US accuses Chinese researcher Guan Lei of destroying hard drive

UCLA researcher damaged drive beyond repair and dumped it after coming under investigation for alleged links to the Chinese military, according to FBI

Charges laid just days after Guan stopped from leaving the United States

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Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian says China will take all necessary measures to protect the legal interests and rights of Chinese citizens. Photo: Kyodo

Published: 1:25pm, 29 Aug 2020Updated: 9:23pm, 29 Aug 2020

A Chinese researcher at the University of California at Los Angeles was charged with destroying evidence after he allegedly damaged a computer hard drive beyond repair and threw it in a dumpster days after he had been stopped from leaving the United States.

Guan Lei, 29, is under investigation for possibly transferring sensitive US software or technical data to China’s National University of Defence Technology and falsely denying his association with the Chinese military when he applied for a visa in 2018, according to a statement on Friday from the US attorney in Los Angeles.

Guan is the latest Chinese researcher in the US to face criminal charges over alleged ties to the country’s military. The Justice Department has stepped up a crackdown on Chinese researchers amid rising tensions between the two countries over theft of intellectual property, trade and the coronavirus epidemic.

Michael Schachter, a federal public defender who represented Guan at his initial court appearance, declined to comment. Guan was ordered detained at the hearing.

Earlier on Friday, China’s foreign ministry spoke about the case of Juan Tang, another Chinese researcher charged with visa fraud and concealing her military service.