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发帖数: 1658 | 1 【 以下文字转载自 Military 讨论区 】
发信人: xuedi2006 (southman), 信区: Military
标 题: 又一中国科学家被FBI调查
发信站: BBS 未名空间站 (Tue Sep 8 09:43:11 2015, 美东)
http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2015/09/08/fbi-in
FBI investigates China ties of Ohio State professor who resigned,
disappeared
Professor Rongxing Li was a star at Ohio State University, attracting
international attention as he helped NASA rovers explore Mars in the past
decade.
Then, early last year, Li quit his post as OSU’s premier mapping expert and
disappeared. No news release was issued to explain his departure, and most
information about his 18-year tenure at Ohio State was removed from the
university’s website.
Now, federal search warrants filed in U.S. District Court in Columbus reveal
that the FBI was investigating Li, trying to determine whether he shared
defense secrets with the Chinese.
Li, 56, a U.S. citizen who grew up in China, had been director of the OSU
mapping and geographic information system laboratory. Also known as Ron Li,
he held an endowed chair in the OSU Department of Civil, Environmental and
Geodetic Engineering and was known worldwide for his work in mapping.
His renown came, in part, when NASA selected him to help with its 2003 and
2009 Mars exploration missions. His troubles, too, began with NASA projects.
OSU, the FBI and NASA declined to comment about the case. But search
warrants unsealed in August lay out why the government took a hard look at
Li.
In January 2014, Li submitted a $36.9 million proposal to NASA for imaging
work for a 2020 Mars mission. As part of that proposal, Li had access to
Department of Defense technical information that he was prohibited from
sharing with the Chinese, according to search warrants.
Li had claimed in the proposal that he had no relationships with Chinese
scientists. But OSU researchers knew he had spent 2012 on sabbatical at
Tongji University in Shanghai, so Ohio State began an internal investigation
to determine why Li had not notified NASA of his China connections.
Investigators determined that Li had numerous, ongoing connections with
Tongji, including being listed as a professor and as the director of a
center for spatial information. The investigators also found online evidence
that he had collaborated with Chinese-government programs to develop
advanced technologies, serving as chief scientist for one project.
On Feb. 15, 2014, Li notified Ohio State and NASA that he was withdrawing
from the Mars 2020 project. He also told Ohio State that he was in China
caring for his sick parents. A few days later, he emailed his resignation to
the university. According to a search warrant, he said, “With this email I
resign from my position at the Ohio State University.”
Jeff Grabmeier, a spokesman for university research, confirmed Li’s
unexpected resignation but said he couldn’t discuss it further and could
not say why Li left.
According to the search warrant, Ohio State then called the FBI because of
the “unusual circumstances of Li’s departure and the restricted and
sensitive nature of some of his research.” The university told the FBI that
Li had access to International Traffic in Arms Regulations information with
NASA and with Raytheon, a defense contractor.
As part of the FBI investigation, Homeland Security agents stopped and
searched Li’s wife, Jue Tian, 56, in San Francisco before she boarded a
plane for China on March 1, 2014. Agents seized Tian’s computer, a
cellphone and several thumb drives. The thumb drives contained restricted
defense information, the warrant says.
Investigators also searched Li’s home in Upper Arlington. According to
Franklin County property records, Li and his wife purchased the five-bedroom
house on Lane Road in 1997.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Deborah Solove said no charges have been filed
against Li or his wife. She would not comment further.
Charles Toth, an OSU researcher who worked in the same department as Li,
said Li ran “his own show” at the university and didn’t work with many
other professors. He said he couldn’t say more because of “the sensitivity
” of the case. Other professors contacted by The Dispatch didn’t return
phone calls.
In 2014, Li was one of five scientists named as fellows for the American
Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing. His name, however, is no
longer on the society’s online list of 2014 fellows.
Society President Stephen D. DeGloria said he knew Li had left Ohio State
and was living in China but had no details of the FBI investigation. He said
Li had been nominated as a fellow before he quit at Ohio State.
The Upper Arlington house has been for sale since June.
Tian, who returned from China in mid-2014, did not respond to a request for
an interview.
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