Top Shanghai academic banned after inquiry finds breakthrough homegrown technology was stolen The mainland yesterday announced that its first homegrown computer chip was a fake, in a scandal that deals a blow to the country's aspirations to develop its own technology and causes a major embarrassment to the government. A government investigation found that the developer of the Hanxin series of chips, Chen Jin of Shanghai's prestigious Jiaotong University, had 'committed serious falsification and fraud', the university and state media said. 'Chen Jin has breached the trust of being a scientist and an educator. His behaviour is despicable,' the university said in a statement. Jiaotong has removed Dr Chen from his position as dean of the school of microelectronics and disqualified him as a university professor, while the central government has banned him from further state research projects. The government was also seeking the return of funds invested in the project, Xinhua said, but gave no figure. University spokesman Cao Rongduan declined to say if the academic would face criminal charges. 'We will follow the government's decision,' he said. The Hanxin, or China chip, was hailed as the project that would make Shanghai one of the world's top chip manufacturing centres when the breakthrough was officially announced in 2003. The project was funded by a special government programme aimed at nurturing major scientific and technological achievements. The scandal resembles that of South Korean cloning scientist Hwang Woo-suk, who stunned the world with his stem cell research but fell in disgrace when it was found to be faked. South Korean authorities yesterday indicted him on fraud charges that carry a maximum sentence of life in prison. Mainland leaders have made developing homegrown technology a major goal in an effort to reduce reliance on foreign countries and fuel nationalistic fervour. Questions remain over how Dr Chen managed to trick his university, the Shanghai government, companies that bought the chips and central government bodies that supported him, such as the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Education. In a detailed report, Xinhua said Dr Chen stole the technology for the chips, used for digital signal processing (DSP), from other companies. It did not name the companies. DSP chips are widely used in popular consumer products such as MP3 players and mobile phones. However, media reports said Dr Chen used core technology from Motorola and other companies and exaggerated the functions of the chips in reports. Gloria Shiu, a spokeswoman for Freescale, formerly Motorola's semiconductor division, said its chips had been on the market for four to five years. 'If it's proven that our company is involved, we will take action.' The university said the fraud was discovered after a whistle-blower sent a letter to the government in December. The government's findings followed a two-month investigation, which included independent tests on the Hanxin family of chips. State media has reported that the Hanxin Science and Technology Company, which Dr Chen headed, sold different generations of chips to both IBM and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company. Shanghai Semiconductor International was the manufacturer of the chips. Experts said the mainland's academic climate, which lacks oversight and allows professors to run businesses on the side, was a factor in the scandal. Additional reporting by Cynthia Wan
