(JustPatriots.com)- Just as President Joe Biden undoes several Trump-era policies focused on stopping Chinese Communist Party influence in the United States, new reports reveal how a Chines scientist working at an American laboratory is being investigated by the FBI for failing to disclose his links to the Chinese government.
An FBI affidavit filed in a Bangor federal court showed how scientist Yijun Ruan was listed as a primary investigator on 17 research projects from Jackson Lab, and even received over $15 million in funding between 2014 and 2020 from the National Institutes of Health.
Under normal circumstances, it would cause little to no cause for concern, but scientists Ruan reportedly failed to disclose his connection to Chinese research institutions when applying for grant funding from the United States government.
In the affidavit, the FBI asks for the court to approve a search of Ruan’s Gmail account to learn more about his contractual obligations to research organizations in China. The FBI has also reportedly been granted access to emails sent and received by Ruan from addresses connected to the Jackson Lab in Bar Harbor.
While the affidavit was only made public on Tuesday, the affidavit was first filed in federal court back in December. No charges have been filed but the investigation is ongoing. It is one of several other investigations taking place to discover links between researchers in the United States and the Chinese Communist Party.
Yahoo! News notes how a former University of Florida associate professor was indicted last month on six counts of wire fraud. The professor, a Chinese citizen, was also indicted on four counts of making false statements to a U.S. agency and has not returned to the United States since he traveled back to China in August 2019.
Various other arrests have taken place in connection to scientists attempting to leave the United States while in possession of stolen technology and software. Recently, a Harvard professor, Charles Lieber, along with an MIT professor, Gang Chen, was also charged for failing to disclose their links to communist China.
Stephanie Wasco, the chief communications officer of the laboratory, confirmed that they are cooperating with the United States Department of Justice and FBI in their investigation.
