‘In the End, You’re Treated Like a Spy,’ Says MIT Scientist
‘In the End, You’re Treated Like a Spy,’ Says M.I.T. Scientist
You have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load.Last week, the U.S. government dismissed the case against Gang Chen, in which he was accused of concealing seven Chinese affiliations in applications for $2.7 million in grants from the Energy Department.Credit...Tony Luong for The New York TimesGang Chen was arrested a year ago on charges of hiding his links to China. The charges were dismissed, but he said the damage — to him, and to American science — has lingered.Last week, the U.S. government dismissed the case against Gang Chen, in which he was accused of concealing seven Chinese affiliations in applications for $2.7 million in grants from the Energy Department.Credit...Tony Luong for The New York TimesJan. 24, 2022CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — When Gang Chen returned to his laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on Friday, the day after the government had dismissed charges of lying on grant applications, he was surrounded by well-wishers, offering hugs and congratulations.There were invitations, too. Colleagues were asking him to join funded research studies, resuming the work that has occupied his adult life.Dr. Chen studies heat transfer; he hopes to develop a semiconductor that could convert heat from car exhaust into electricity, or fabric for clothing that could cool the body. During the year since his arrest, that had been the hardest thing, tearing himself away from research.Dr. Chen said thank you, but no. After the experience of the last year — the early-morning arrest, the handcuffs and shackles, being described, in a news conference, as loyal to China — he is uncertain if he will ever feel safe applying for U.S. government funds for research again.“You work hard, you have good output, you build a reputation,” Dr. Chen said, in a three-and-a-half-hour interview at his M.I.T. office, the first he has given about the case. “The government gets what they want, right? But in the end, you’re treated like a spy. That just breaks your heart. It breaks your confidence.”Last week, the government dismissed the case against Dr. Chen, which alleged that he had concealed seven Chinese affiliations in applications for $2.7 million in grants from the U.S. Energy Department. Prosecutors announced that they had received new information indicating that Dr. Chen had not been obliged to disclose those affiliations, undercutting the basis of the case.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe.AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENT