As trial begins for Harvard professor accused of lying about China ties, US ‘China Initiative’ faces renewed scrutiny
- Asian-American groups hope the trial and resulting publicity will help put an end to the programme, started in 2018 to stem the loss of scientific secrets to China
- Charles Lieber, who participated in China’s Thousand Talents Plan, has pleaded not guilty to six federal charges
The high-profile trial of Harvard Professor Charles Lieber, which opens on Tuesday in federal court in Boston, will shine a spotlight on the controversial “China Initiative” programme introduced in 2018 by the US Department of Justice to stem the loss of technological secrets to China.
Supporters say the programme, initiated during Donald Trump’s administration, has checked China’s bid to undermine US defence, weaken US industry and erode national security. FBI Director Christopher Wray, a staunch defender, said in testimony before the US Senate Intelligence Committee in April that the bureau opened a new China-related investigation every 10 hours.
Activists counter that the vast majority of academic China Initiative-related cases involve reporting problems and misstatements rather than industrial espionage or theft of secrets charges that are much harder to prove. This amounts to racial profiling and guilt by association that spreads distrust of Asians, ruins careers and chills genuine scientific discovery, they say.
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Chinese-American scientists fear US racial profiling
“We do university partnerships all the time. It’s not illegal to do research, it’s just a reporting issue,” said Wing-kai To, assistant provost at Massachusetts’s Bridgewater State University and a vocal critic of the initiative. “Lumping everything together with the China Initiative, including hackers, smugglers and those who fill out a form incorrectly, that’s what’s crazy about this.”
