NEW YORK: The Chinese doctoral student who breached security at Newark Liberty International Airport will appear in court January 28, a court official told China Daily on Tuesday.

Jiang Haisong, 28, was arrested last Friday evening by Port Authority police and released after hours of questioning. He ducked the security rope inside the airport’s terminal C on January 3 to bid farewell to his girlfriend after a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) guard stepped away from his post momentarily.

The three terminals at the busy airport were shut down for six hours after a bystander who witnessed the incident reported it to TSA officials. The shutdown caused numerous delays of flights in and out of Newark, stranding thousands of passengers.

Jiang, a molecular biosciences doctoral student who is to graduate in the coming May, had contacted the Chinese consulate in New York on Monday by phone, according to Wang Bangfu, the consul for overseas Chinese affairs at the consulate.

Wang told China Daily on Tuesday that the consulate is providing consular protection and assistance to Jiang after identifying him as a Chinese national.

This includes providing a list of lawyers for Jiang to make a selection.

Wang would not reveal more details because Jiang had asked to keep the content of their conversation private. But he said the consulate has been keeping a close eye on the development of the case since the beginning.

Wang would not make any further comment on the case until the final investigation result is announced, implying that the consulate will work to ensure Jiang gets a fair trial and his legal rights fully protected.

Under the charge of defiant trespassing brought by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, Jiang could face 30-day of imprisonment and a fine of $500.

But New Jersey Senator Frank Lautenberg had earlier pushed for harsh punishment, threatening to lobby for severe federal criminal charges, instead of a misdemeanor.

He also mentioned revocation of Jiang’s visa and deportation, but he has toned down his comments in the last few days.

The incident triggered huge reaction among people both in the US and China. Some have accused Jiang, on a student visa in the US since 2004, of a “stupid” blunder. Others have hailed him as some kind of hero for exposing the huge airport security loophole.

On Monday, the Port Authority acknowledged that there had been earlier surveillance system failures in Terminal C.

Senator Robert Menendez, a Democrat from New Jersey, has called for additional funding to replace the surveillance system. In a letter to US President Barack Obama, the senator said the breach exposed a “gaping hole” in the security technology at the airport, the local Star-Leger reported.

Some lawmakers, led by Democratic US Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas and Republican US Rep. Charles Dent of Pennsylvania, have started to push for new legislation to improve passenger screening systems at the nation's airports after the Newark security breach.

While more people on the Chinese mainland expressed their disappointment at Jiang for bringing disgrace to the Chinese community, his American neighbors and fellow colleagues at Rutgers University showed more understanding and described him in much nicer words.

Meanwhile, Ruben Hernandez, the TSA guard who stepped away from his post, has been suspended from his job. His fellow colleagues have also described him as a “model employee,” according to an Associated Press report.

Airport security has been high on the agenda in the United States since late December after 23-year-old Nigerian man Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab tried to blow up a Detroit-bound Northwest Airline flight on Christmas Day with a self-made chemical bomb.

（www.eduwo.com, Anna）