MIT Professor Charged With Hiding Work For China

A Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor was charged Thursday with hiding work he did for the Chinese government while he was also collecting U.S. dollars for his nanotechnology research. The Associate Press reports: Gang Chen, 56, was arrested by federal agents at his home in Cambridge on charges including wire fraud, officials said. While working for MIT, Chen entered into undisclosed contracts and held appointments with Chinese entities, including acting as an "overseas expert" for the Chinese government at the request of the People's Republic of China Consulate Office in New York, authorities said. Many of those roles were "expressly intended to further the PRC's scientific and technological goals," authorities said in court documents. Chen did not disclose his connections to China, as is required on federal grant applications, authorities said. He and his research group collected about $29 million in foreign dollars, including millions from a Chinese government funded university funded, while getting $19 million in grants from U.S federal agencies for his work at MIT since 2013, authorities said. "It is not illegal to collaborate with foreign researchers. It is illegal to lie about it," Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling told reporters. Chen's attorney said the professor "loves the United States and looks forward to vigorously defending these allegations." MIT said it is "deeply distressed" by Chen's arrest. "MIT believes the integrity of research is a fundamental responsibility, and we take seriously concerns about improper influence in U.S. research. Prof. Chen is a long-serving and highly respected member of the research community, which makes the government's allegations against him all the more distressing," the school said in a statement.Read more of this story at Slashdot.
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