Image Credit: Louis Reed/Unsplash
Los Angeles, CA & Charlottesville, VA – The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has recently questioned researchers about their work and military affiliations. This probe led to the arrest of two researchers with work tied to the Chinese military as reported in court filings by prosecutors.
Guan Lei, a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), was charged by federal prosecutors with destroying evidence that the FBI sought for an investigation regarding potential technology theft. Guan was reported to have thrown a computer hard drive away after being stopped from leaving the U.S.
At the University of West Virginia, Hu Haizhou was arrested for stealing software code from his advisor. The advisor said he had no knowledge of Hu’s plans to return to China when he was stopped at an airport in Chicago.
Both Hu and Guan are in custody and have not made pleas. The Chinese Embassy did not respond to a request for comment by The Wall Street Journal. With these charges leveled at Hu and Guan, what could the Chinese military gain from American university-affiliated researchers?
Image Credit: Louis Reed/Unsplash
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