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Chinese University Denies Its Professors Stole U.S. Trade Secrets

BEIJING — A Chinese university has denied that three of its professors who are among six Chinese scientists charged in the United States with economic espionage and theft of trade secrets stole technology, the Chinese state news media reported this week.

The indictments, announced by the United States Justice Department on Tuesday, allege that the scientists took cellphone chip technology from two American companies where they worked and formed a joint venture company with Tianjin University that produced and sold the chips to the Chinese military and to commercial customers.

Tianjin University defended its three professors, claiming that their work “adheres to international standards for scientific research and is within the parameters of academic ethics,” according to a report on Thursday by China’s state-run news agency, Xinhua.

The university also expressed “indignation and firm denial” at being accused of benefiting inappropriately from the economic espionage, which was said to have been committed by Zhang Hao, who was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport last Saturday, and the other academics, who are believed to be in China. The charges “seriously harm” academic exchanges between the two countries, university authorities said.

Mr. Zhang, 36, is a staff member at the university’s School of Precision Instrument and Opto-Electronics Engineering. In 2011, he was a founder of a company in Tianjin, ROFS Microsystem, which an official website said was located in a part of the city that serves as a technology base for the university.

In light of the charges, the university promised to provide humanitarian and legal assistance to Mr. Zhang and his family members in the United States.

The vociferous denial by the university comes at a time when the Chinese state news media has begun a widespread propaganda campaign to cast doubt on the American allegations while warning the public to be wary of hostile foreign forces.

Even as the state news media disparaged the United States for being paranoid about China’s rise, a report on Thursday from the official China News Service announced that three Chinese people had been caught spying for “foreign agents.” The people, who were only identified by their last names, provided photographs of military installations and sent information such as military newspapers, classified documents and satellite maps to overseas personnel, state security officials said.

The report did not identify which country or countries were suspected of being involved. Nor did it explain why news of the cases, which included a Chinese man imprisoned in June 2014, was only announced this week.

A version of this article appears in print on  , Section A, Page 7 of the New York edition with the headline: World Briefing | Asia; China: University Defends Professors. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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