A Chinese-born scientist was fired after a top-born scientist was fired at an American university after it was fired from two houses last week.
Scientist Wang Xiaofeng was initially believed to have been “missed” with his wife after his students and colleagues said they could no longer contact him for more than two weeks.
His concern about his whereabouts grew when multiple local news publishers reported that the FBI raided two of his homes on Friday.
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The same is true for local publishers Report Wang and his wife Ma Nianli's profile was also scrubbed from the Indiana University (IU) website.
“None of these are normal,” Write Matthew Green, a crypto professor at Johns Hopkins University, refers to Wang’s profile being deleted.
“I'm frustrated with our academic community. People: If everyone doesn't know that the professor has been arrested for several weeks, there's nothing we can do.”
Worrying that the king's arrest has been alleviated since then, South China Post Report He is still in the United States. The director of the Center for Security and Privacy (SPICE) of IU Informatics, Computing and Engineering (Spice) told SCMP that he was “not accused of anything, and it was good.”
Wang was also hired as a director of Spice.
“Working in Singapore”
Meanwhile, local publisher Herald Times Report The same day the FBI raided in their house, the university opened Wang and Ma.
The report said the head of the university had sent a termination letter to Wang on the grounds that he decided to start teaching at a Singapore university.
Wang's colleagues pointed out that the termination still does not explain why the university chose to delete all records of his wife working and working in the university.
Professor Alex Tanford, Tell Indiana Daily Studentsanother local news publisher, teachers are also concerned about the lack of communication between universities on the matter.
“He is a tenured professor, and that's scared all of us,” Tanford said. IU has said that the FBI has directed not to comment on Wang's investigation.
In addition, the American TV network CNBC Report Wang informed Tanford earlier last month that the university is conducting a “regular” investigation into grant applications and how he reports publications on its courses. ”
Wang emailed Tanford on Friday when the FBI raided his home, saying he had been fired. Contrary to other reports, Tanford told CNBC that the termination letter sent to Wang “does not say why he was fired.”
Also a professor Tell another local TV station The king was “locked in his office, locked on his computer” even before he terminated. ”
“Innocence until proven guilty”
Although Wang's termination and lack of communication with peers and students is unclear, his union asked the university to revoke his sack on Monday.
“The termination of tenured teachers is an action that requires the highest review and due process … we understand that Professor Wang is not getting due process,” the union said. In a letter Go to the university leader Rahul Shrivastav.
The union said the king had been “no necessary notices and hearings” as required by the university’s policy. It pointed out that even if the king was investigated by law enforcement officers, even if the king investigated the king, there was no reason.
“While the results of these investigations may ultimately comply with Professor Wang’s continued appointment at IU, the facts or baseless allegations of conducting the investigation alone cannot justify failure to comply with university policies… until proven innocent until proven to be fundamental,” the Alliance said.
The FBI has not made any statement about why King's house was raided. It has since clarified that the search it conducted was “custodian”.
Wang and his wife have not responded to any media requests for comment.
Who is Wang Xiaofen?
Wang has worked at IU for more than 21 years and has published a series of academic papers on encryption, privacy and cybersecurity during this period, ARS Technica Report on Monday.
He was the associate dean of the Luddy School of Informatics, Computing and Engineering at Indiana University. according to Archived version Wang served as the lead researcher for the research project in his now deleted university page, worth nearly $23 million as of 2022.
The page also notes that he has won multiple awards for his work and his research has also been reported in the media.
His mention now also scrubs the spices from the website. But it has previously said that Wang's research focuses on system security and data privacy, specializing in security issues related to mobile and cloud computing, as well as human genomic data.
“He is at the forefront of this kind of research, with a lot of dollars in federal research grants as far as data privacy, cybersecurity and things like that.” Tell the broadcaster FOX59.
Sensitive areas of his research Gave people's attention He could be a victim of “racial targets” amid growing concerns that Beijing uses its influence to monitor American technology.
This fear led U.S. President Donald Trump to launch a FBI-led program called the China Initiative during his first term. The program aims to find and prosecute Chinese scientists suspected of espionage and research on theft.
But Joe Biden eventually scrapped it Been thrown away By the U.S. Court.
Chinese scientists working in the United States told SCMP that Wang's shooting and raids on his house could indicate a return to China's initiative and could lead to a review of researchers working in fields related to artificial intelligence and semiconductors.
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