@Scientist I guess you're in somewhere in North America and I am in Taiwan, the same time zone of China. It's hard for us to find a time to talk.

The main reason I want to talk to you is to find out if you have got your money back or not. If you have, it's fine. If you'd like to talk about the plagiarism issue, I also like to talk to you about.

If you have not gotten your money back, I'd like to know why and see if I can help you with it.

My wife and I are sharing this computer and she is the master in our house (hope you understand), so if you can't get hold of me in time, I must say sorry and please be patient because it's very likely that she is got the computer. Anyway, let me know if you have some time this weekend so we can talk.

Hi! I am intermittently by the computer, and plus still learning how chat rooms work.

About the money, it is intricate. You have probably read the long explanation of how the payment was distributed, and what it actually meant. In the end I never got all the money. I 'spent' as much as I could of the "salary" part (actually undisclosed research funds) in sequencing credits with local companies. That amount was ca. 25k rmb which never got to my pocket. Also the PI never paid me 10k rmb of the promised "extra" part of the salary. That adds up to 35k rmb which I was scammed off.

Now, you write to me in such an interesting moment. There's a large conference coming. These scammers will be there. Probably all smiling because they want new collaborators, people I know.

I will let you know how this goes. I really don't understand their mindset. As I heard from friends working at the embassy, "sometimes the Chinese act as if they had nothing to lose."

Now, This is not saying scientific misconduct and harassment do not happen in other places I worked at. It was just different, less rooted, more subtle. I hope work conditions in Taiwan are better than in mainland China?

Anyway, if you think you'd be able to help somehow, I would be delighted. Please let me know. I have approached some local ethics heralds like Fangshimin and Prof. Rao but they never replied. I believe some news exposure would at least push some improvement, if you have contacts. Thanks!