Two Chinese Nationals Accused of Smuggling ‘Potential Agroterrorism’ Fungus into U.S.

Two Chinese Nationals Accused of Smuggling ‘Potential Agroterrorism’ Fungus into U.S.

Federal agents have arrested Yunqing Jian, a University of Michigan scholar originally from China, on charges related to the attempted smuggling of a hazardous biological pathogen into the United States.

Jian, 33, and her boyfriend Zunyong Liu, 34, are accused of conspiring to bring the fungus Fusarium graminearum (classified in scientific literature as a potential agroterrorism weapon) into the country supposedly for research purposes at a University of Michigan laboratory.

“The complaint also alleges that Jian’s electronics contain information describing her membership in and loyalty to the Chinese Communist Party,” a DOJ press release said.

“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,” according to the press release.

Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement that the Justice Department ““has no higher mission than keeping the American people safe and protecting our nation from hostile foreign actors who would do us harm.”

“Thanks to the hard work of our excellent DOJ attorneys, this defendant — who clandestinely attempted to bring a destructive substance into the United States — will face years behind bars,” the attorney general said.

Officials working on the case indicate Jian received money from a Chinese foundation funded largely by the Chinese government to conduct post-doctoral work, including research on a this particular fungus.

Fusarium graminearum is a type of fungus that grows in long, thread-like structures (filaments) and belongs to the group called ascomycetes, which produce spores in sac-like structures. It is one of the most destructive plant pathogens affecting global agriculture, as it is the primary causal agent of Fusarium head blight (FHB) in cereal crops, including wheat, barley, rice, and oats, as well as ear rot and stalk rot in maize.

Interestingly, the Chinese have been studying laboratory-induced mutants of F. graminearum, which have been developed to study resistance to fungicides (e.g., pydiflumetofen). These mutants are used to assess resistance risks and fitness costs, but there is no indication that these experiments are intended to increase the pathogen’s virulence or transmissibility. However, I personally would like to see an American researcher’s assessment of the fungus and its genetic make-up to determine the nature of the particular samples brought in by Jian.

It is important to note that major, widespread epidemics of Fusarium head blight (FHB) during the last 15 years occurred in 2007, 2008, 2015, and 2019. The 2019 FHB outbreak was especially serious.

Fusarium head blight was the most damaging disease in the northern United States in 2019 — more than 45 million bushels lost …. This is nearly 20 million more bushels lost from Fusarium head blight than occurred in 2018. Stripe rust caused the second greatest loss in 2019, but was not in the top five most significant diseases in 2018. Overall, nearly 148 million bushels of wheat were estimated to have been lost due to diseases in the northern United States.

One now has to wonder about the potential origins of the 2019 outbreak.

While Jian has been arrested, the boyfriend apparently remains in China. “Experts” are complaining about the move.

The criminal charges come as tensions mount between the United States and China over the Trump administration’s vow to “aggressively” revoke student visas for Chinese nationals. Such students, the administration says, risk siphoning off sensitive technology or trade secrets from American labs for the benefit of their home country.

Jerome F. Gorgon Jr., the interim U.S. attorney in Detroit, said the researchers’ actions amounted to “the gravest national security concerns,” saying they had tried to bring “a potential agroterrorism weapon” into “the heartland of America.”

…Some experts say such a heavy-handed approach is likely to cause more harm than good to U.S. scientific advances, by preventing or dissuading some of the roughly 277,000 Chinese students who arrive in the United States each year to advance their studies.

“Experts” brought us the covid pandemic and the devastating lockdown policies. Any biological study involving CCP-linked researchers probably should be scrupulously evaluated to see if there is real value added before it is allowed to proceed. The bar to approval should be exceedingly high.

It turns out that in July 2024, boyfriend Liu was turned away at the Detroit airport and sent back to China after changing his story during an interrogation about red plant material discovered in his backpack, per the FBI.

He initially claimed he knew nothing about the samples but later admitted he was planning to use the material for research at the lab, the complaint detailed.

The FBI said authorities found a scientific article on Liu’s phone that was titled, ‘Plant-Pathogen Warfare under Changing Climate Conditions.’

A week before he arrived in the US, Liu exchanged messages with his partner, who said: ‘It´s a pity that I still have to work for you,’ according to investigators.

…Messages between the two in 2024 suggest that Jian was already tending to Fusarium graminearum at the campus lab before Liu was caught at the airport, the FBI said. The university does not have federal permits to handle it.

As the U.S. does not have an extradition treaty with China, Liu’s is not likely to be joining Jian in jail.

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