發表評論-幼河-萬維博客-萬維讀者網（電腦版）

2021年1月14日上午6:30左右，許多聯邦特工衝進我家，把我的妻子和女兒從睡夢中叫醒，給我戴上手銬，把我關進監獄，指控我在擔任麻省理工學院教授期間，沒有披露來自各種中國實體的資金。我已經知道，我正在接受司法部在特朗普政府期間發起的中國倡議下的調查。2020年1月，當我從國外旅行回到波士頓洛根機場時，我被審問，我的所有電子產品都被沒收了。然而，就在我被逮捕的一個月前，當時的美國馬薩諸塞州檢察官安德魯-萊林(Andrew Lelling)領導的美國檢察官辦公室通知我的律師，沒有準備起訴我。

關於這個突然的轉變，在我被捕後，負責此案的檢察官向我的律師表示，這份起訴書是倉促的。起訴書和申訴書都充斥着基本的事實錯誤--例如，它把我在別人的講座上做的筆記列為我自己的想法--而我被逮捕時，距離特朗普政府的任期還不到一周。這意味着萊林即將離任。在我被捕的那天，萊林和負責波士頓辦事處的聯邦調查局特工約瑟夫-博納沃隆塔（Joseph Bonavolonta）舉行了一次新聞發布會，我對美國的忠誠度受到了質疑。371天裡，我和我的家人經歷了一個活生生的地獄。

周四（2022年1月20日），美國政府在波士頓的地方法院承認，它無法證明對我的指控，並說撤銷我的案件將“符合司法利益”。

在我看來，這是一場出於政治和種族動機的起訴，沒有贏家。我的聲譽受到損害，我的家庭受到影響，我的研究所失去了一位教授的服務，並承擔了我的法律辯護的財務負擔，美國納稅人的錢被浪費了，美國吸引世界各地人才的能力直線下降，科學界感到恐懼。Lelling和Bonavolonta通過阻止研究人員與中國合作，成功地創造了他們想要的“寒蟬效應”--但在這個過程中，他們削弱了美國的巨大優勢之一，即我們豐富的學術研究和合作歷史，這是很多科學發現發生在美國而不是在其他國家的重要原因。他們這樣做的時候，我們正迫切需要國際科學合作來解決人類的生存威脅，如新冠疫情和全球變暖。

現在，無論出於什麼原因，甚至萊林也承認他幫助創建的中國倡議已經“失去了重心”。

讓我說得再清楚一點：雖然我的故事的一部分當然是關於被嚴重誤導的中國倡議，但它也涉及聯邦調查局、聯邦檢察官和其他聯邦調查機構的關鍵錯誤。正如我的律師團隊所爭論的那樣，博納沃隆塔和他的代理人忽視了基本的無罪證據，在我被捕後才與關鍵證人面談，並在各種官方文件中大幅歪曲事實。根據憲法規定，檢方必須移交的開脫罪責的信息--例如一名證人說我從未參加過人才計劃，這是中國政府為研究人員和科學家提供資金的一項舉措，是政府的主要指控之一--被扣留了幾個月，直到我的律師提出要求。雖然我對我的案件“為了正義”而被撤銷感到寬慰，但我恭敬地要求國會和美國司法部對此事進行徹底審查，以追究個人對這種明顯的不當行為的責任。

30多年前，我從中國來到美國。這是我選擇養育我的家庭並貢獻我一生的工作的地方。這個國家的承諾是，種族不應該是問題。但是，我很難看着“中國倡議”，並得出結論說這是事實。

雖然確實不是每個被指控的教授都是華裔，但絕大多數都是，而且--隨着這些“資助欺詐”案件的失敗而變得清晰--司法部錯誤的起訴理論可能適用於數以千計的教授，他們沒有列出與外國任何實體的每一項常規專業活動（這在當時不是一項要求）。作為一個國家，我們可以通過承認我們的錯誤行為並從我們的錯誤中學習，而不是盲目地向前推進，從而更忠實於我們的理想--以及成為一個更好的世界領袖。雖然承認錯誤可能是痛苦的，但歷史表明，這是最好的前進方式。

關於作者：陳剛，麻省理工學院的機械工程教授，自2020年1月接受美國司法部根據其中國倡議進行的調查。2022年1月20日，周四，政府在波士頓的美國地方法院承認它無法證明對陳剛教授的指控，並說駁回他的案件將 “符合司法利益”。

（美司法部已撤銷對華裔教授陳剛所有指控。）

英文原稿：

I was arrested under the DOJ’s China Initiative. Congress must investigate the program.

By Gang Chen ? The Boston Globe

Gang Chen, a mechanical engineering professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was under investigation by the Department of Justice under its China Initiative. On Thursday, the government acknowledged in US District Court in Boston it could not prove the charges against him, and said dismissing his case would be “in the interests of justice.”MIT/NYT

Around 6:30 a.m. on Jan. 14, 2021, numerous federal agents stormed into my home, woke my wife and daughter from their sleep, handcuffed me, and put me in jail, charging that, in my role as a professor at MIT, I had failed to disclose funding from various Chinese entities. I had known that I was under investigation by the Department of Justice under its China Initiative, launched during the Trump administration: When I returned to Logan Airport from a trip abroad in January 2020, I was interrogated and all my electronics were confiscated. Just a month before I was arrested, however, the US Attorney’s office for Massachusetts, under then-US Attorney Andrew Lelling, informed my lawyers that there was no imminent indictment.

Regarding this sudden shift, after my arrest prosecutors on this case indicated to my lawyers this indictment had been rushed. Both the indictment and the complaint were riddled with basic factual errors — for instance, it listed notes I took at someone else’s lecture as if they were my own thoughts — and I was arrested with less than a week to go in the Trump administration. This meant Lelling was about to leave office. The day of my arrest, Lelling and the FBI special agent in charge of the Boston office, Joseph Bonavolonta, held a press conference where my loyalty to America was questioned. For 371 days, my family and I went through a living hell.

On Thursday, the government acknowledged in US District Court in Boston that it could not prove the charges against me, and said dismissing my case would be “in the interests of justice.”

There is no winner in what seems to me a politically and racially motivated prosecution: My reputation is tarnished, my family suffered, my institute lost the service of a professor and bore the financial burden of my legal defense, US taxpayers’ money was wasted, the ability of the United States to attract talents from around the world has plummeted, and the scientific community is terrified. Lelling and Bonavolonta succeeded in creating the “chilling effect” they wanted by deterring researchers from collaborating with China — but in the process, they managed to blunt one of our great strengths as a nation, our rich history of academic research and collaboration, which leads to discoveries happening here instead of in some other country. They did this at a time when international scientific collaboration is urgently needed to address humanity’s existential threats, such as COVID-19 and global warming.

Now, for whatever reason, even Lelling is acknowledging that the China Initiative he helped create has“lost its focus.”

Let me be clear: While part of my story is certainly about the terribly misguided China Initiative, it also involves critical mistakes on the part of the FBI, federal prosecutors, and other federal investigative agencies. As my team of lawyers argued, Bonavolonta and his agents ignored basic exculpatory evidence, failed to interview critical witnesses until after I was arrested, and dramatically embellished facts in various official documents. Exculpatory information that, under the Constitution, the prosecution was required to turn over — such as a witness saying that I never was in a talent program, a Chinese government initiative to provide funding to researchers and scientists, which was one of the government’s key allegations — was withheld for months until demanded by my lawyers. While I am relieved that my case has been dropped “in the interests of justice,” I respectfully request a thorough review of this matter by Congress and the US Department of Justice to hold individuals accountable for this glaring misconduct.

I came to America from China more than 30 years ago. It is where I have chosen to raise my family and contribute my life’s work. The promise of this nation is that race is not supposed to matter. But it is hard for me to look at the China Initiative and conclude that was the case.

Although it is true that not every professor charged is of Chinese descent, the vast majority are, and — as is becoming clear as these “grant fraud” cases falter — the Justice Department’s misguided theory of prosecution could likely apply to thousands of professors who failed to list every routine professional activity with any entity in a foreign nation (which was not a requirement at the time). As a nation, we can be more true to our ideals — and a better world leader — by acknowledging our wrongdoings and learning from our mistakes rather than blindly pressing forward. While acknowledging mistakes can be painful, history shows that it is the best way forward.

Gang Chen is a professor of mechanical engineering at MIT.