Press release:
It has come to light that Professor David X, a China Studies faculty member in the Center for the Study of International Migration at CAL U, has been the subject of an ongoing federal investigation. He has been accused of concealing ties with a transnational corporation with headquarters in Shanghai, defrauding the government in connection with federal research funds received to study facial recognition databases in connection with human trafficking, and in sharing sensitive technology with PRC research institutions.
F.B.I. agents spent the past year tailing the professor, following him to work, to the grocery store, and even keeping his college-age son under surveillance. They told CAL U, where he held a tenured position, that he was a Chinese operative, prompting the school to cooperate with their investigation and suspend him without pay.
The FBI has been unable to find evidence of espionage, but pressed charges anyway under the “The China Initiative.” The China Initiative was formed under the Trump Administration in order to counter the Chinese government’s stealing of American intellectual property. It specifically targets those at U.S. universities who are believed to be engaging in espionage for the Chinese government.
Professor David X has been under house arrest for the past 6 months during the investigation, reliant on GoFundMe donations for his legal defense fees. Neighbors and church friends delivered groceries and took out his garbage. As he has been able to communicate with his colleagues and students over Zoom throughout 2020-21, his suspension was not widely known to the campus community. While the university has since offered to end his suspension and reinstate his pay, Dr. X, a naturalized Canadian citizen and a green card holder in the U.S., said his immigration status remains in limbo due to the charges.
“My basic human rights were invaded, my reputation was destroyed, my heart was deeply hurt, my family was hurt,” he said. “This is not fairness.”
Earlier, Professor X had spoken to the press over the 2019 disappearance of CAL U college student Laura Song, an advisee of his:
“I have had the fortune of having Laura as one of my students. She not only had a deep understanding of and resonated with her Chinese roots, but was also very passionate about connecting with the local Chinese American community. Her disappearance is deeply mourned by all the faculty at the Asian American Studies Center and CAL U at large. At the same time, I recognize that the tragedy may have been driven at least in part by racial biases and prejudice, and I am absolutely saddened to see the racial tension between different ethnic groups aggravate as Laura’s disappearance is being investigated. Moreover, tragedies are not only happening within LA. Chinese international students have long been the target of attack. Recently, Shaoxiong Zheng, a brilliant graduate student at the University of Chicago, was killed during a robbery, leaving his parents on the other side of the world with nothing but despair.
Therefore, I think it is important that we pay attention to and address the anti-Chinese biases that have constantly troubled our community. I hope we could use the foundation funds to advance education on immigration, and create a safer and more inclusive environment for our students on campus and people in Chinatown.”
Professor X, despite all, would rather stay in the United States to contribute not just to his field of research, but also to his new passion: promoting justice. “I have no interest in politics and know almost nothing about it,” he said. “But I know that targeting Chinese and Asian Americans — that will not make the United States strong.”
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