Xi Xiaoxing, 47, chairman of Temple University's physics department, was charged in an alleged scheme to steal U.S. defense technology and provide it to the Chinese government and other entities in exchange for prestigious appointments, the Department of Justice said. Photo from Temple University
PHILADELPHIA, May 22 (UPI) -- The chairman of Temple University's physics department was charged in an alleged scheme to steal U.S. defense technology and provide it to the Chinese government and other entities in exchange for prestigious appointments, the Department of Justice said.
Xi Xiaoxing, 47, appeared in federal court Thursday on four counts of wire fraud. Xi, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in China, was released on $100,000 bail. If convicted, he faces up to 80 years in prison and up to $1 million fine.
Xi is considered an expert in the field of magnesium diboride thin film superconducting technology. He was trying "to assist Chinese entities in becoming world leaders of the superconductivity field," prosecutors said.
Prosecutors allege Xi had participated in a Chinese government program intended to boost high-technology innovation and development in China, but took a sabbatical in 2002 to work with an unidentified U.S. company in the field of thin film superconductivity research. While there, the company "invented a piece of technology which revolutionized the field of superconducting magnesium diboride thin film growth," prosecutors said
Prosecutors said, beginning in January 2004, Xi took steps to buy the technology, eventually obtaining a Department of Defense grant for the purchase. The indictment said Xi did it to help Chinese entities become world leaders in the field of superconductivity.
"It is further alleged that, in exchange for his efforts, Xi repeatedly sought lucrative and prestigious appointments in China," the U.S. Attorneys office of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania said in a written statement.
The indictment comes two days after three Chinese citizens, including three college professors, were indicted on charges of conspiracy to steal technology from the U.S. to benefit the Chinese government.
A spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Philadelphia said the cases were not connected.
