A prominent professor at Harvard University, Charles Lieber,
chair of the Harvard Chemistry Department, was arrested on Jan. 28,
2020, and charged with the federal crime of making a false
statement to the government arising out of allegations that he
failed to disclose research funding that he was receiving from a
state-run university in China. At the same time, the U.S.
Attorney's Office also charged others include a Chinese
national, who had been a cancer researcher in Boston, with
attempting to smuggle vials of samples for cancer research.
While the charge against the Harvard professor is the most
recent and perhaps the most prominent, the federal government's
concern about academic espionage, particularly regarding
China's efforts through its "foreign talent
programs," to further its economic prosperity, national
security and intellectual property (IP) portfolio, at the expense
of the United States, has been ongoing. For example, in August
2018, the head of the
