Harvard University professor Charles Lieber was convicted of lying to federal agents and failing to report foreign income and assets on his tax filings, but the investigation that led to his conviction had been focused on his research and ties to China, and possible espionage or intellectual property theft. Though the legal verdict should have no effect on U.S.-China research collaboration, Ford School professor Ann Lin was quoted with other academics that it does send a signal to the research community.
She says, “What they’re going to hear from that is, ‘It’s wrong to collaborate with China.’ And I think the federal government has to ask itself seriously, ‘Is that the message we really want to send?’”
