SIU faculty and staff gathered outside Morris Library Friday to hold a rally in support of SIU Professor Mingquing Xiao.
Xiao is being charged with grant fraud under the Department of Justice's China Initiative. The DOJ claims Xiao failed to disclose funding from the Chinese government and a Chinese university when applying for grants.
Rally organizer Ed Benyas urged members of the SIU community to attend Xiao's trial in Benton, which is now underway in the federal courthouse.
"The faculty is behind Ming, the students are behind Ming, it is an unjust prosecution," he said, as supporters changed 'I stand with Ming.'
Xiao's supporters say he is innocent, and that cases like his can stifle collaboration between universities in the US and abroad.
