‘It hurts deeply’: Nianli Ma, wife of cyber expert Xiaofeng Wang, speaks up over FBI raids

For the first time since the homes of computer science professor Xiaofeng Wang were raided by the FBI last month, Nianli Ma has spoken out publicly to question Indiana University’s decision to terminate both her and her husband Wang without due process.

The couple drew national attention after FBI agents searched their residences in Bloomington and Carmel, Indiana, and seized boxes of materials on March 28. Wang, a world-renowned researcher in cryptography, privacy and cybersecurity, was dismissed by the university that same day for allegedly failing to disclose a Chinese research grant from 2017.

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Ma, a library systems analyst, had been fired a few days earlier without being given any reason, according to local media reports.

These abrupt events devastated the family, Ma said on Monday during an online forum organised by the Asian American Scholar Forum (AASF) that drew hundreds of attendees. Ma said she had lost weight and now struggled to sleep.

“Every morning I wake up thinking it must have been a bad dream,” she said. “I just can’t understand how the university we dedicate over two decades of our lives to could treat us like this – without even telling us why or going through due process, especially for my husband, who is a tenured professor.”

Determined to fight back, Ma said their son Luke Zhang had launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise money for legal expenses.

Carl Weinberg, a teaching professor at Indiana University’s College of Arts and Sciences, told the South China Morning Post that tenured faculty members in the US were entitled to due process when facing termination.

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