U.S. Justice Department's China Initiative under scrutiny as cases fall apart: U.S. media

WASHINGTON, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- The tide of public opinion has turned against the U.S. Justice Department's China Initiative, as more cases fall apart and more of the researchers charged are speaking out, according to a report by the U.S. news portal Axios on Tuesday.

Boston prosecutors have recommended the U.S. Justice Department drop charges against Gang Chen, a Chinese American professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) who was accused of hiding his ties with China when seeking U.S. federal grant money, Reuters has recently reported.

"While I am relieved that my ordeal is over, I am mindful that this terribly misguided China Initiative continues to bring unwarranted fear to the academic community and other scientists still face charges," Chen said in an earlier statement.

More than 170 MIT professors signed an open letter declaring their support for Chen, and MIT backed him and covered his legal costs, said the report, adding that a growing number of lawmakers, Asian American organizations and civil rights groups have demanded a probe of the China Initiative for "racial profiling of Chinese American researchers."

The Department of Justice should separate actions aimed at preserving research integrity from those targeting espionage, the report quoted as saying Georgetown Center for Security and Emerging Technology analyst Emily Weinstein.

Lumping together such cases targeting scientists of Chinese heritage under a broader espionage umbrella "does more harm than good," the analyst wrote recently for the Foreign Policy magazine.