Since 2018, the US Department of Justice has been pursuing a ‘China Initiative’ – a Trump-era program created in response to allegations of national security threats by Chinese state-affiliated entities and agents. According to DoJ data, some 80% of economic espionage prosecutions and 60% of trade secret theft cases are allegedly linked to Beijing.
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agent Kujtim Sadiku admitted under oath to a court in Knoxville, Tennessee, that he falsely accused Dr. Anming Hu, a former associate professor at the University of Tennessee (UT) at Knoxville, of being a spy for the Chinese military.
“It was predicated on information Anming Hu was part of another government’s talent plan,” Sadiku told jurors in court last week, as reported by the Knoxville News Sentinel.
Per Sadiku’s translation, the flier allegedly detailed that, in 2012, China’s Thousand Talents Program awarded Hu a short-term contract to teach students at the Beijing University of Technology. It also allegedly said Hu had an upcoming speaking engagement in China.
Entrance to China’s Beijing University of Technology, also known as Beijing Polytechnic University, or Bei Gong Da.
Hu, who began teaching in the US in 2013, recounted his first meeting with Sadiku during his testimony, calling the April 2018 experience “startling”. The FBI agent was allegedly accompanied by an agent from the US Department of Energy.
While the DoJ has been pursuing a ‘China Initiative’ to prosecute crimes relating to “economic espionage” by Beijing, Sadiku told the court that he had been unaware of the program prior to his Google search on Hu.
Hu’s trial nonetheless became part of the initiative, and reportedly comes as the first associated case to make it to court.
“You wanted to find a Chinese spy in Knoxville,” Phil Lomonaco, Hu’s defense attorney, asked the FBI agent during cross-examination.
“My job is to find spies, yes,” Sadiku replied.
“This is a false statement you put on the [PowerPoint slide], isn’t it?” asked Lomonaco.
“Can you repeat the question?” Sadiku asked. “If you’re talking about the power points, I prepared those, yes.”
Sadiku failed to follow up with Hu’s employers, however, to tell them that the information was false. Hu was subsequently stripped of his professorship at UT, where he had also been conducting nanotechnology research.
Hu Accused of Three Counts of Wire Fraud and Making False Statements
Prosecutors have accused Hu of “intentionally” attempting to defraud NASA, which sought the expert out, by failing to list his past work at the Beijing University of Technology.
While Hu did leave information off the UT form in question, UT officials testified that the annual form does not require professors to disclose their ties with China, or with any country.
“The argument we’ll make is … he was involved with this Chinese university for years, and it was obvious he would have to disclose that,” said federal prosecutor Matthew McKenzie.
US District Judge for the Eastern District of Tennessee Thomas Varlan is expected to announce this week whether the prosecution has presented enough evidence to support fraud charges against Hu.
It also remains possible that the assembled 12-person jury will be left to make the decision.
Sourse: sputniknews.com
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