WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 29th January, 2020) The United States has charged a Harvard University professor and two Chinese nationals for attempting to smuggle biological research to China, the US Department of Justice said in a statement on Tuesday.
"The Department of Justice announced today that the Chair of Harvard University's Chemistry and Chemical Biology Department and two Chinese nationals have been charged in connection with aiding the People's Republic of China," the statement said.
Earlier on Tuesday, the US authorities charged Harvard's Charles Lieber with one count of making a materially false, fictitious and fraudulent statement, the statement said.
Chinese national Yanqing Ye - who currently resides in China - was charged with visa fraud, making false statements, conspiracy and acting as an agent of a foreign government, the statement said.
Another Chinese national who was part of the scheme, Zaosong Zheng, was charged with smuggling goods from the United States and making false statements. The US authorities detained Zheng in December, the statement added.
The Justice Department said Lieber failed to provide required information about his work at China's Wuhan University of Technology and other Chinese organizations in the 2011-2017 period and lied about his involvement in these organizations in 2018 and 2019.
The Justice Department also said that Zheng entered the United States on a J-1 visa and conducted cancer-cell research in the 2018-2109 period.
"It is alleged that on Dec. 9, 2019, Zaosong Zheng stole 21 vials of biological research and attempted to smuggle them out of the United States aboard a flight destined for China," the statement said.
In addition, the Justice Department said Yanqing Ye lied and attempted to hide information about her military service with the China's People Liberation Army.
"On her J-1 visa application, Ye falsely identified herself as a 'student' and lied about her ongoing military service," the statement said.
All three defendants may face from three to ten years of prison and a fine of $250,000.
