On Thursday, a U.S. appeals court overturned the conviction of a former University of Kansas professor who was charged with making a false statement related to his work in China. This setback for the Department of Justice highlights the Trump administration’s efforts to clamp down on Chinese influence within American academia. Reuters reported on the court’s decision.
In 2022, Feng “Franklin” Tao was convicted by jurors on a count, but the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver has now ruled, by a vote of 2-1, that the prosecutors did not provide enough evidence to support this count during the trial.
According to Peter Zeidenberg, Tao’s attorney, the prosecution’s pursuit of this case was misguided as there was no evidence to support the espionage allegations against Tao. The consequences of this baseless accusation have been devastating – Tao’s family has been pushed to the brink of bankruptcy and he has lost his job. Zeidenberg emphasizes that this was an unnecessary and unjustified prosecution.
According to Zeidenberg, “This long nightmare is finally over,” and Dr. Tao is feeling grateful.
As part of the “China Initiative,” around two dozen academics, including Tao, were charged. The initiative was launched in 2018 under the administration of former President Donald Trump and aimed to combat suspected economic espionage and research theft by China.
In 2022, after facing criticism for its failure to secure prosecutions and concerns over biased treatment of Asians, the China Initiative was ended by the Justice Department under President Joe Biden’s administration. Despite this, the department has pledged to continue pursuing cases that pose a threat to national security from China.
Tao, who specialized in renewable energy projects, was charged by prosecutors for keeping his association with Fuzhou University in China a secret from the University of Kansas and two federal agencies that granted funds for his research.
In 2019, Tao faced an indictment. After a trial in April 2022, a jury found him guilty of four out of eight counts. However, a trial judge overturned three wire fraud convictions due to insufficient evidence. As a result, Tao was sentenced to time served.
The University of Kansas submitted a form on which the defendant failed to disclose his affiliation with Fuzhou University, leading to a single conviction for making a false statement. The prosecutors argued that this information was pertinent to the funding decisions made by the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation.
In the opinion of U.S. Circuit Judge Nancy Moritz, Tao’s statement lacked the potential to impact a funding decision as neither agency had any proposals to consider from him at the time. As a result, prosecutors were unable to demonstrate the materiality of the statement, according to Moritz, who wrote for the majority.