U.S. prosecutors recommend dropping China charges against MIT professor: source

Prosecutors have recommended that the U.S. Justice Department drop charges against a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor accused of concealing his ties to China when seeking federal grant money, a person familiar with the matter said Friday.

The decision by federal prosecutors in Boston to seek the dismissal of the case against Chinese-born mechanical engineer and nanotechnologist Gang Chen marks the latest setback to a crackdown on Chinese influence within U.S. research.