Updated May 9, 2026, 2:54 p.m. ET
A former University of Michigan visiting scholar from China in 2012 has been charged with lying to U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents when he tried to leave the country in 2023.
Chuan Wang, who was born in 1989, was charged Friday in U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Michigan with one count of giving false statements following an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
It was unclear Saturday whether Wang was still in the United States or had gone back to China.
According to the affidavit, Wang was charged for lying to border patrol officials at Detroit Metro Airport on his way out of the country. He is accused of lying about his employment and work for the Chinese military as an engineer on unmanned aerial vehicles and drones.
Wang was a resident of the People’s Republic of China and received an advanced degree there in aircraft design, the affidavit states. In 2012, he received a J1 visa to “work as a Research Scholar at the University of Michigan.”
He entered the country in February and left in August. On his application, he stated “a University of Michigan professor invited him to conduct research on solar aeroelastic aircraft wing design and flight adjustment from February 1, 2012, to August 31, 2012.”
Wang reportedly “specifically stated he aimed to develop a radio-controlled model airplane with high aspect ratio, and to perform the related design, fabrication, test, flight and analysis.”
Since then, the affidavit said, Wang founded a company in China that “designs and builds unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and drones for the PRC military.”
In December of 2014, Wang submitted another visa application to come to the U.S., claiming it was for business and/or tourism. According to the affidavit, Wang had stated his occupation at the time as “related to the production of ‘commercials, movies, filming and postproduction editing'” for a media company, and that he had studied business administration. He was issued a 10-year visa that expired in 2025.
On Aug. 5, 2023, Wang attempted to leave the country through the Detroit airport to return to Shanghai. He was searched and questioned by border patrol agents, and reportedly denied holding any military patents and said he had been in the U.S. for 20 days visiting his parents.
“WANG falsely told the CBP officers that he worked in the PRC for his father’s road sign company, falsely stated that he did not have any patents for military or defense applications, and falsely denied ever working for any company that has assisted or been involved in the production of aircraft or military or defense products,” the affidavit said.
It added, “CBP Officers asked WANG if he has ever worked for any company that has assisted or been involved in the production of aircraft or military or defense products, which WANG denied.”
The affidavit detailed Wang’s work in the aerospace field, and that he is “Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer at Tianxun.”
“The FBI’s initial investigation into WANG and his association with Tianxun revealed WANG has obtained notoriety in Chinese news media and internet websites for being the co-founder of Tianxun,” the affidavit said, citing several news stories.
One such story reportedly stated that “Tianxun promotes the application and development of UAVs and intelligent equipment manufacturing in the military and civilian markets,” the affidavit said. Another story “contained an image depicting WANG, and other Tianxun employees, in front of a UAV.”
The charging of Wang comes two months after University of Michigan postdoctoral research fellow Danhao Wang, also from China, died apparently by suicide, prompting Chinese officials to demand an investigation after claiming the researcher underwent what they called “hostile questioning” by federal law enforcement.
A Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson claimed the “heartbreaking death” by suicide of a Chinese postdoctoral scholar happened “after being subjected to hostile questioning by U.S. law enforcement personnel” and “calls into question once again the impact and legitimacy of unwarranted U.S. interrogation and harassment targeting Chinese researchers and students.”
Chinese government officials have repeatedly protested such “law enforcement actions” against Chinese researchers, arguing that they “seriously violate Chinese citizens’ lawful rights, poison the atmosphere for people-to-people exchanges between the two countries and continue to create a serious chilling effect,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson said in a statement posted on X.
“China calls on the U.S. to carry out a full investigation, give the family of the victim and the Chinese side a responsible explanation, and stop discriminatory enforcement against Chinese students and scholars in the U.S.”
Danhao Wang’s death came over a year into a crackdown by President Donald Trump’s administration on foreign influence at U.S. universities. UM came under particular scrutiny for misreporting the amount of money it received from the Chinese government, and at least five university students from China were charged by federal authorities with smuggling biological material into the U.S. and lying about it.
Five Chinese UM students were also charged in October 2024 with crimes including conspiracy, lying to federal investigators and destroying records during a federal investigation after they were found on Camp Grayling, a military facility in northern Michigan, during a U.S. National Guard training exercise with members of the Taiwanese military in 2023.
jpignolet@detroitnews.com
