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Two People’s Republic of China citizens were charged with multiple offenses after they allegedly smuggled a potential bio-weapon into the Midwest for use at the University of Michigan.
According to the United States Attorney’s Office of the Eastern District of Michigan, Yunqing Jian, and Zunyong Liu, were charged with conspiracy, false statements, smuggling goods into the United States and visa fraud.
The pair reportedly smuggled a fungus called Fusarium graminearum into the Detroit Metropolitan Airport in a plot to conduct research on it at the University of Michigan. The fungus releases toxins that cause vomiting, liver damage, and reproductive issues in humans and livestock. It also damages grain production, resulting in massive economic losses worldwide each year.
United States Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon, Jr. announced, “The alleged actions of these Chinese nationals—including a loyal member of the Chinese Communist Party—are of the gravest national security concerns.”
“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.
The Brookings Institute reported that the Chinese global criminal footprint expanded in 2024, increasing global crime rates through drug trafficking, human trafficking, money laundering, poaching, and flooding the United States with illegal immigrants.
Chinese nationals have also interfered in American politics in recent years. In 2020, it was revealed that Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., engaged in a political and sexual relationship with a Chinese spy, per The Federalist, yet he remains in office.
Chinese threats have continued in the U.S., leading the FBI to deem the Chinese Party as “a grave threat to the economic well-being and democratic values of the United States.”
“China’s efforts target businesses, academic institutions, researchers, lawmakers, and the general public and will require a whole-of-society response. The government and the private sector must commit to working together to better understand and counter the threat,” the FBI counterintelligence team warns on its website.
