Harvard Professor Found Guilty in High-Profile China Initiative Case

After deliberating for less than three hours, a jury convicted Harvard University chemistry professor Charles Lieber on Dec. 21 on charges of lying to federal investigators about his participation in a Chinese talent recruitment program and failing to report income he received through the arrangement to the IRS.

During the one-week trial, prosecutors presented video of an interrogation in which Lieber admitted to receiving tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars in compensation from the Wuhan Institute of Technology that he did not disclose, and said he was unaware of how China classified him in response to questions about his talent program participation.

While Lieber’s lawyers argued it could not be proven he was lying on that point, the prosecutors presented a contract he signed making him a participant in the program and pointed to his admission of not being transparent with officials from federal science agencies.

Lieber’s case represents the first time a jury has rendered a guilty verdict against an academic in a case brought through the Justice Department’s China Initiative and follows the acquittal of another scientist after a judge concluded prosecutors could not reasonably prove their case.

The initiative has come under fire from advocacy groups for focusing on crimes related to disclosure of funding rather than more serious charges of espionage and theft, as well as for predominantly affecting scientists of Asian descent.

Despite Lieber’s conviction, some observers believe the department may soon ease up on its prosecutions of academics. In the coming months, several more China Initiative cases are scheduled to go to trial, including those of University of Kansas chemistry professor Franklin Tao, University of Arkansas engineering professor Simon Saw-Teong Ang, and Texas A&M University professor Zhendong Cheng.