China draws veil of silence over sacked academic (Reuters)

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Chinese authorities drew a veil ofsilence on Monday over the sacking of a professor for falselyclaming to have invented a new type of computer chip, refusingto say whether he would be prosecuted.

The firing of the academic at Shanghai's renowned Jiao TongUniversity, the alma mater of former Chinese president , represents a setback in China's stated goal of moving upthe global value chain by boosting technological innovation.

The university and the official Xinhua news agency issuedterse statements on Friday outlining Chen Jin's misdemeanors --which included claiming the chip could do things it couldn't --but stopped short of outlining legal proceedings.

"We've not received any information to that effect," said aspokesman at China's science and technology ministry."Everything we're willing to say is already in the statements."

The Ministry of Education declined to comment, and theuniversity was also unforthcoming.

"We've said all we have to say at this stage in thestatement," said a propaganda official at the university. "Wewill release new information in a timely manner if there isany."

The investigation started in December after a tip-off froman employee at the company which made the chips and where Chenwas also general manager, the official Xinhua news agency said.

"The investigation showed that there was serious fraud anddeception involved in the research process for the chip serieswhich Chen Jin was responsible for," Xinhua said.

Chen, once the head of the university's microelectronicsfaculty, would have to repay government funding, Jiao Tong saidin a statement.

"Shanghai Jiao Tong University has always upheld thescientific spirit of seeking the truth, and opposes any type ofacademic fraud," it said.

The university also said the chips used technology fromanother company, though it did not provide details, suggestingintellectual property rights may also have been violated.

A lawyer at a Western law firm in China said he did notexpect a law suit, as the government seemed only to be payinglip service to a much touted high-level campaign againstpiracy.

"I see more publicity going on these days," said one. "At apractical level, of course, you don't expect things to changeovernight."

The scandal echoes a case in , where scientistHwang Woo-suk was stripped of his titles at Seoul NationalUniversity for fabricating data on the cloning of human stemcells.

Hwang's team basked in global acclaim and Hwang hadrock-star like status at home where he was often called "thepride of Korea" after his team said it had achieved threemilestones and put the country at the center of stem cellresearch.

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