6G expert GK Chang counts costs after 4-year China Initiative case collapses

SCMP | July 29, 2025, 9 a.m. | Original

On a Friday in March 2021, as Gee-Kung Chang began his day as usual at 5am, there was no hint that his life was about to change forever.

As the Georgia Institute of Technology chair professor – a pioneer in the networks behind 5G and 6G – prepped for lectures and set up a thesis defence for a PhD student, a thunderous knock at the door shattered the quiet.

On the other side were nine US federal agents – seven from the FBI and two from Homeland Security. They stormed in, handcuffed Chang – who was about 74 at the time – and began searching every room, drawer and cupboard in his home in Smyrna, a suburb outside Atlanta.

It was not until his first court appearance that Chang learned he had been indicted on 10 felony counts; accused of abusing a research visa programme known as J-1 by bringing Chinese scholars to Georgia Tech and allegedly having them work instead for the Chinese telecoms company ZTE .

Chang’s reputation imploded. Colleagues and friends drifted away. “I forced myself to stay sharp mentally and physically,” Chang recalled.

Four years later, the case quietly fell apart. A judge dismissed nine wire fraud charges in 2024 for lack of evidence. The final visa fraud charge was dropped this April, clearing Chang’s name.

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