The Heat: Examining the Peter Liang Case and wrongly-accused scientists

The Heat

It’s the case of Chinese American police officer, Peter Liang. A New York City policeman who was recently found guilty of manslaughter in the 2014 shooting death of an unarmed black American man.

Some in the Chinese-American community in the U.S. are protesting against Liang’s conviction, saying it’s more about politics than justice.

The following guests joined The Heat:

  • Peter Liang’s attorney, Rae Downes Koshetz, a former prosecutor in Manhattan and a former deputy commissioner with the New York Police Department.
  • Frank H. Wu, a professor at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law.

CCTV America conducted an informal poll on the Liang verdict. Of the 720 people who responded so far, 624 people or 87 percent said no he’s not guilty, 55 or 8 percent said yes he is, and 38 or 5 percent are not sure.

One user left a comment saying “He should get a lesser sentence” and another said “NYPD is guilty not Liang.”

Take the poll here:

The Heat Part Two: Examining cases of scientists wrongly accused of spying for China

Last year, United States federal agents arrested Xi Xiaoxing, the chairman of Temple University’s physics department. Xi was accused of sharing sensitive information with China, but months after his arrest, the charges were dropped.

A similar case played out in Ohio starting in October 2014. Another Chinese American scientist, Sherry Chen, was arrested by the FBI and also accused of spying for China.

The charges against her were dropped shortly before her trial was due to begin last year. Ms. Chen spoke with CCTV recently and described the trauma of being taken into custody.

Sherry Chen’s attorney Peter Zeidenberg joined The Heat to discuss. He also represented Xi Xiaoxing.