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Federal prosecutors say a visiting researcher charged by the U.S. government with lying about her ties to the Chinese military on her visa application is “a fugitive from justice currently being harbored at the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco.”
The researcher, Juan Tang, was a visiting researcher at the University of California, Davis. She is one of four researchers the U.S. government announced visa fraud charges against Thursday for allegedly lying about their ties to the Chinese military in their application for research or student visas.
The other three individuals charged with concealing their Chinese military affiliations on visa applications were Xin Wang, a visiting researcher at the University of California, San Francisco; Kaikai Zhao, a graduate student studying machine learning and artificial intelligence at Indiana University; and Chen Song, a visiting researcher at Stanford University (Inside Higher Ed has previously reported on Song’s case).
The FBI said it had conducted additional interviews with visa holders suspected of having undeclared affiliations with the Chinese military in 25 cities. Relatedly, the Trump administration issued a proclamation in May barring entry of Chinese graduate students and researchers affiliated with universities connected to the Chinese military.
“These members of China’s People Liberation Army applied for research visas while hiding their true affiliation with the PLA,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers. “This is another part of the Chinese Communist Party’s plan to take advantage of our open society and exploit academic institutions.”
The Chinese embassy did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday afternoon.
