The FBI arrested a Chinese government official as part of its investigation into Beijing’s campaign to recruit American scientists and other experts to advance its own interests at the cost of United States.
Zhongsan Liu, 57, was arrested Monday and charged with one count of conspiracy to commit visa fraud for his alleged role in trying to procure U.S. visas for Chinese officials under false pretenses, according to the criminal complaint.
Beginning in 2017, Liu is alleged to have conspired to obtain research scholar visas for Chinese government officials “whose actual purpose was not research but recruitment,” U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman said in a statement.
The criminal complaint linked the investigation to a Chinese government-funded Confucius Institute at a university and Beijing’s “Thousand Talents” program, which seeks to recruit scientists, engineers, and other experts to work at research institutes, businesses, and government agencies in China in an effort to obtain American intellectual property.
Liu sought the help of six universities that were not identified by name in Georgia, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and elsewhere to obtain the visas through his role directing a front group for the Chinese government called the China Association for International Exchange of Personnel, according to the complaint.
The Chinese officials who obtained the J-1 research visas at the academic institutions would not actually conduct research on behalf of the universities, but instead worked full time for the front group.
“Liu has recruited various U.S. experts for projects or positions in China; certified various U.S. universities as [State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs] training institutes; and participated in science and technology conferences that provide opportunities for the recruitment of experts to work in China,” the complaint added.
The charge carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.
The Trump administration has long warned of China’s multipronged campaign to advance its interests at the cost of American national security. FBI Director Christopher Wray said earlier this year that “no country poses a broader, more severe intelligence-collection threat than China.”
“They’re doing it through Chinese intelligence services, through state-owned enterprises, through ostensibly private companies, through graduate students and researchers, through a variety of actors all working on behalf of China,” he said.
