A Chinese scientist who was working at a university in the US was held under house arrest for over a year awaiting trial. Eventually a judge dismissed the case. The alleged crime? Anming Hu had submitted a grant application to NASA but failed to disclose that he had collaborated with another Chinese scientist at a Chinese University. There is a policy in place that NASA will deny funding for grants for research that is done in collaboration with Chinese institutions. Hu had initially wanted to include papers in the grant application that plainly revealed he had collaborated with another scientist, but was advised by two different higher ups in the university not to include those papers because then the university would not get those grants. During the two years he was under federal charges, Hu did not receive pay, and was fired from his university job after his work visa expired. (The article does not make it the most clear but it seems he was unable to renew his visa while facing charges) ‘I lost two years of my life’: US scientist falsely accused of hiding ties to China speaks out (nature.com) Some might view this as a form of fraud, or lying on an application. But at the same time it is a little bit ridiculous to hold him under house arrest before trial, because of what it is that the grant application supposedly did not disclose. The criminal charges were "wire fraud" and "making false statements" about his affiliation with a Chinese university on research grant applications. (One does have to ask how that even really would matter in this situation)
