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Chip scandal hurts high-tech push
(chinadaily.com.cn/NYtimes)
Updated: 2006-05-15 09:27 While in Texas, he impressed a lot of people. He
co-authored several scientific papers at the University of Texas with Jacob
Abraham, a professor of computer engineering and his dissertation
supervisor.
"He was a good student," Abraham said by telephone. "His PhD
research involved some innovative ideas for testing analog
circuits."
Once back home, Chen worked for a time at Motorola's Suzhou
research center, not far from Shanghai, before taking a job at Jiaotong
University, one of China's most prestigious universities. By then, creating a
homegrown digital signal processor chip - a sophisticated microchip that can
process digitized data for mobile phones, digital cameras and other electronic
devices - had become a priority of the government.
No Chinese company had
been very successful. Yet the government, some industry officials say, was
pressing Chinese scientists to create such a chip fast. Chen did. Within two
years, he announced his breakthrough: a digital signal processor that could
process 200 million instructions per second.
This was something big for
China. His invention hit the headlines of all major national newspapers in
February 2003, like "Homegrown Digital Chip Developed," "China Makes
Breakthrough in Chip Development," and "Shanghai Chips Away at High- Tech
Industry."
Some stories said China was spending billions of dollars
buying foreign made chips to put in electronics equipment. Now, they suggested,
China could use its own chip.
That was a banner year for Chen. He was
named founding dean of the microelectronics school at Jiaotong. He headed a
university research center. He was heavily financed by the government. He was
named a Chang Jiang Scholar by Beijing, one of the most prestigious positions
for a young scientist.
Chen had overseen a lab of more than 100
researchers. He was highly regarded in his field and also busy creating his own
family of companies.
According to press reports, he formed several
companies to help design chips, including one based in Texas, which was founded
with the help of a former Texas classmate. Everyone in China seemed to be
backing him.
When he announced creation of Hanxin II and III in 2004,
Beijing's Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the
National Reform and Development Commission and the Shanghai government were
helping finance his operations.
At that time, the company he formed
reported having orders for 3.5 million chips, with possible deals from major
companies like IBM. Two years later, according to press accounts, the
whistleblowers came forward. Some colleagues had a dispute with Chen and they
began contacting the government. They claimed, according to the media, that
migrant workers had simply scratched away the name "Motorola" from a chip and
replaced it with "Hanxin." They gave details of an array of companies that Chen
operated to profit from the big government contracts he received.
Indeed,
there were lengthy press reports about the fake chip scandal well before the
government investigation was completed this year. On Friday, however, the
official Xinhua news agency reported that government had concluded Chen had
faked the computer chips findings.
Jiaotong University issued its own
press release Friday, saying Chen had breached the university's trust and
exaggerated his findings.
The school also said, "None of the Hanxin chips
can be ranked as world leading DSP chips."
The government in Beijing
canceled the Hanxin project and recalled all of its scientific funds.
The
case is also a serious blow to the enormous ambitions of Shanghai, which is fast
developing into a microelectronics and semiconductor design and manufacturing
center.
On the Jiaotong campus, several students expressed dismay at the
scandal Sunday, worrying about how it might affect their careers, but also
wondering whether Chen was unfairly singled out.
"Professor Chen is
really unlucky," said a student named Wu. "He lied and was caught. I think there
are other people faking their research but they haven't been caught yet. He's
probably not the worst."
Another
student, named Wang, who asked not to be completely identified, added: "I'm not
surprised by the scandal. Now a lot of professors are like businessmen. They are
good at talking and promotion and many of them have their own companies and make
as much money as they can."
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