Texas Prosecutor Accuses Chinese Scientist of Illegally Taking U.S. Cancer Research

Texas Officials Accuse Scientist of Smuggling Cancer Research

This week, Texas officials have accused a Chinese scientist of trying to smuggle federally funded cancer research back to China.

Yunhai Li, 35, was arrested at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston on July 9. Federal agents discovered medical records on his laptop during a routine pre-flight inspection as he was preparing to travel to China, according to the Harris County District Attorney’s Office.

Prosecutors in Houston have since charged him with three felonies, including tampering with government records, along with some misdemeanors. There’s also a possibility he might face additional federal charges soon.

Li had been working at the MD Anderson Cancer Center since 2022, focusing on vaccines aimed at preventing the spread of breast cancer, as reported by the New York Post.

He was in the U.S. under a scholarly exchange visa issued by the State Department, with funding for his research coming from the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Defense.

However, he reportedly quit his position on July 1 and, just days later, uploaded nearly finished research to a server in China.

“We managed to detain him just before he was about to board a flight,” said Harris County District Attorney Sean Tear to Fox 26 in Houston.

Prosecutors alleged that while still employed at MD Anderson, Li first uploaded his research to his personal Google Drive. When he was caught, he deleted the file, but it was noted that Chinese entities had previously compensated scientists. Court documents mentioned that he had also shared his data on a Chinese platform called Baidu.

According to the investigation documents, the content found on Baidu Drive included unpublished data and articles that could be considered trade secrets—essentially confidential research data, models, and other materials.

Li had previously received grants from the China National Natural Science Foundation, conducting research and publishing works at the first affiliated hospital of Cheong Gin Medical University both before and during his time at MD Anderson.

If convicted of trade secret theft, he could face 2-10 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000. Tampering with government records could lead to a sentence of up to one year in prison and a fine of $4,000.