刚刚看到下面这个新闻快递

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2015/09/08/fbi-in

FBI investigates China ties of Ohio State professor who resigned, disappeared

Professor Rongxing Li was a star at Ohio State University, attracting international attention as he helped NASA rovers explore Mars in the past decade.

Then, early last year, Li quit his post as OSU’s premier mapping expert and disappeared. No news release was issued to explain his departure, and most information about his 18-year tenure at Ohio State was removed from the university’s website.

Now, federal search warrants filed in U.S. District Court in Columbus reveal that the FBI was investigating Li, trying to determine whether he shared defense secrets with the Chinese.

Li, 56, a U.S. citizen who grew up in China, had been director of the OSU mapping and geographic information system laboratory. Also known as Ron Li, he held an endowed chair in the OSU Department of Civil, Environmental and Geodetic Engineering and was known worldwide for his work in mapping.

His renown came, in part, when NASA selected him to help with its 2003 and 2009 Mars exploration missions. His troubles, too, began with NASA projects.

OSU, the FBI and NASA declined to comment about the case. But search warrants unsealed in August lay out why the government took a hard look at Li.

In January 2014, Li submitted a $36.9 million proposal to NASA for imaging work for a 2020 Mars mission. As part of that proposal, Li had access to Department of Defense technical information that he was prohibited from sharing with the Chinese, according to search warrants.

Li had claimed in the proposal that he had no relationships with Chinese scientists. But OSU researchers knew he had spent 2012 on sabbatical at Tongji University in Shanghai, so Ohio State began an internal investigation to determine why Li had not notified NASA of his China connections.

Investigators determined that Li had numerous, ongoing connections with Tongji, including being listed as a professor and as the director of a center for spatial information. The investigators also found online evidence that he had collaborated with Chinese-government programs to develop advanced technologies, serving as chief scientist for one project.

On Feb. 15, 2014, Li notified Ohio State and NASA that he was withdrawing from the Mars 2020 project. He also told Ohio State that he was in China caring for his sick parents. A few days later, he emailed his resignation to the university. According to a search warrant, he said, “With this email I resign from my position at the Ohio State University.”

Jeff Grabmeier, a spokesman for university research, confirmed Li’s unexpected resignation but said he couldn’t discuss it further and could not say why Li left.

According to the search warrant, Ohio State then called the FBI because of the “unusual circumstances of Li’s departure and the restricted and sensitive nature of some of his research.” The university told the FBI that Li had access to International Traffic in Arms Regulations information with NASA and with Raytheon, a defense contractor.

As part of the FBI investigation, Homeland Security agents stopped and searched Li’s wife, Jue Tian, 56, in San Francisco before she boarded a plane for China on March 1, 2014. Agents seized Tian’s computer, a cellphone and several thumb drives. The thumb drives contained restricted defense information, the warrant says.

Investigators also searched Li’s home in Upper Arlington. According to Franklin County property records, Li and his wife purchased the five-bedroom house on Lane Road in 1997.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Deborah Solove said no charges have been filed against Li or his wife. She would not comment further.

Charles Toth, an OSU researcher who worked in the same department as Li, said Li ran “his own show” at the university and didn’t work with many other professors. He said he couldn’t say more because of “the sensitivity” of the case. Other professors contacted by The Dispatch didn’t return phone calls.

In 2014, Li was one of five scientists named as fellows for the American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing. His name, however, is no longer on the society’s online list of 2014 fellows.

Society President Stephen D. DeGloria said he knew Li had left Ohio State and was living in China but had no details of the FBI investigation. He said Li had been nominated as a fellow before he quit at Ohio State.

The Upper Arlington house has been for sale since June. Tian, who returned from China in mid-2014, did not respond to a request for an interview.