A University of Kansas professor wrongly accused of spying is suing the university to get his job back, reports Inside Higher Education.
Franklin Tao lost his position as a tenured professor after being convicted of espionage in 2022 stemming from charges filed in 2019 under then-President Trump’s China Initiative.
His lawyers successfully overturned the conviction, and the China Initiative has since been abandoned.
The lawsuit accuses the university of reporting him to the FBI based on the “wild” claims of a student trying to extort Tao of money.
“Rather than embracing academic rigor and enlightened, critical judgment, the university allowed itself to join in fear mongering and racist witch hunting,” the lawsuit states, according to the Independent.
It reports that few of the dozens of complaints filed under the China Initiative were substantiated. Members of both the Asian American and academic community allege the initiative led to racial profiling and disrupted the pursuit of scientific research.
Biden discontinued the initiative in 2022, but there’s been talk among Republicans of reinstating it.
AsAmNews is published by the non-profit, Asian American Media Inc.
We’re now on BlueSky. You can now keep up with the latest AAPI news there and on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, YouTube and X.
We are supported by generous donations from our readers and by such charitable foundations as the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
You can make your tax-deductible donations here via credit card, debit card, Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal and Venmo. Stock donations and donations via DAFs are also welcomed.
