According to the Boston Globe, The University of Massachusetts Boston campuses was one of seven universities nationwide that were targeted by a Chinese government official in a visa fraud scheme purposed with enlisting foreign government recruiters to the United States under the guise of visiting research scholars. these Chinese officials would do little actual research, and their main purpose was to recruit scientists and experts to work in China, according to court documents in a New York federal court earlier this month. The Wall Street Journal reported that UMass Boston was one of the seven universities. Federal agencies have been increasingly on alert that China’s ascent has been stealing American technology and science research from companies and universities. The US government has been particularly critical of China’s talent recruitment programs on American campuses.
Zhongsan Liu, 57, of New Jersey, through his agency, the China Association for International Exchange of Personnel, allegedly worked with several unnamed people in the United States to persuade American universities to help Chinese government employees get into the country under a visa program for academics. Liu, was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit visa fraud. He tried to bring in another Chinese official in 2018, and contacted several universities, including UMass Boston, about sponsoring a visa.
