Stricter punishments are being introduced for people who defraud
State funds intended for scientific research.
A spokesman for the State Council's Legislative Affairs Office
admitted money had been defrauded from science funding in recent
years, but said the National Natural Science Fund Regulation,
unveiled recently, would help tackle the problem.
Under the regulation people found to have defrauded money from
the Natural Science Fund will not be allowed to apply for funding
for three to seven years, and will have their professional titles
rescinded.
People who receive a criminal penalty for violating the
regulation will never be allowed to apply for funding again.
The regulation, drawn up with the help of advice from the
public, was approved by the State Council last month. It will come
into effect on April 1.
The Natural Science Fund was established in November 1981 to
finance scientific research. In the past 25 years it has allocated
total funding of about 20 billion yuan (US$2.56 billion) for nearly
100,000 research projects.
Under the new regulation money for the fund will continue to
mainly come from central government funds, but individuals,
companies, and other organizations have been encouraged to
donate.
(China Daily March 13, 2007)