In the latest sign that President Donald Trump’s administration still needs to be on guard against Chinese influence in the United States, two Chinese nationals have been charged with importation of a fungus that could not only kill off crops, but poison Americans in the process.
According to The Hill, the Department of Justice announced the charges against Yunqing Jian, 33, and Zunyong Liu, 34, on Tuesday, accusing them of importing Fusarium graminearum, a species of fungus which American officials called a “potential agroterrorism weapon.”
Perhaps notably, Jian received funding from Chinese government for study of the fungus in China. The two stand accused of conspiracy, smuggling goods into the country, false statements, and visa fraud, a media release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan noted.
“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. Fusarium graminearum’s toxins cause vomiting, liver damage, and reproductive defects in humans and livestock,” the release read.
“The complaint also alleges that Jian’s electronics contain information describing her membership in and loyalty to the Chinese Communist Party,” the release stated.
“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 alleged actions of these Chinese nationals — including a loyal member of the Chinese Communist Party — are of the gravest national security concerns,” said U.S. Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon, Jr.
“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.”
Are we being too soft on China?
Cheyvoryea Gibson, the special agent in charge of the FBI Detroit Field Office, echoed concerns about the Chinese Communist Party in a statement.
“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,” Gibson said in the media release.
“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.
“Thanks to the exceptional investigative efforts of the FBI Detroit Counterintelligence Task Force, in close cooperation with U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Office of Field Operations these dangerous activities have been effectively halted. The FBI remains resolutely committed to collaborating with our law enforcement partners to protect the residents of Michigan and defend the United States against such grave threats.”
And, Marty C. Raybon, the director of field operations for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, said that the charges “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.”
Meanwhile, FBI Director Kash Patel called it “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.”
New… I can confirm that the FBI arrested a Chinese national within the United States who allegedly smuggled a dangerous biological pathogen into the country.
The individual, Yunqing Jian, is alleged to have smuggled a dangerous fungus called “Fusarium graminearum,” which is an…
— FBI Director Kash Patel (@FBIDirectorKash) June 3, 2025
The announcement comes days after Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the administration would “aggressively” revoke Chinese student visas, including “those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields.”
The BBC noted that Rubio also planned to revise criteria to “enhance scrutiny” regarding future student visas from China.
From the BBC:
Chinese nationals used to account for the bulk of international students enrolled at American universities, though that has recently changed.
From pandemic-era restrictions to worsening relations between the two countries, their number has dropped in recent years, according to US state department data.
On Monday, Rubio, who is America’s top diplomat, also ordered US embassies around the world to stop scheduling appointments for student visas as the state department prepares to expand social media vetting of such applicants.
And this is why, ladies and gentlemen.
No, charges do not indicate guilt, and these Chinese nationals are innocent until proven otherwise, just like any American. However, the threat that is posed by one superpower sending the “bulk of international students” at our major universities when serious biological research is involved, and we don’t even know — thanks to China’s lack of transparency — their level of research-related complicity in a pandemic that shut down the world for the better part of a few years is not an insignificant one.
That likely wasn’t intentional. Perhaps this wasn’t, either. But the fact that it even allegedly happened should be enough to raise the alarms, and loudly.
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