Nate Raymond

BOSTON, (Reuters) – A Harvard University professor of nanotechnology is facing trial Tuesday for lying to U.S. authorities regarding his ties with a China-run recruiting program and hiding funding he received.

The trial of Charles Lieber is set to start in Boston federal Court. He’s an ex-chair at Harvard’s Chemistry department and was charged in one of the most prominent cases arising from the U.S. crackdowns on Chinese influence within Universities.

Lieber (62 years old) has pleaded guilty to false statements and tax charges. Marc Mukasey Marc Lieber, his attorney, said Lieber had not “hide anything” and was paid what the government claims.

Lieber was indicted by the U.S. Justice Department as part its “China Initiative”, an initiative launched under President Donald Trump’s presidency to fight Chinese economic espionage.

Although critics say the administration did not abandon the initiative, President Joe Biden insists they will continue to pursue academics.

A Tennessee professor was the first academic to be tried. The trial ended in a mistrial, and then a court acquitted him. This year, six more researchers were not charged by the authorities.

Prosecutors claimed Lieber, who was a strategic scientist at Wuhan University of Technology in 2011, participated in the Thousand Talents Program in China as a Chinese recruiter.

U.S. officials claim that China is using the program in order to encourage foreign researchers to exchange their knowledge for research funding.

The Wuhan University gave Lieber $1.5 million in order to set up a Chinese laboratory. They also agreed to pay Lieber $50,000 per month and $150,000 annually for living expenses.

Lieber, according to Prosecutors, lied about the involvement of the program to investigators and misled Harvard. Harvard told the National Institutes of Health in 2019 that Lieber wasn’t involved.