Chinese infiltration of American academia
Two particular events of the past few days have deepened Americans‘ distrust of scientists. Notably, both incidents have three things in common: China, Wuhan, and the non-disclosure of financial transactions. First, the Lancet and Dr. Peter Daszak’s revelations were made public late last week in the British Parliament. On its heels, yesterday, a Harvard University professor was found guilty of making false statements and tax evasion in a Boston court. On Tuesday, Dr. Charles Lieber, former chair of Harvard’s Chemistry and Chemical Biology Department, was found guilty of lying to federal authorities about his involvement with China’s Thousand Talents Program (TTP) and the Wuhan University of Technology (WUT). He was also convicted of failing to report income from WUT. China’s TTP, also known as the Overseas High-Level Talent Recruitment Programs, is designed to attract, recruit, and cultivate high-level scientific talent to support China’s scientific development, economic prosperity, and national security. It is said that „the program provides a one-time bonus of 1 million RMB to select individuals, substantial resources for research and academic exchange. Thousand Talents scholars are eligible for high levels of government funding. “ Dr. Lieber, an accomplished researcher at Harvard, led a team that received more than $15 million in federal research grants between 2008 and 2019. From 2012 to 2015, Dr. Lieber worked as a „Strategic Scientist“ for TTP, keeping his relationship hidden from Harvard. WUT compensated Dr. Lieber with a $50,000 monthly salary and up to $150,000 in living expenses. He also received over $1.5 million for a WUT research lab. In 2018 and 2019, Lieber lied to federal authorities regarding his involvement in the Thousand Talents Plan and his affiliation with WUT. Dr. Lieber’s is not an isolated case. More than 500 federally funded scientists are under investigation for being compromised by China and other foreign powers, the National Institutes of Health revealed in April. NIH officials told a Senate committee that they are fighting to keep up with extensive Chinese efforts to corrupt American researchers and steal intellectual property that scientists hope will lead to biomedical advances.
