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Bloomberg
A Chinese researcher in US custody on charges of visa fraud was ordered detained until August 10, when she’ll have a fight on her hands if she asks to be released on bail.
Juan Tang appeared before US Magistrate Judge Deborah Barnes in Sacramento, California. She took shelter at the Chinese consulate in San Francisco after federal agents interviewed her at the University of California at Davis about allegedly lying about her military service. Officials haven’t explained how she came to be in federal custody last week.
At a hearing, Lexi Negin, a federal defender representing Tang, told the judge she hasn’t been able to collect the information required to request Tang’s release on bail.
Barnes set the hearing next month before US Magistrate Judge Edmund Brennan to review a possible bail package.
Assistant US Attorney Heiko Coppola told Barnes the US will argue against Tang’s release.
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs called for Tang’s release. “China has launched solemn representations with the US side urging the US side to immediately release the Chinese national and ensure her legitimate and legal rights,†ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told a regular news briefing in Beijing.
Prosecutors last week highlighted other recent criminal complaints and arrests of other Chinese scholars that the US says are working for China’s People Liberation Army.