FBI Director Kash Patel announced Tuesday that two Chinese nationals had been charged with smuggling a “dangerous biological pathogen” into the U.S. to study at the University of Michigan laboratory.
While speaking with Fox News, Patel stated Yunqing Jian, 33, and Zunyong Liu, 34, citizens of the People’s Republic of China, were allegedly receiving Chinese government funding for their research, some of it at the University of Michigan, officials said. The couple is charged with smuggling into the U.S. a fungus called “Fusarium graminearum, which scientific literature classifies as a potential agroterrorism weapon,” the Justice Department announced Tuesday.
“The complaint also alleges that Jian’s electronics contain information describing her membership in and loyalty to the Chinese Communist Party,” the department explained in a press release.
“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 release continued.
In a statement, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced that the DOJ “has no higher mission than keeping the American people safe and protecting our nation from hostile foreign actors who would do us harm.”
According to the FBI, the pathogen causes “head blight,” a disease that affects wheat, barley, maize, and rice. Just last year, it was responsible for billions of dollars in economic losses worldwide each year.
“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 in the heartland of America, where they apparently intended to use a University of Michigan laboratory to further their scheme,” U.S. Attorney Jerome Gorgan said.
While speaking with Fox News, Kash Patel stressed that the pathogen represents a massive threat to national security.
“This case is a sobering reminder that the Chinese Communist Party continues to deploy operatives and researchers to infiltrate our institutions and target our food supply, an act that could cripple our economy and endanger American lives,” Patel said.
“Smuggling a known agroterrorism agent into the U.S. is not just a violation of law, it’s a direct threat to national security. I commend the FBI Detroit Division and our partners at CBP for stopping this biological threat before it could do real damage.”
Liu, 34, allegedly works at a Chinese university where he conducts research on the same pathogen, according to the complaint. Federal prosecutors say “he first lied” but then admitted to smuggling Fusarium graminearum into the United States through the Detroit Metropolitan Airport.
The two Chinese nationals are charged with conspiracy, smuggling goods into the U.S., making false statements, and visa fraud, prosecutors announced. They are expected to make initial court appearances later this week.
