US trial of scientist accused of hiding work in China ends in hung jury
- Hu Anming had been charged with defrauding Nasa by failing to disclose links to Peking University of Technology in grant applications
- Hu was suspended from University of Tennessee position after federal charges were brought on wire fraud and making false statements
A federal judge declared a mistrial Wednesday in the trial of a former University of Tennessee scientist after the jury deadlocked over whether he had hidden his work in China to defraud Nasa.
Hu Anming, 52, was an engineering professor at Tennessee when he was indicted in February 2020 on three counts of wire fraud and three counts of making false statements.
It was the first non-espionage case to go to trial under the “China Initiative”, set up by the US Department of Justice in 2018 to investigate and prosecute trade secret theft and economic espionage activities that are considered national security threats. The initiative was part of a broader department crackdown on university researchers and scientists for their work with Chinese schools and institutions.
Hu’s trial began on June 7 and was sent to the jury on Monday. US District Judge Thomas Varlan declared a mistrial after jurors determined that they could not agree on a verdict.
The US Department of Justice must now decide whether to pursue the case against Hu further. The agency began its investigation into Hu and his family in 2018. The defence also made a motion asking Judge Varlan to acquit Hu.