A Chinese PhD student studying in New Jersey, USA was arrested on May 16th and charged with making a terrorist threat after an argument with professor. U.S. immigration authorities have already issued a deportation order to have him returned home.

Zhai Tiantian翟田田 (Right)

According to media reports on May 19th, PhD student Zhai Tiantian, 26, has already been charged by local police, and a deportation order has been issued. The charge and deportation are reported to stem from an argument Zhai had with a professor. Zhai denies charges made against him by prosecutors about his alleged intent to commit arson at the school.

According to one of his defense lawyers, Ming Hai, Zhai told him in a phone interview that he comes from Xi'an, and had been studying Physics at the Stevenss Institute of Technology in New Jersey, residing in the United States for several years. He told his lawyer that he had been arrested on May 16th after an argument with his professor over some academic issues. Zhai stated that the argument did not get physical and was just heated bickering; he reported saying something in the heat of the moment along the lines of being desperate enough to enact revenge. The professor then reported the incident to the school security and they picked up Zhai and turned him over to the local police the following day. Zhai is currently being held on a 20,000 USD bail at the Hudson County Jail in New York State. It seems that overnight, Zhai Tiantian changed from being a regular foreign student, to a terrorist suspect threatening national security on American soil.

In the prosecution statement, Zhai Tiantian was being charged with “terrorist threat”, a felony crime, for threatening and intending to burn down a school building. Zhai denies all charges, including having made such threats. On May 16th, Stevens Institute of Technology canceled Zhai's student visa; he was subsequently picked up and arrested on the following day; on the third day following the incident, immigration officials ordered his deportation.

Zhai has admitted that he was quite worked up when arguing with the professor and may have said something impulsive in the heat of the moment, but he adamantly denied that he had ever made any threats about burning down the school. A fellow classmate who had known and studied with Zhai said that he was very bright and got along well with everyone in class. She said that everyone had loved this bright young man from China and couldn't understand how he could have been charged with being a terrorist.

Zhai's defense lawyers argue that America should be a country that allows and protects people's right to freedom of speech, thus it is wrong to prosecute someone for their ideas and words, and that this is a case built entirely on hearsay. The defense lawyer appointed to him by the state government is trying to work with immigrations office to overturn the decision to have Zhai deported. The lawyer has commented that deportation is a decision that will be weighing on the criminal charges Zhai faces; if Zhai is convicted of being a terrorist, it will be very difficult for him to remain in the U.S., even if the lawyer can get the deportation order removed.

A survey of Chinese netizens about the incident was conducted on Ifeng.com; a total of 103,800 participated in the polls below:

1) Do you think that American officials have overreacted in arresting and charging Zhai? 

Option	Votes / Percentage
1. Yes	81304 / 78.3%
2. No	13360 / 12.9%
3. Undecided	9141 / 1.8%

 

2) Do you think Zhai Tiantian is responsible for what's happening to him?

Option	Votes / Percentage
1. Not responsible; American officials are        making a mountain out of a molehill	30835 / 29.7%
2. A bit responsible, but the American officials          have also overreacted a bit.	55589 / 53.6%
3. Mostly responsible, can understand why the      American officials reacted the way they did	14390 / 13.9%
4. Undecided	2987 / 2.9%

 

Source: ifeng.com

***

Related Links

You Can't Go Home: Canadian-Chinese Deported From China
Is it Too Difficult for Chinese to Go Abroad?
Foreign Student Studying at Peking University Found Dead in His Dorm

 

Warning：The use of any news and articles published on eChinacities.com without written permission from eChinacities.com constitutes copyright infringement, and legal action can be taken.