Tang Juan was one of four Chinese researchers arrested and charged in recent weeks (Representative)
Washington:
A Chinese researcher who took refuge in the San Francisco consulate to avoid visa fraud charges has been arrested and will appear in court on Friday, a U.S. Department of Justice official said.
Tang Juan, who is said to have hidden her ties to the People's Liberation Army when she applied for cancer treatment research at the University of California-Davis, is in US detention, the official, who insisted on anonymity, told reporters.
The official did not want to say how Tang emerged from the consulate, but found that she had no diplomatic status to protect her from criminal charges.
After the charges against Tang that had been unsealed before a federal court in Sacramento last week, she came to the United States on December 27 as part of a research exchange program.
On her visa application, she answered "No" to questions as to whether she had served in the military or was a member of, or associated with, a Communist party.
The FBI said it later found pictures of her in uniform with badges for the PLA's "civilian cadres" and identified information describing her as an associate researcher in a Chinese Air Force hospital.
When the FBI was raided on her home in Davis, California, the FBI said they had found documents showing that she was a member of the Chinese Communist Party.
Tang was one of four Chinese researchers arrested and charged with visa fraud in recent weeks for allegedly hiding their connections to the PLA.
The Justice Department said Thursday the four are part of China's efforts to "infiltrate" US institutions to gain scientific and technological knowledge.
(This story was not edited by NDTV staff and is generated automatically from a syndicated feed.)
