International Sharp Review｜Chen Gang Case Zhao Xue! The U.S. must immediately stop the political persecution of Chinese scientists
"This is the latest setback for the US so-called 'China Action Plan'." On the 20th local time, the US Department of Justice officially dropped the charges against Chen Gang, a Chinese professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Reuters made the above comments.
In his statement, Chen Gang, the party involved, used a "horrific year" to describe the unwarranted disaster he experienced.
Professor Gang Chen was arrested at his Massachusetts home in January last year.
The U.S. accused him of failing to disclose a partnership with a Chinese university when he applied for a U.S. Department of Energy grant.
However, this accusation is clearly maliciously framed.
MIT President Rafael Leif clarified in an open letter that the school's cooperation and funding exchanges with Chinese partner universities are not Chen Gang's personal behavior, but the school's behavior.
Hundreds of school staff signed an open letter expressing solidarity with Chen Gang.
As this incident fermented, the so-called "China Action Plan" implemented by the United States has been criticized more and more.
Out of an attempt to comprehensively contain and suppress China, the U.S. side has been hampering normal people-to-people and scientific and technological exchanges between China and the U.S. in recent years.
The so-called "China Action Plan" launched in 2018 is a product of this background.
Under the guise of preventing "theft of scientific research results" and preventing "economic espionage", the plan requires judicial departments in 94 regions of the United States to file at least one or two lawsuits against China each year.
According to the MIT Technology Review last month, the "China Action Plan" has involved 77 cases and 148 people have been charged, nearly 90% of whom are of Chinese descent.
From presupposing trumped-up charges to issuing lawsuit targets, such absurdity of disregarding judicial justice happened in the United States, which has always advertised "democracy" and "rule of law". It is simply unbelievable.
Some American public opinion pointed out that this is the US government's blatant "presumption of guilt" against Chinese scientists in the absence of real evidence.
Nearly 2,000 scholars from universities across the United States have signed a letter to the US attorney general, questioning the plan.
政治操弄掩盖不了事实真相。据报道，算上陈刚案，已有8起与“中国行动计划”有关的案件被撤销指控。这其中，美国田纳西大学教授胡安明是首位因“中国行动计划”出庭受审的华裔学者。去年9月，美法官宣布针对胡安明的所有指控均不成立。这不啻是美方滥用司法程序、大搞政治霸凌的自我“打脸”，有力证明所谓“中国行动计划”不过是美反华势力对华遏制打压的拙劣工具。
以政治目的阻挠中美正常人员和科技往来，不但给中美关系制造更大阻力，也对美国科技创新能力造成实质性伤害。美国《大西洋月刊》日前刊文称，“中国行动计划”正在伤害比“工具”和“图纸”更有价值的知识产权资产，即美国科学家和科学界，“这种做法正在营造一种扼杀合法科学合作的恐惧氛围”。
更有批评指出，“中国行动计划”凸显美方对华扭曲心态，加剧了美国社会本就严重的种族歧视问题。日前，美国华人联合会在美国司法部外面组织抗议活动，要求停止“中国行动计划”。
从胡安明到陈刚，多位华裔教授的遭遇让世界看到，美一些政客把反华当成政治“赌注”，在美国社会营造敌视中国的政治气氛，令无辜的人沦为政治牺牲品。这犹如臭名昭著的“麦卡锡主义”死灰复燃。美国当初因自信开放而崛起，如今却被杯弓蛇影的畸形心态裹挟，实在是一种堕落与悲哀。
面对一浪高过一浪的反对声，美国现任政府应当尽快与前任反华“遗产”划清界限，以健康心态看待中美科技与人文交往，停止以中国为“假想敌”，停止滥用司法力量滋扰打压在美中国留学生和研究人员。这才是符合中美两国共同利益的明智之举。
(国际锐评评论员)