A married duo from China, who were found guilty of appropriating trade secrets from the US pediatric research organization where they were employed, have now forfeited their naturalized US citizenship and are likely facing deportation back to China. This progression aligns with hints from the Trump administration that denaturalization would be prioritized in cases associated with economic espionage.
On 30 March, a federal judge in California approved the US Department of Justice’s (DOJ’s) appeal for denaturalization of Li Chen and Yu Zhou, determining that they had engaged in ‘crimes involving moral turpitude’ that rendered them ineligible for the ‘good moral character’ required for naturalization.
Chen and Zhou arrived in the US in 2007 and 2008, respectively, on H-1B specialty occupation visas that were sponsored by Nationwide Children’s Hospital (NCH) in Ohio. Chen achieved naturalization in 2016, while Zhou followed suit the next year.
In 2020, the couple confessed to stealing a proprietary technique for isolating exosomes – biochemical carriers released by various cell types – from blood or other fluid samples. The DOJ noted that the duo conspired to profit from the technology by developing exosome ‘isolation kits’ intended for sale by a company Chen established in China. Research is ongoing into the potential applications of exosomes for identifying and treating various medical ailments.
Chen and Zhou spent ten years in distinct medical research laboratories at NCH, with their time overlapping for nine years, and were beneficiaries of funding from the Chinese government’s Thousand Talents program, according to the DOJ.
After serving prison terms of 30 and 33 months, respectively, Chen and Zhou were on three years of supervised release when their citizenships were annulled. They have been mandated to pay $2.6 million (£1.96 million) in restitution to NCH, and Chen also forfeited roughly $1.4 million in company shares. The US government has suggested it may continue to pursue their assets, irrespective of their location in the US or back in China.
Ongoing legacy of the China Initiative
Chen and Zhou were initially apprehended in 2019 and prosecuted under the now-obsolete China Initiative established by the DOJ. Initiated during the first Trump administration to combat espionage and intellectual property theft backed by the Chinese state, the China Initiative was dismantled by former president Joe Biden in February 2022 amid concerns it fostered a hostile atmosphere for Chinese scientists in the US and amounted to racial profiling. Many academic cases arising from this program were ultimately dismissed due to insufficient evidence.
Most researchers prosecuted under this initiative faced accusations of not disclosing ties with Chinese institutions on grant applications. However, the case against Chen and Zhou centered on the misappropriation of trade secrets for personal and foreign financial benefit.
Peter Zeidenberg, a Washington, DC attorney who represented chemistry professor Feng ‘Franklin’ Tao, who was exonerated in 2024 after being wrongfully convicted under the China Initiative, asserts that the outcomes of Chen and Zhou’s cases were foreseeable.
‘From an immigration perspective, if this offense was ongoing when the couple applied for citizenship – and presumably they did not disclose this – then this outcome would not be particularly unexpected,’ he remarks.
The China Initiative may not be entirely abolished but has been ‘significantly diminished,’ suggests Zeidenberg. ‘It is certainly true that research scientists are no longer being prosecuted merely for failing to disclose ties with Chinese universities,’ he informs Chemistry World.
Earlier this year, an effort to revive the China Initiative was halted following advocacy from the Asian American Scholar Forum, the wider Asian American community, and allies. Nonetheless, political moves to reinstate the program in some capacity persist, with the most recent being a bill that aims to reintroduce it under a different title. This legislation, which advanced through the House Judiciary Committee on 26 March and awaits a full floor vote in the House of Representatives, has an accompanying measure pending in the Senate.