Boston:
A Harvard University professor was convicted Tuesday over US charges of lying about his ties to a China-led recruiting program in a closely monitored case that arose from a crackdown on Chinese influence within US research.
A federal jury in Boston has found Charles Lieber, a renowned nanoscientist and former chair of Harvard’s chemistry department, guilty of making false statements to authorities, filing false tax returns and failing to disclose a Chinese bank account.
Prosecutors alleged that in 2011, in his quest for a Nobel Prize, Lieber agreed to become a “strategic scientist” at the Wuhan University of Technology in China and, through her, participated in a Chinese recruiting campaign called the Thousand Talents Program.
Prosecutors say China is using that program to recruit foreign researchers to share their knowledge with the country. Participation is not a crime, but prosecutors allege that 62-year-old Lieber lied to authorities who asked about his involvement.
Defense attorney Marc Mukasey had denied that prosecutors had “mutilated” evidence, lacked key documents to back up their claims, and relied too much on a “confused” FBI interview with the scientist after his arrest.
Lieber, who battles cancer, sat emotionless when the verdict was announced after nearly three hours of jury deliberation and a six-day trial.
“We respect the verdict and will continue the fight,” Mukasey said.
Lieber was charged in January 2020 as part of the US Justice Department’s “China Initiative” launched during the administration of former President Donald Trump to counter alleged Chinese economic espionage and investigative theft.
The administration of President Joe Biden has continued the initiative, although the Justice Department has said it is reviewing its approach.
Critics argue that the initiative harms academic research, racially profile Chinese researchers and terrorize some scientists. A Tennessee professor was acquitted by a judge this year after a mistrial, and prosecutors dropped charges against six other investigators.
Prosecutors said Lieber lied about his role in the Thousand Talents program in response to questions from the US Department of Defense and the US National Institutes of Health, which awarded him $15 million in research grants.
During an interview with FBI agents after his arrest, Lieber said he was “younger and stupid” when he connected with Wuhan University and believed his collaboration would help increase his recognition.
That school agreed to pay him up to $50,000 a month plus $158,000 in living expenses, and he was paid in cash and deposits in a Chinese bank account, prosecutors said.
Lieber told the FBI that he was paid between $50,000 and $100,000 in cash and that there was once $200,000 in the bank account.
But prosecutors said Lieber had failed to declare his salary on his 2013 and 2014 income tax returns and had not disclosed the bank account for two years.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.)