This is a really painful article to read. It paints a very clear picture of a new Cold War that was being launched under the guise of preventing espionage.<p>Of course, this much has been suspected since the initial indictment (from <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/26/us/mit-scientist-charges.html" rel="nofollow">https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/26/us/mit-scientist-charges....</a> )<p>> There were two counts of wire fraud related to disclosure. In 2017, prosecutors said, when applying for a $2.7 million grant from the Energy Department, Dr. Chen had failed to disclose five affiliations — he served as a “review expert” for China’s National Science Foundation and a “fourth overseas expert consultant” to the Chinese government, for instance. Then, in a progress report in 2019, he failed to list those and three new Chinese affiliations, including one that pledged to pay him $355,715, the indictment says.<p>> A third and fourth charge were more straightforward: Dr. Chen had failed in 2018 tax filings, the indictment says, to declare a Chinese bank account containing more than $10,000, as required by law.<p>> [the prosecutor] acknowledged that Dr. Chen was not accused of passing any sensitive information to China<p>Serving as a review expert? A consultant? Not reporting a Chinese bank account in his taxes? The prosecutor went so far as to paint him as loyal to China based on these! From the above article:<p>> At a news conference that morning, [the prosecutor] said he believed that Dr. Chen, 56, who became a naturalized U.S. citizen two decades ago, had remained loyal to the country of his birth.<p>> “The allegations of the complaint imply that this was not just about greed, but about loyalty to China,” he said.<p>This was a case of guilt by association. Dr Chen did nothing wrong but by god, he’s a Chinese immigrant with a Chinese bank account, and scientific colleagues who are Chinese, so he must be a Chinese spy