Beautiful Virgin Islands

Saturday, Jul 05, 2025

UC Davis researcher charged with visa fraud for hiding ties to Chinese military

Juan (Xi’an) Tang, 37, a Chinese national and visiting cancer researcher at UC Davis, was charged in federal court last month with visa fraud for allegedly lying about her affiliation with the Chinese military. Sealed FBI document (attached) provides the details.

Tang, who is wanted by the FBI, is believed to have sought refuge inside the Chinese consulate in San Francisco.















According to a sealed federal criminal complaint filed June 26 in the Eastern District of California, attached bellow, Tang applied for a non-immigrant visa on Oct. 28 and was issued a J-1 visa on Nov. 5 to conduct research at UC Davis. Tang entered the United States on Dec. 27, the complaint states.

On her visa application, Tang answered no to the question, “Have you served in the military?” She also said she was not affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party. U.S. prosecutors allege that those were false statements.

According to the complaint, an internet search conducted by the FBI revealed an April 2019 article about a health care forum hosted in Xi’an, China, where Tang had been invited to speak. The article included a headshot of Tang wearing a military uniform that bore the insignia of the Civilian Cadres of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army. Two other articles from 2019 list Tang’s employer as the PLA’s Air Force Medical University (AFMU), formerly known as the Fourth Military Medical University (FMMU).

On June 20, the FBI interviewed Tang at her Cranbrook Court apartment in Davis. “When questioned about military service, Tang denied serving in the Chinese military and adamantly denied being a member of the civilian cadre,” the FBI states. According to the complaint, Tang said that she, like others at the military university, wore the uniform as was required and was unaware of the insignia’s meaning.

After interviewing Tang, FBI agents served a search warrant at her residence and seized her Chinese passport and electronic media. Five days later, during a review of the electronic media, agents found a 2016 photo of Tang wearing a different PLA uniform bearing the same insignia. Agents also found an application for government benefits in which Tang said she was a CCP member.

The FBI concluded in the complaint that Tang violated 18 U.S. Code § 1546(a) by knowingly omitting information about her military affiliations in her visa application. “It appears that Tang is part of a civilian cadre whose members are considered active-duty military personnel,” the complaint states.

According to a campus spokesperson, Tang came to UC Davis through an exchange program with Xijing Hospital, which has been affiliated with the Air Force Medical University since 1954 and is one of China’s top teaching hospitals.

“Juan Tang was a visiting researcher in the Department of Radiation Oncology, funded by the Chinese Scholarship Council, a study-based exchange program affiliated with China’s Ministry of Education and Xijing Hospital in China,” UC Davis Director of Media Relations Melissa Lutz Blouin said in an email to The Enterprise. “Her work was solely based in the research laboratory and she left the university at the end of June.”

“The UC Davis School of Medicine is providing all information requested by the authorities as they investigate this case,” Blouin said.

The FBI believes that at some point after she was questioned at her apartment in Davis, Tang fled to the Chinese consulate in San Francisco. That assessment was revealed in court documents filed July 20 in the U.S. District Court in San Francisco, which are part of the case of Chen Song, a visiting Chinese researcher at Stanford who is also charged with visa fraud for lying about affiliations with the Chinese military.

U.S. attorneys David L. Anderson and Benjamin Kingsley included details about Tang in a court memo on Song’s case to illustrate a pattern of espionage by Chinese researchers at U.S. universities. Also included in the memo is Xin Wang, a visiting researcher at UC San Francisco who was arrested on June 7 for visa fraud and who reportedly told authorities he was instructed by a supervisor in China to document the layout of a UCSF lab and replicate it upon his return to China.

“Defendant’s case is not an isolated one, but instead appears to be part of a program conducted by the PLA — and specifically, FMMU or associated institutions — to send military scientists to the United States on false pretenses with false covers or false statements about their true employment,” the memo states.

John Brown, who leads the FBI’s National Security Branch, said the agency has identified visa holders in at least 25 American cities with hidden ties to the Chinese military, The Los Angeles Times reported Thursday.

The charges against Tang and other Chinese researchers in California come amid rising tensions between the U.S. and China. On Wednesday, U.S. officials ordered the closure of the Chinese consulate in Houston, accusing diplomats of economic espionage and trying to steal scientific research. The Chinese government called the accusations “groundless fabrications” and warned it would retaliate.

In May, the Trump administration announced a ban on Chinese students and researchers in the U.S. who have ties to Chinese military universities, a category that several of China’s most prestigious science and technology institutions likely fall into. Officials estimated 3,000 students and scholars could have their visas canceled under the new rule.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
A new online platform has emerged in the United Kingdom, specifically targeting Muslim men seeking virgin brides
Trump Celebrates Independence Day with B-2 Flyover and Signs Controversial Legislation
Boris Johnson Urges Conservatives to Ignore Farage
SNP Ordered to Update Single-Sex Space Guidance Within Days
Starmer Set to Reject Calls for Wealth Taxes
Stolen Century-Old Rolls-Royce Recovered After Hotel Theft
Macron Presses Starmer to Recognise Palestinian State
Labour Delayed Palestine Action Ban Over Riot Concerns
Swinney’s Tax Comments ‘Offensive to Scots’, Say Tories
High Street Retailers to Enforce Bans on Serial Shoplifters
Music Banned by Henry VIII to Be Performed After 500 Years
Steve Coogan Says Working Class Is Being ‘Ethnically Cleansed’
Home Office Admits Uncertainty Over Visa Overstayer Numbers
JD Vance Questions Mandelson Over Reform Party’s Rising Popularity
Macron to Receive Windsor Carriage Ride in Royal Gesture
Labour Accused of ‘Hammering’ Scots During First Year in Power
BBC Head of Music Stood Down Amid Bob Vylan Controversy
Corbyn Eyes Hard-Left Challenge to Starmer’s Leadership
London Tube Trains Suspended After Major Fire Erupts Nearby
Richard Kemp: I Felt Safer in Israel Under Attack Than in the UK
Cyclist Says Police Cited Human Rights Act for Riding No-Handed
China’s Central Bank Consults European Peers on Low-Rate Strategies
AI Raises Alarms Over Long-Term Job Security
Saudi Arabia Maintains Ties with Iran Despite Israel Conflict
Musk Battles to Protect Tesla Amid Trump Policy Threats
Air France-KLM Acquires Majority Stake in Scandinavian Airlines
UK Educators Sound Alarm on Declining Child Literacy
Shein Fined €40 Million in France Over Misleading Discounts
Brazil’s Lula Visits Kirchner During Argentina House Arrest
Trump Scores Legislative Win as House Passes Tax Reform Bill
Keir Starmer Faces Criticism After Rocky First Year in Power
DJI Launches Heavy-Duty Coaxial Quadcopter with 80 kg Lift Capacity
U.S. Senate Approves Major Legislation Dubbed the 'Big Beautiful Bill'
Largest Healthcare Fraud Takedown in U.S. History Announced by DOJ
Poland Implements Border Checks Amid Growing Migration Tensions
Political Dispute Escalates Between Trump and Musk
Emirates Airline Expands Market Share with New $20 Million Campaign
Amazon Reaches Milestone with Deployment of One Millionth Robot
US Senate Votes to Remove AI Regulation Moratorium from Domestic Policy Bill
Yulia Putintseva Calls for Spectator Ejection at Wimbledon Over Safety Concerns
Jury Deliberations in Diddy Trial Yield Partial Verdict in Serious Criminal Charges
House Oversight Committee Subpoenas Former Jill Biden Aide Amid Investigation into Alleged Concealment of President Biden's Cognitive Health
King Charles Plans Significant Role for Prince Harry in Coronation
Two Chinese Nationals Arrested for Espionage Activities Against U.S. Navy
Amazon Reaches Major Automation Milestone with Over One Million Robots
Extreme Heat Wave Sweeps Across Europe, Hitting Record Temperatures
Meta Announces Formation of Ambitious AI Unit, Meta Superintelligence Labs
Robots Compete in Football Tournament in China Amid Injuries
Trump Administration Considers Withdrawal of Funding for Hospitals Providing Gender Treatment to Minors
Texas Enacts Law Allowing Gold and Silver Transactions
×