[helen___keller]

You obviously know government agencies better than I do, and I’m not trying to defend the CCP so I won’t claim they aren’t evil or malicious.

My point is just that in this situation, the point of the law is to disambiguate where your personal liberties as someone who might feel positive towards China end, and your collective responsibility towards your country begin.

Feeling friendly to China isn’t illegal or immoral. Helping China in a way that your government forbids, be it for national security or otherwise, is illegal and probably immoral.

If Chen did not break the law, then he did not betray the moral guidelines outlined through law. Unless you want to claim that the spirit of the law was that he should disclose more than legally required to disclose.

Claiming anything more than this just sounds like virtue signaling.

[defaultprimate]

Not being guilty of breaking specific mandatory disclosure laws doesn't mean he didn't break the law or participate in grossly inappropriate and dangerous behavior, especially given the sources and nature of his federally funded research.

As I've said, time will tell whether or not there is sufficient evidence to file criminal charges on the basis of actual espionage, but just looking at his communications is enough to illustrate he should not be trusted with federal funding or research in the primary domains in which he works.