A pair of Chinese researchers have been charged with allegedly smuggling a dangerous biological pathogen into the US to study at the University of Michigan.
Yunqing Jian, 33, and Zunyong Liu, 34, have been charged with conspiracy, smuggling, making false statements and visa fraud after authorities found that Liu entered the country last year with a toxic fungus stashed in his backpack.
Liu attempted to smuggle the pathogen through Detroit airport so he could study it at the University of Michigan laboratory where his girlfriend, Jian, worked, the complaint said.
The FBI said the pathogen, known as Fusarium graminearum, is a ‘potential agroterrorism weapon,’ according to a scientific journal.
The pathogen can attack wheat, barley, maize and rice and sicken livestock and people, the FBI said in a court filing in Detroit Tuesday.
Fusarium graminearum’s toxins cause vomiting, liver damage, and reproductive defects in humans and livestock if consumed.
‘The alleged actions of these Chinese nationals, including a loyal member of the Chinese Communist Party, are of the gravest national security concerns,’ US Attorney Jerome Gorgon Jr. said.
In July 2024, 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.
A pair of Chinese researchers have been charged in Michigan for allegedly smuggling a biological pathogen (pictured) into the US to study at the University of Michigan
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.
FBI agents visited Jian at the campus lab in February, as she told them: ‘100% no,’ when asked if she had been assisting Liu with the pathogen at the lab.
Additionally, the agency said it found a signed statement on her phone expressing her support for the Communist Party of China.
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.
Liu attempted to smuggle the pathogen through Detroit airport so he could study it at the University of Michigan laboratory where his girlfriend, Jian, worked, the complaint said
Gorgon Jr. described the allegations against the ‘two aliens’ as the ‘gravest national security concerns.’
Jian appeared in court Tuesday and was returned to jail to await a bond hearing set for Thursday.
An attorney who was assigned only for her initial appearance declined to comment, the Associated Press reported.
The US does not have an extradition treaty with China, meaning Liu’s arrest is unlikely unless he returns.
