Federal authorities say a Chinese national who worked as a research scholar at the University of Michigan lied about his work on drones in the People’s Republic of China.
According to a criminal complaint filed last week, Chuan Wang allegedly denied involvement in the production of military products during an interview with customs officers in 2023 when in reality he ran a company that designs and manufactures unmanned aerial vehicles and drones for the Chinese military.
According to the complaint, Wang entered the United States in 2012 on a visa for visiting students and scholars to conduct research on aeroelastic wing design at the University of Michigan. In his visa application, Wang wrote that he planned to develop a “radio-controlled model airplane with high aspect ratio” and conduct related “design, fabrication, test, flight and analysis.”
A few years later, Wang obtained a 10-year tourist visa, describing himself as a business student employed by a media production company. Federal authorities noted that the employment information Wang later submitted — which required biennial updates — changed multiple times.
In one filing, Wang identified himself as a technical engineer for Volition Innovations Science and Technology. In another, he listed his employer as his father, Zhi Yuan Wang. In a third, he identified Tianxun Chuangxin Tech as his employer.
Then, in July 2023, Wang was interviewed by Customs and Border Protection officers while attempting to board a flight to China from Detroit Metropolitan Airport. When officers asked Wang about Tianxun, investigators said he could not explain his engineering specialty and eventually stopped answering questions. CBP officers then searched Wang and his luggage and seized his phone.
By November 2023, the Federal Bureau of Investigation had opened an investigation into Wang and Tianxun. According to the complaint, investigators found Chinese news articles, promotional materials and other online records as early as 2015 describing Wang as the co-founder of Tianxun, a drone manufacturer supplying the Chinese military.
Authorities also cited blog posts allegedly written by Wang discussing his success at Tianxun and how he developed a passion for drone design in high school. The posts reportedly included photographs of Wang presenting one of his drones to former Chinese air force general Xu Qiliang.
When investigators reviewed Wang’s cell phone, authorities say they found thousands of documents related to the design, manufacture and sale of unmanned aerial vehicles. In a message dated Sept. 13, 2022, authorities say Wang received confirmation of a bank deposit paid by the Chinese military’s Special Weapons Bureau.
Wang was reportedly the twelfth Chinese national tied to the University of Michigan to be charged in a federal national security case since 2023. In all, five were accused of smuggling research material: including fungus and roundworms; one allegedly voted illegally; and five were accused of photographing military equipment.
According to Wang’s online case docket, he has not yet been arraigned on charges for making false statements.