More than two years ago, the U.S. Department of Justice announced a new effort, known as the China Initiative, to crack down on the passing of valuable research and intellectual property to the nation’s top economic rival.

In subsequent months, the initiative led to charges against more than two dozen researchers, including six visiting scientists and 10 American academic researchers. But the latest arrest, the New York Times reports, drew a fierce backlash.

Gang Chen, a prominent mechanical engineering professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was arrested earlier this month amid allegations that he failed to disclose financial and academic ties to China when applying for U.S. government grants.