UVA researcher arrested after allegedly stealing 'trade secrets' for China
A UVA researcher was about to board a flight to China when he was arrested for alleged trade secret theft.
UVA is cooperating with federal authorities in their investigation.
The university said the researcher was in possession of "years of research."
A Chinese national who was conducting fluid dynamics and bio-mimics research at the University of Virginia was arrested and charged with accessing a computer without authorization and theft of trade secrets on Friday, August 28.
According to the Department of Justice, the government first became aware of Haizhou Hu when he attempted to board a flight to China on August 25 at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago. The DOJ stated that during a “routine screening” at the airport, officials found that Hu was allegedly in “possession of bio-inspired research simulation software code that he was not authorized to possess.”
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The simulation software code was the product of “years of research” by people at the University of Virginia.
The investigation, which is being conducted by the FBI, is ongoing.
UVA Director of Media Relations Wesley Hester told Campus Reform that Hu was a visiting scholar and that the university is continuing to cooperate with law enforcement.
“The University of Virginia is aware of the arrest and charges against a former visiting scholar. We have been and continue to cooperate fully with law enforcement in connection with the investigation of theft of University trade secrets,” Hester said.
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In recent months, Campus Reform has covered multiple instances of college professors and researchers being arrested for alleged connections to the Chinese Communist Party.
Read Campus Reform’s full coverage of the China threat to U.S. college campuses by visiting CampusReform.org/China.
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