U.S. to drop visa fraud charges against Tang Juan a Chinese researcher

U.S. moves to drop visa fraud charges against Chinese researcher

 The U.S. Department of Justice On Thursday he dropped all charges against a Chinese researcher arrested last year for visa fraud in his "China Initiative" aimed at preventing the transfer of U.S. technology.

Tang Juan, a visiting researcher at the University of California Davis medical school, whose trial was set to begin on Monday, was arrested in July last year on suspicion of concealing a soldier.

In the U.S. District Court filing For the Eastern District of California, prosecutors said they moved to dismiss the case and get out of the case, but gave no reasons.

The move comes after security officials called Monday the case to be dismissed, based on recently revealed evidence from a FBI analyst questioning whether a visa application for "military service" was clear enough for Chinese medical scientists at military universities and hospitals.

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At least five Chinese researchers were arrested last year in connection with the case and two are still in jail.

Civil rights organizations, such as the American Civil Liberties Union and the Asia Law Caucus, have expressed concern over the cases, saying they are showing partiality against China.

Proponents of her case have been working to make the actual transcript of this statement available online. Learn more

The Department of Justice launched the China Initiative three years ago under former Republican President Donald Trump to combat China's national security threats.

The move comes as US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman is expected to visit China. Learn more

Sherman, the second-highest-ranking government official, will meet with State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi and other officials.

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The visit could help set the stage for further exchanges and a possible meeting between President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping later in the year.

Prior to Tang's arrest, he sought refuge with the Chinese embassy in San Francisco, following an FBI investigation by his mother and daughter.

The judge in the case later ordered the withdrawal of the FBI interview as Tang had not been educated about his rights in Miranda, warning against racism.

A judge in the case of Song Chen, another Chinese researcher and a visiting scholar at Stanford University, had ordered an FBI investigation for the same reason.

Towards the end of Thursday, the government appealed to the Ninth Circuit Court to challenge the decision in Chen's case, indicating the court's filing.