Gang Chen, the M.I.T. scientist who had been charged with failing to disclose ties to China only to see the charges dropped a year later, says he is uncertain if he will ever again feel safe applying for federal research grants, according to a recent New York Times story. He described what he experienced over the past year as “traumatic and deeply disillusioning,” according to the piece.
Chen had been accused of not disclosing ties to entities in China in federal research grant applications. The charges were dropped after prosecutors said they had received new information indicating Chen was not, in fact, required to disclose those affiliations. This stance that the ties did not need to be disclosed mirrored opinions Chen’s colleagues expressed shortly after Chen’s arrest in January 2021.
American scientists’ ties to China have come under scrutiny as part of the U.S. government’s attempts to limit improper sharing of information and technology to foreign countries. Critics of this government focus say it has “instilled a pervasive atmosphere of fear among scientists of Chinese descent,” the article reports.