Who are the China-linked scientists under US investigation? A growing list
The targeting of scientists in the United States for suspected Chinese ties reached a peak in 2018 and continues to affect a very altered research environment
The South China Morning Post looks at some of the highest-profile researchers that have become targets for investigations by US agencies, and the lasting impact these cases have on the scientific community.
1. China-born neuroscientist Jane Wu lost her US lab. Then she lost her life
The prominent Illinois university researcher’s death in July, aged 60, drew attention yet again to much-criticised efforts to pursue researchers suspected of having undisclosed ties to Beijing.
2. US scientist convicted for China ties considering jobs in Hong Kong, mainland
3. Chinese-born scientist in US tells of ‘fear and desperation’ from Trump-era convictions
4. US scientist targeted in coronavirus leak allegations barred from funding
Peter Daszak, a prominent American disease ecologist who collaborated with a Chinese lab targeted in coronavirus leak allegations, had his federal funding suspended and faces being cut off from working with the US government for years.
5. ‘Genius’ biochemist Kunliang Guan returns to China from US to head new lab
In the aftermath of an investigation by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) – the main US agency for biomedical and public health research – Guan takes up a position at Westlake University in Hangzhou, joining former neuroscientist colleague Fu Xiangdong.
6. Axed China Initiative’s racial profiling legacy haunts scientists in US
7. ‘Itch gene’ scientist joins Shenzhen institute after US lab sealed off amid alleged China links probe
Chen Zhoufeng, a leading expert in the study of itch mechanisms, joined an institute in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen after 33 years in the United States.
8. Scientist exiled from US brain research finds well-funded lab in China
9. Probation but not jail time for China-born maths professor over tax return errors in US
Xiao Mingqing was earlier found guilty of tax errors and of failing to disclose a Chinese bank account in China Initiative case.
China-born Illinois mathematics professor Xiao Mingqing was sentenced to a year of probation, with no jail time, in 2022 after he was found guilty of tax return errors in the United States.
The academic, then aged 60, was also convicted of failing to disclose a Chinese bank account in a China Initiative prosecution.
10. China-born scientist targeted by US ‘discovers world’s best semiconductor’
MIT professor Gang Chen, who was cleared in 2022 following a high-profile investigation into his alleged China ties, went on to lead a team that discovered a promising candidate for next-generation electronics.
11. US federal judge acquits professor Hu Anming of fraud after push to expose Chinese spies
Hu Anming’s case was the first to go to trial under the China Initiative, but the US government “failed to show sufficient evidence” that the Tennessee professor had intent to defraud Nasa, which provided grants for his research.
12. US accuses Chinese researcher Guan Lei of destroying hard drive
In 2020, UCLA researcher Guan Lei was accused by the FBI of destroying evidence after coming under investigation for alleged links to the Chinese military.
13. India-born Nasa scientist pleads guilty to lying about China ties
US prosecutors said Meyya Meyyappan took part in the Chinese government’s Thousand Talents scheme to recruit people familiar with foreign technology and intellectual property.
14. Chinese-American scientist’s world upended after he is swept up in US national security net
After 23 years as a top neuroscientist at Emory University, Li Xiao-Jiang lost his job, his laboratory was raided and his postdoctoral students were forced out of the US. Then prosecutors dismissed all charges against him, with Li pleading guilty only to a tax return offence.
15. US scientist Turab Lookman pleads not guilty to lying about contact with Chinese state programme that recruits foreign talent
Turab Lookman, a computational physics expert at the Los Alamos National Laboratory – which is responsible for securing the US nuclear stockpile – was accused of links with China’s Thousand Talents programme.
