
On the day when news of Chen Gang’s arrest came out, Rao Yi, a well-known Chinese biologist, led the academic circle to launch a counterattack, saying that “the FBI’s arrest of Professor Chen Gang was a typical racist behavior”; on the 26th, the president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and More than 160 faculty members also signed an open letter in support of Chen Gang.
What exactly did Chen Gang do that would offend the United States so much?
Why does the FBI repeatedly attack Chinese scientists? What kind of psychology does this reveal in the United States?
Why offend the United States?
In the early morning of January 14, local time, Chen Gang, a well-known Chinese professor, was arrested at his home in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
The sudden arrival of the arrest warrant surprised many people: Why did Chen Gang as a scientist anger the United States?
The website of the US Department of Justice published a 23-page criminal indictment against Professor Chen Gang written by agent McCarthy. The details are very "moving."
The indictment showed that Chen Gang was facing “wire transfer fraud” (failed to disclose contracts, appointments and awards obtained from multiple institutions in China when applying for funding from the U.S. Department of Energy), “failed to submit foreign bank and financial account reports” and “to the U.S. Government agencies made false statements" three allegations.
The evidence in their mouths is that since 2012, Chen Gang, a Chinese-American who is the head of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at MIT, has held a number of positions in China. The purpose is to provide advice and expertise to promote China's technological development and obtain economic benefits. Compensation; Since 2013, Chen Gang has received more than US$19 million in research grants from US federal agencies. This year, Chen Gang also received about US$29 million in foreign funding, including 19 million from the Southern University of Science and Technology of China Dollars.
The US side did not let go of Chen Gang's email.
After hacking the mailbox, the FBI rummaged through all of Chen Gang's correspondence and claimed that the amount of information was huge.
The FBI stated that Chen Gang has extensively cooperated with China and guided China's scientific and technological progress in related fields. The key details disclosed include: Chen Gang said that he would promote cooperation with China, and suggested that China should make innovation science the key and core.
"The litigation allegations show that Chen Gang's behavior is not only related to money, but also related to loyalty to China." Boston Federal Attorney Lelin said he believes that Chen Gang, who has been a US citizen for more than 20 years, is still loyal to his country of birth.
Counterattack
On January 15, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian said in response to a reporter’s question about Chen Gang’s arrest: “Some US departments should act professionally and fairly when handling relevant cases, stop engaging in political manipulation, and stop polluting China’s relevant talent programs. Named, stop disrupting normal exchanges and cooperation between China and the United States in the science, technology and humanities fields."
The website of the US Department of Justice published a 23-page criminal indictment against Professor Chen Gang written by agent McCarthy. The details are very "moving."
The indictment showed that Chen Gang was facing “wire transfer fraud” (failed to disclose contracts, appointments and awards obtained from multiple institutions in China when applying for funding from the U.S. Department of Energy), “failed to submit foreign bank and financial account reports” and “to the U.S. Government agencies made false statements" three allegations.
The evidence in their mouths is that since 2012, Chen Gang, a Chinese-American who is the head of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at MIT, has held a number of positions in China. The purpose is to provide advice and expertise to promote China's technological development and obtain economic benefits. Compensation; Since 2013, Chen Gang has received more than US$19 million in research grants from US federal agencies. This year, Chen Gang also received about US$29 million in foreign funding, including 19 million from the Southern University of Science and Technology of China Dollars.
The US side did not let go of Chen Gang's email.
After hacking the mailbox, the FBI rummaged through all of Chen Gang's correspondence and claimed that the amount of information was huge.
The FBI stated that Chen Gang has extensively cooperated with China and guided China's scientific and technological progress in related fields. The key details disclosed include: Chen Gang said that he would promote cooperation with China, and suggested that China should make innovation science the key and core.
"The litigation allegations show that Chen Gang's behavior is not only related to money, but also related to loyalty to China." Boston Federal Attorney Lelin said he believes that Chen Gang, who has been a US citizen for more than 20 years, is still loyal to his country of birth.
Counterattack
On January 15, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian said in response to a reporter’s question about Chen Gang’s arrest: “Some US departments should act professionally and fairly when handling relevant cases, stop engaging in political manipulation, and stop polluting China’s relevant talent programs. Named, stop disrupting normal exchanges and cooperation between China and the United States in the science, technology and humanities fields."
On the 22nd, MIT President Rafael Reeve issued an open letter stating that the "US$19 million from China" cited in the criminal proceedings was not personally acquired by Chen Gang, but was a well-known collaboration between MIT and Southern University of Science and Technology of China. Part.
On the 26th, Chen Gang’s colleagues publicly protested, believing that the US prosecutor’s actions have gone beyond what they should be. The MIT president and more than 160 faculty members jointly signed an open letter in support of Chen Gang.
Maggie Reeves, a law professor at West East University in the United States, also accused the United States of behavior in an article. She said that Chen Gang’s strong support showed that the US Department of Justice’s "China Initiative" plan had failed, and the Chen Gang case highlighted. The main problem of the "China Initiative" is to overemphasize national security and prejudice.
She called for the end of the "China Initiative" and the Biden administration should change this situation.
Shrouded in fear
The "China Initiative" program that Levi's called it was launched in November 2018 to eradicate American researchers who handed over sensitive technologies to China. The prosecution of Chen Gang is the latest action by the U.S. Department of Justice to implement the program.
Some analysts pointed out that this indicates that the ghost of "McCarthyism" will be rampant again.
Everything seems to be a sign.
Chen Gang has already felt the changes in the domestic political atmosphere in the United States.
In 2019, Chen Gang shortened the time spent on academic leave to work at SUSTech and returned to MIT early to avoid being suspected of leaking his professional knowledge to his Chinese counterparts.
In July of that year, the U.S. government launched a large-scale investigation of the connections between Chinese scientists and foreign governments. Chen Gang said frankly in an interview with Nature magazine: “The current atmosphere has created a lot of psychological fear.” In January last year, Chen Gang was in When returning to the United States from China, he was detained by customs officers at Boston Logan Airport, and his mobile phones and computers were both detained for 60 days.
Investigators disclosed that they carefully searched Chen Gang's emails, WeChat and documents, and found many suspicious records of communication with the Chinese side.
Chen Gang is not alone in this encounter.
Discrimination, expulsion, arrest, persecution... In recent years, as one aspect of the science and technology and talent war launched against China, the United States has been taking actions against Chinese scholars, scientists, and Chinese scholars and scientists engaged in scientific and technological exchanges and cooperation with China.
These actions will certainly cause China to suffer losses, but in the end it must be the self-proclaimed United States that will hurt itself.
There must be science and innovation to follow these Chinese scientists to leave.
"With history as a mirror, American science can only flourish by attracting overseas talent. Xenophobia is not a winning strategy." Bloomberg also wrote in an article titled "Stupid Acts: Criminalizing Science."
Written by Wang Ruoxian
Editor Du Yuao