Harvard Professor Lieber Convicted in US for Covering Links to China
07:47 GMT 22.12.2021 (Updated: 08:06 GMT 22.12.2021)
© AP Photo / David J. Phillip
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MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The United States has convicted Harvard University professor Charles Lieber of concealing his affiliation with China's Thousand Talents Programme and the Wuhan University of Technology, the US Department of Justice said.
China's Thousand Talents Programme was established by the Chinese government in 2008 in order to recognise and recruit outstanding international scientists and entrepreneurs. Washington has accused Beijing of trying to gain an economic and military advantage through the use of scientists involved with this programme.
"The former Chair of Harvard University's Chemistry and Chemical Biology Department was convicted by a federal jury today in connection with lying to federal authorities about his affiliation with People's Republic of China's Thousand Talents Programme and the Wuhan University of Technology (WUT) in Wuhan, China, as well as failing to report income he received from WUT", the department said in a statement on Tuesday.
Lieber was convicted of making false statements to federal authorities, filing a false income tax return and failing to disclose foreign bank and financial accounts.
"Under the terms of Lieber's three-year Thousand Talents contract, WUT paid Lieber a salary of up to $50,000 per month, living expenses of up to $150,000, and awarded him more than $1.5 million to establish a research lab at WUT", the statement said.
According to the department, the professor lied to federal investigators in an attempt to hide his ties to the Chinese government while conducting research for the US Department of Defence.
Lieber will later be sentenced later by a US Senior District Court. The date has not yet been announced.
FILE PHOTO: Charles Lieber leaves federal court after he and two Chinese nationals were charged with lying about their alleged links to the Chinese government, in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. January 30, 2020
© REUTERS / KATHERINE TAYLOR
Lieber was arrested in January 2020 on charges of attempting to smuggle biological research to China. According to the Justice Department, the professor failed to provide the required information about his work at China's Wuhan University of Technology and other Chinese organisations from 2011-2017 and lied about his involvement in these organisations in 2018 and 2019.
In June 2020, Lieber was indicted. In July 2020, he was subsequently charged in a superseding indictment.
