Two citizens of the People’s Republic of China have been charged with conspiracy and smuggling a “dangerous biological pathogen” into the US for their work in a University of Michigan laboratory, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced this week.
Yunqing Jian, 33, and Zunyong Liu, 34, were charged in a criminal complaint with alleged “conspiracy, smuggling goods into the United States, false statements, and visa fraud,” read the press statement from the US Attorney’s Office Eastern District of Michigan.
“The alleged actions of these Chinese nationals—including a loyal member of the Chinese Communist Party—are of the gravest national security concerns,” said US Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon, Jr. in the statement.
“These two aliens have been charged with smuggling a fungus that has been described as a ‘potential agroterrorism weapon’ into the heartland of America, where they apparently intended to use a University of Michigan laboratory to further their scheme,” he added.
Gorgon was joined in the announcement by Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Special Agent in Charge Cheyvoryea Gibson of the Detroit Division and US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Director of Field Operations Marty C. Raybon.
“The federal charges announced today against Yunqing Jian and Zunyong Liu, both residents of the People’s Republic of China, signify a crucial advancement in our efforts to safeguard our communities and uphold national security,” said Gibson. “These individuals exploited their access to laboratory facilities at a local university to engage in the smuggling of biological pathogens, an act that posed an imminent threat to public safety.”
Gibson added that “these dangerous activities have been effectively halted” thanks to “the exceptional investigative efforts” of both the FBI Detroit Counterintelligence Task Force and the CPB’s Office of Field Operations.
The fungus the Chinese nationals allegedly smuggled into the US is called “Fusarium graminearum,” the DOJ stated, referring to it as a “noxious fungus” that is classified as “a potential agroterrorism weapon.”
“This noxious fungus causes ‘head blight,’ a disease of wheat, barley, maize, and rice, and is responsible for billions of dollars in economic losses worldwide each year,” the DOJ added. “Fusarium graminearum’s toxins cause vomiting, liver damage, and reproductive defects in humans and livestock.”
“This case is a sobering reminder that the CCP is working around the clock to deploy operatives and researchers to infiltrate American institutions and target our food supply, which would have grave consequences… putting American lives and our economy at serious risk,” FBI Director Kash Patel posted to the X platform. “Your FBI will continue working tirelessly to be on guard against it.”
The DOJ announcement continues that, according to the complaint, “Jian received Chinese government funding for her work on this pathogen in China” and that her “electronics contain information describing her membership in and loyalty to the Chinese Communist Party.”
“It is further alleged that Jian’s boyfriend, Liu, works at a Chinese university where he conducts research on the same pathogen and that he first lied but then admitted to smuggling Fusarium graminearum into America—through the Detroit Metropolitan Airport—so that he could conduct research on it at the laboratory at the University of Michigan where his girlfriend, Jian, worked,” the DOJ noted.
The criminal charges against Jian and Liu are “indicative of CBP’s critical role in protecting the American people from biological threats that could devastate our agricultural economy and cause harm to humans; especially when it involves a researcher from a major university attempting to clandestinely bring potentially harmful biological materials into the United States,” said Raybon.
Reacting to the charges against the two Chinese nationals, Republican Rep. Chris Smith of New Jersey, co-chair of the bipartisan Congressional-Executive Commission on China, called for stronger “biosecurity measures” and “enhanced vetting and significant limits” for foreign students entering the US.
“Surely this is just the tip of the iceberg,” Smith said. “We cannot afford to view this incident as an isolated matter, but part of pattern of Chinese Communist Party unrestricted warfare activities that threaten the health, safety, and security of our nation and its people.”
Smith further urged the Department of Homeland Security to quickly “implement additional screening measures and other safeguards to prevent a similar incident.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio “has already initiated a serious review of student visas—especially and including those for students from China,” the congressman added. “We must also look to cancel any existing visas held by any CCP members currently in the United States. We cannot allow the CCP to exploit our visa system to conduct activities that threaten the safety and well-being of American citizens.”
Republican Sen. Ashley Moody of Florida said the case emphasizes the need to pass S.1086 and HR 2147, the STOP CCP Visas Act.
“This is insane,” Moody posted to X. “These CCP-linked foreign nationals are weaponizing student visas in an attempt to poison our country—AGAIN!!”
According to the DOJ announcement, Jian was to have appeared Wednesday afternoon in federal court in Detroit.
Both the FBI and CBP are continuing their investigation in the case.