{"id":1269,"date":"2020-03-20T10:08:13","date_gmt":"2020-03-20T14:08:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ielrblog.com\/?p=1269"},"modified":"2020-03-20T10:08:13","modified_gmt":"2020-03-20T14:08:13","slug":"arrest-of-harvard-chemist-linked-to-research-theft-by-china","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/2020\/03\/20\/arrest-of-harvard-chemist-linked-to-research-theft-by-china\/","title":{"rendered":"Arrest of Harvard Chemist Linked to Research Theft by China"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"Body\">The U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office in Boston charged prominent Harvard chemist, Charles Lieber, on January 28, 2020 for making false statements to federal investigators concerning funding that he received from the Thousand Talents program in China.\u00a0 His arrest is a symptom of the growing effort from U.S. officials to stem the flow of research and researchers towards China.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Body\">The prosecution <span class=\"Hyperlink0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencemag.org\/news\/2020\/01\/us-charges-prominent-harvard-chemist-failing-disclose-china-ties\">alleges<\/a><\/span> that Lieber has received funding from the Thousand Talents Program since 2011, when he became a \u201cstrategic scientist\u201d at the Wuhan University of Technology (WUT).\u00a0 <span lang=\"DE\">Lieber<\/span> is obligated to report any foreign funding that he receives, since his nanotechnology research is funded by the National Health Institute (NIH) and the Department of Defense.\u00a0 However, he denied having any relationship with the Thousand Talents program when questioned by federal investigators in 2018 and 2019.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Body\">Lieber <span class=\"Hyperlink0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencemag.org\/news\/2020\/01\/us-charges-prominent-harvard-chemist-failing-disclose-china-ties\">claimed<\/a><\/span> that he had never been approached by the Thousand Talents Program.\u00a0 He also told Harvard University that he had \u201cno formal association\u201d with WUT and \u201cis not and has never been\u201d a part of the Thousand Talents Program.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Body\">Shortly after being questioned, he <span class=\"Hyperlink0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/chinas-funding-of-u-s-researchers-raises-red-flags-11580428915\">wrote<\/a><\/span> to a colleague at Harvard, \u201cI will be careful about what I discuss with Harvard University, and none of this will be shared with government investigators at this time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Body\">He was released on bail of one million dollars two days after being charged. He and his wife have both surrendered their passports.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Body\"><i>Open Channels<\/i><\/p>\n<p class=\"Body\">Lieber was charged for lying to federal investigators, not for his actual relationship with the Chinese government.\u00a0 In fact, most researchers can generally communicate and collaborate with their Chinese counterparts without violating any laws.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Body\">According to his contract with WUT, Lieber <span class=\"Hyperlink0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencemag.org\/news\/2020\/01\/us-charges-prominent-harvard-chemist-failing-disclose-china-ties\">fulfilled<\/a><\/span> his obligations as a remote employee in part by \u201cdeclaring international cooperation projects, cultivating young teachers and Ph.D. students, organizing international conferences, applying for patents and publishing articles in the names of WUT.\u201d\u00a0 He has not been charged for any such actions, or for his agreement with Thousand Talents to establish a lab at WUT.\u00a0 He has only been charged for lying to federal investigators in 2018 and 2019.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Body\">In fact, it is within the rights of most researchers to participate in programs like Thousand Talents.\u00a0 When Thousand Talents was founded in 2008 with the stated purpose of funding scientific innovation and reversing a so-called brain-drain from China, it <span class=\"Hyperlink0\"><a href=\"http:\/\/nytimes.com\/2020\/02\/06\/us\/chinas-lavish-funds-lured-us-scientists-what-did-it-get-in-return.html\">attracted<\/a><\/span> thousands of recruits from universities, biotech companies, and government agencies in the U.S.\u00a0 American universities generally had no rules about their employees\u2019 outside income or participation in such programs.\u00a0 E<span lang=\"NL\">ven <\/span>federal agencies did not forbid their employees from participating in such programs at the time.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Body\">Consequently, Thousand Talents established a connection between many researchers in the U.S. and Chinese universities.\u00a0 Research findings <span class=\"Hyperlink0\"><a href=\"http:\/\/nytimes.com\/2020\/02\/06\/us\/chinas-lavish-funds-lured-us-scientists-what-did-it-get-in-return.html\">made<\/a><\/span> in the U.S. were increasingly available to Chinese-based researchers through legal communication and collaborations.\u00a0 Some contracts stipulated that China would have intellectual property rights to the work of participants in the program.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Body\">The Thousand Talents Program has also <span class=\"Hyperlink0\"><a href=\"http:\/\/nytimes.com\/2020\/02\/06\/us\/chinas-lavish-funds-lured-us-scientists-what-did-it-get-in-return.html\">convinced<\/a><\/span> some American scientists to leave American universities for better funded posts in China.\u00a0 The organic chemist Dr. Jon Antilla is an example of one such scientist. He left a tenured position at the University of South Florida when he was offered a post at Tianjin University in China by the program.\u00a0 His decision reflects a potential shift of talent from the U.S. to China, which may grow more pronounced over time.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Body\"><i>Policing the Details<\/i><\/p>\n<p class=\"Body\">Because of the difficulties in limiting scientists from working or communicating internationally, officials attempting to stem the flow of information to China often focus on U.S. researchers\u2019 compliance with reporting.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Body\">James Mulvenon, director for intelligence integration at SOS International, a private defense contractor, <span class=\"Hyperlink0\"><a href=\"http:\/\/nytimes.com\/2020\/02\/06\/us\/chinas-lavish-funds-lured-us-scientists-what-did-it-get-in-return.html\">said<\/a><\/span> of China, \u201cIt\u2019s not a case of them stealing technology by infiltrating a computer.\u00a0 What we are seeing is them relieving the rest of the world of technology by means that are not necessarily illegal.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Body\">Peter Zeidenberg, a lawyer representing over a dozen scientists currently being investigated by the U.S. government, claimed the US is targeting scientists for failing to disclose grants.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Body\">He <span class=\"Hyperlink0\"><a href=\"http:\/\/nytimes.com\/2020\/02\/06\/us\/chinas-lavish-funds-lured-us-scientists-what-did-it-get-in-return.html\">said<\/a><\/span>, \u201cThey\u2019re taking an unbelievably heavy-handed approach to this.\u00a0 There is no compliance training on these forms.\u00a0It\u2019s just a form you get every year.\u00a0 Until recently nobody paid attention to this stuff. Now they\u2019re cracking the whip.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office in Boston charged prominent Harvard chemist, Charles Lieber, on January 28, 2020 for making false statements to federal investigators concerning funding that he received from the Thousand Talents program in China.\u00a0 His arrest is a symptom of the growing effort from U.S. officials to stem the flow of research and researchers [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1269","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-uncategorized","7":"entry"},"yoast_head":"<!-- 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