Appeals Court Voids Conviction of Researcher Over Hiding China Ties

A federal appeals court has reversed a criminal conviction against a former University of Kansas professor for concealing his ties to a university in China. The Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, on July 11, ruled 2–1 in favor of tossing out the criminal conviction against Feng “Franklin” Tao for making a false statement to the U.S. government by failing to disclose his affiliation with China’s Fuzhou University on a University of Kansas form. The court’s majority concluded that federal prosecutors had provided insufficient evidence to support the charge against Mr. Tao. Federal prosecutors originally charged Mr. Tao in August 2019. In June 2020, a 10-count superseding indictment was brought against him, charging Mr. Tao with seven counts of wire fraud and three more counts of making false statements to the U.S. government....