Academic's plight in US sparks concerns

Yale colleagues criticize suspension of Chinese-born professor in petition

Nearly 100 Yale University faculty members have expressed concerns that the suspension of a prominent Chinese-born professor at the school amid a criminal investigation by the US Justice Department lacks due process and will damage the university's research environment.

Haifan Lin, a professor of cell biology and director of the Stem Cell Center, was placed on paid administrative leave in January following the ongoing investigation and a related internal university investigation, according to the Yale Daily News.

Yale faculty members signed a letter addressed to Yale University President Peter Salovey on March 9 in which they said Lin was "abruptly cut off" from his research group without legal charges or clear evidence of misconduct, according to the report in the university's newspaper.

The letter also places Lin's case against the backdrop of the so-called China Initiative, a program introduced during the presidency of Donald Trump that targeted researchers of Chinese heritage. It was dropped by the administration of US President Joe Biden.

A spokesperson for the Yale president's office confirmed Lin's suspension and the letter in an email to China Daily but declined to comment on why the professor was suspended.

Faculty in the cell biology department and the stem cell center said in a statement posted on Twitter last week that Lin's suspension is "a step taken without any formal charges or due process". They also said their efforts to post the statement on the department's website were blocked by the university.

"Haifan is not only a brilliant scientist and mentor, whose eminence has been recognized by election to the US National Academy of Sciences, but also a leader who we know to be of the utmost integrity," says the statement.

'Deeply disturbing'

What is "deeply disturbing" is that Yale suspended the professor before it received the result of the investigation, says the statement. The suspension is a "devastating interruption of Haifan's personal and professional life", and the Yale administration's decision to separate him from contact with his students is "totally unwarranted" and "damaging to utterly innocent members of our community", it says.

Since Lin's suspension was reported by the Yale Daily News last week, many students, along with Lin's colleagues at Yale and scientists from abroad, have turned to social media to express their support for Lin and asked people to spread the news.

Shawn Ferguson, an associate professor at the Yale School of Medicine, wrote on Twitter: "I support Haifan Lin and am deeply pained by the actions taken against him! Please read the message below (the cell biology department's statement) and help us to speak up on his behalf!"

Julie Brill, a Canadian cell biologist, also wrote in a tweet: "Haifan Lin is a terrific scientist who is well respected nationally and internationally. Appalling that Yale has not stepped up to support its own faculty."

It isn't clear whether Lin's investigation is related to the "China Initiative", which was launched in 2018 to combat economic espionage. The initiative led to dozens of prosecutions against academics with ties to China, but all the charges against them focused on academic integrity instead of espionage.

Nearly 200 Yale faculty members－including Lin－signed an open letter to the Justice Department, calling for the initiative's end in January. The department announced changes to the initiative, including dropping its name, in late February.

Critics of the "China Initiative "said the policy has damaged openness in research and has major consequences for US innovation.

A study conducted by the University of Arizona among nearly 2,000 scientists last summer found that scientists of Chinese descent report far greater racial profiling by the US government, increased difficulty in obtaining research funds and more fear and anxiety than those of non-Chinese descent.

Another recent survey, conducted by the American Physical Society on more than 900 physicists in the US, found that the "China Initiative" had caused a "chilling effect "on the country's researchers, causing them to withdraw from international collaboration that brings new scholars, ideas and techniques to US research and development.