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US Charges Kansas Researcher Over Ties to Chinese University

Reuters

   WASHINGTON -A researcher at theUniversity of Kansas was indicted on
   federal fraud chargesWednesday for allegedly concealing ties to a
   Chinese universitywhile doing research funded by the U.S. government,
   the U.S.Justice Department said.

   Feng "Franklin" Tao, 47, an associate professor at aUniversity of
   Kansas center that conducts sustainable technologyresearch, was charged
   with one count of wire fraud and threecounts of program fraud.

   The indictment came amid increased concern by U.S.officials about the
   risk from China to U.S. universities, partof a broader effort by
   President Donald Trump's administrationto confront Beijing over what
   Washington sees as the use of
   sometimes illicit methods for acquiring rapid technologicaladvancement.

   Intelligence officials have issued dire warnings about thethreat of
   intellectual property theft or even espionage, amid anongoing trade war
   with China.

   China denies such activities.

   U.S. authorities said Tao hid the fact that he was workingfull time for
   Fuzhou University in China while conductingresearch at the University
   of Kansas funded through U.S.Department of Energy and National Science
   Foundation contracts.

   Five-year pact

   The indictment alleges that Tao signed a five-year contractin May 2018
   with Fuzhou that required him to be a full-timeemployee of the Chinese
   school. Kansas required Tao to file anannual conflict-of-interest
   report, but Tao "falsely claimed" hehad no conflicts of interest in
   those reports, the JusticeDepartment said.

   The indictment says Tao fraudulently received more than$37,000 in
   salary from the Energy Department and NationalScience Foundation.

   A Justice Department spokesman said Tao had not entered aplea.

   Department of Justice officials in Kansas did notimmediately respond to
   questions about whether Tao is a U.S.citizen or whether he was working
   with classified materials.

   If convicted, Tao faces up to 20 years in federal prison anda fine of
   up to $250,000 on the wire fraud count, and up to 10years and a fine up
   to $250,000 on each of the three programfraud counts.

   The University of Kansas cooperated and assisted in theFederal Bureau
   of Investigation's probe of Tao.

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