A prominent Chinese geophysical chemist, Duan Zhenhao,
was detained by police in Beijing on Thursday for alleged embezzlement
of research funds, according to a statement from his employer, the
Institute of Geology and Geophysics (IGG) of the Chinese Academy of
Sciences (CAS).
Duan, director of IGG’s Key Lab of Earth's Deep Interior, was elected
a 2011 geochemistry fellow by the European Association of Geochemistry
and the Geochemical Society in the United States and was nominated for
election this year to CAS, an honor reflecting significant research
achievements. He was a postdoc and later a research scientist at the
University of California, San Diego, before returning to China in 2004.
Duan's wife and son remained in the United States.
Three weeks ago, Duan's wife opened a blog on a popular Chinese Web
site and began airing misdeeds she claims her husband committed,
including the misuse of grant money. Last week, a CAS spokesperson said
the academy was concerned by the allegations and had begun an
investigation. IGG announced Thursday that it found that Duan had
falsified an unspecified amount of travel expenses and that he had been
turned over to the police. Duan could not be reached for comment; in a
13 July report in China Youth Daily, he denied having misused research funds.
IGG officials did not respond to requests for comment.
On ScienceNet.cn, an online Chinese scientific community, many
netizens pressed IGG to reveal how much money Duan allegedly embezzled
and wondered whether his detention is too severe a punishment. In a blog
posting titled "I feel sad for Duan Zhenhao," Xiao Chongfa, a
researcher at Nanchang University in central China, wrote that talented
overseas scientists should not return to China unless they have powerful
political patrons who can protect them when the going gets tough.作者: 后青春期的诗 时间: 2011-7-26 09:16
。
