PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Temple University has appointed an acting chairman of its physics department after its leader was arrested and accused of scheming to provide U.S. technology secrets to China.
Federal prosecutors say 47-year-old Xi Xiaoxing (shee show-shing) is an expert in the field of superconductivity and sought prestigious appointments in China in exchange for providing data on a device invented by a U.S. firm.
Xi appeared Thursday in U.S. District Court on four counts of wire fraud. He has been released on $100,000 bond. A person who answered the phone at his suburban Philadelphia home says he isn’t available to comment.
Temple spokesman Ray Betzner says an acting chairman was appointed in light of Xi’s need to focus “on the matter at hand.”
He says Xi remains a faculty member.
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