#Chinese pure music trial

I can't see how I can overcome the fear every time I fill a form. GANG CHEN: I'm not going to apply for government funding. He came under suspicion from the federal government in 2020 and was arrested under the China Initiative a year ago on charges similar to Tao's. MIT mechanical engineering professor Gang Chen is with them. RUWITCH: She says, 1 in 4 of those she polled have considered avoiding federal grant applications altogether, a step that could jeopardize their research. LIN: I think the prospect of having your life destroyed in that way is terrifying to faculty, you know, even if they know they have done nothing wrong. universities found that nearly a quarter of Chinese American researchers don't feel safe in America or feel uncertain about whether they'll be safe here in the future, many because of these government investigations. RUWITCH: A survey she conducted across five U.S. In academia, the China Initiative has had a chilling effect, according to Ann Chih Lin, an associate professor of public policy at the University of Michigan.ĪNN CHIH LIN: The casualty is Chinese American faculty in general because it's creating a climate of fear. Tao pleaded not guilty at his arraignment. He's charged with fraud and making false statements - essentially, failure to disclose affiliations with a Chinese university and a government-run talent program.

#Chinese pure music trial

RUWITCH: To be clear, Tao is not going on trial for spying or handing sensitive information to China, where he's still a citizen.

GUO: All of the research integrity cases - again, primarily of academics - have been moving forward. Many have been untouchable because they're overseas. And Guo says the vast majority of those charged were of Chinese heritage. They identified 77 cases and over 150 defendants. She and a colleague trawled through court filings and the DOJ website to compile one of the clearest pictures yet of the China Initiative.

RUWITCH: Eileen Guo is a journalist with the MIT Technology Review. And that set off alarm bells about the China Initiative.ĮILEEN GUO: Almost immediately, there was this fear about the potential for racial profiling. But he was the first of many scholars to be arrested. And he conducted what's known as basic research several steps away from real-world applications. He's a Princeton-trained expert in something called nanoparticle catalysis. And soon, the program expanded beyond pure trade theft. SESSIONS: This initiative will identify priority trade theft cases, ensure that we have enough resources. And it came just months after President Trump kicked off his trade war with China as suspicion increased and relations between the two countries deteriorated.

RUWITCH: It was the first country-specific crime-fighting campaign of its kind. And we have, I think, an important announcement for today. What neither Peng nor Tao can remember, she says, is whether they even noticed when, nine months earlier, then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions launched the China Initiative. PENG: So they searched every corner of our house, took all the electronics away. RUWITCH: She opened it and saw more than a dozen FBI agents. HONG PENG: Around 9 o'clock, I heard loud pounding on the door. It was their twins' first day of high school. Tao's wife, Peng, remembers how it began 2 1/2 years ago. For faith, for strength and for justice to prevail in the courtroom.

UNIDENTIFIED CHURCHGOERS: (Praying in non-English language). RUWITCH: There, they held hands with members of the congregation at the Lawrence Chinese Evangelical Church and prayed. UNIDENTIFIED CHURCHGOERS: (Singing in non-English language). JOHN RUWITCH, BYLINE: In a whirlwind of preparation and stress for his trial, Franklin Tao and his wife, Hong Peng, made time for church. But as NPR China affairs correspondent John Ruwitch reports, it didn't end existing cases, like Tao's, nor put to rest concerns about racial bias. He was arrested under a Trump-era Department of Justice program called the China Initiative. A University of Kansas professor goes on trial in federal court today.