Ohio State University Settles $2.1 Million Claim Over Undisclosed Chinese Ties

The Ohio State University quietly slipped a $2.1 million check to the federal government this week, sealing a settlement that stems from a rather uncomfortable discovery: a former faculty member had, essentially, kept his Chinese connections under wraps.

According to the Justice Department, the university failed to disclose, in grant applications and annual reports filed with NASA and the National Science Foundation, that the researcher – identified as C.K. Shum – was tied to Chinese universities and, more strikingly, participated in China’s infamous Thousand Talents Program. That program, officials say, is a Beijing‑backed effort to poach scientists and engineers with access to sensitive technology.

OSU says it eventually uncovered the issue on its own. “We discovered and investigated Mr. Shum’s inappropriate foreign affiliations and self‑reported them to NASA and NSF,” said Benjamin Johnson, the school’s chief communications officer, in a statement to Fox News Digital. The university promptly suspended Shum’s principal investigator privileges, halted spending on the affected federal awards, and even repaid the grant money in question.

Shum is no longer employed at Ohio State, and the school stresses that it has been fully cooperative with federal investigators. “We take national security seriously,” Johnson added, noting that OSU maintains a suite of safeguards: a dedicated research compliance office, mandatory conflict‑of‑interest disclosures, and regular foreign‑influence training for staff.

The DOJ’s complaint paints a broader picture, alleging that OSU’s annual Faculty Activity Reports since 2014 listed affiliations with Chinese state‑run entities, yet the university did not pass that information along to the funding agencies. In fact, the department says OSU only informed NASA and NSF about Shum’s Thousand Talents involvement in 2023, even though the university knew as early as 2019.

Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate, who heads the Justice Department’s Civil Division, reminded universities that “any institution benefiting from federal research dollars must fully disclose all foreign funding.” He warned that the government will keep a close eye on compliance, especially when national security could be at stake.

While the $2.1 million figure might look like a modest sum compared to the billions poured into research each year, the settlement sends a clear signal: hiding foreign ties is a serious breach, not just a clerical oversight. For Ohio State, the episode is a reminder that even well‑established research powerhouses must stay vigilant about who they partner with—and how transparent they are about those relationships.