Chinese scholar at University of Michigan tried to smuggle biological pathogen into the US, feds say

DETROIT — Federal agents have arrested a University of Michigan scholar from China on charges she tried to smuggle a biological pathogen into the United States characterized as a potential agricultural terrorism weapon that can be used for targeting food crops.

The FBI counterintelligence case against UM scholar Yunqing Jian, 33, and her boyfriend, 34-year-old Zunyong Liu, was unsealed in federal court in Detroit on Tuesday and marks the second time in less than a week a Chinese national with ties to the university has been charged with federal crimes.

On Friday, prosecutors unsealed a criminal case against a former University of Michigan Chinese student who voted illegally in the 2024 election, saying he fled the U.S. to avoid prosecution.

Jian is a citizen of China who received a doctorate degree in plant pathogens from Zhejiang University, and investigators say they have discovered information describing her membership in and loyalty to the Chinese Communist Party. Prosecutors say she received money from a Chinese foundation funded largely by the Chinese government to conduct post-doctoral work, including research on a fungus known as Fusarium graminearum, a biological pathogen that can cause devastating diseases in crops.

Prosecutors say her boyfriend illegally smuggled a biological pathogen into the U.S. at the Detroit Metropolitan Airport on July 27.

"When Customs and Border Protection officers questioned Liu, he made false statements to CBP officers about the purpose of his visit to the United States, and his knowledge of the existence of the biological pathogen in his possession," an FBI special agent wrote in the criminal filing.

"Ultimately, Liu admitted to smuggling the pathogen and stated that he brought the pathogen into the United States so that he could conduct research on it at a laboratory at the University of Michigan where his girlfriend, Jian, worked," the agent added.

Fusarium graminearum is a strain of a plant pathogen that causes “head blight,” according to the criminal case, a disease that can devastate wheat, barley, maize and rice.

"Fusarium graminearum is responsible for billions of dollars in economic losses worldwide each year," the agent wrote. Toxins produced by Fusarium graminearum cause vomiting, liver damage and reproductive defects in livestock and humans, according to the complaint.

“The alleged actions of these Chinese nationals — including a loyal member of the Chinese Communist Party — are of the gravest national security concerns," interim U.S. Attorney Jerome Gorgon said in a statement. "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.”

The court filing cites the journal Food Security, which noted Fusarium graminearum is classified as a potential agroterrorism weapon that could be used for targeting food crops.

Jian and her boyfriend are charged with several crimes, including conspiracy to defraud the U.S., smuggling, making false statements to investigators and visa fraud. The smuggling charge carries the stiffest penalty — up to 20 years in federal prison.

Expert: 'Increasingly tempting target'

Jian made an initial appearance in federal court Tuesday afternoon and is being held without bond while awaiting a detention hearing Thursday. Her boyfriend has returned to China.

Jian's lawyer, Senad Ramovic, told The News in an email that Jian indicated she is retaining private counsel, "but that remains to be seen."

"I got the case like 30 minutes before the start of court. There’s a lot to digest," Ramovic said.

A spokesperson for the University of Michigan did not respond for comment.

The agricultural sector was identified as a target of the terrorist group al-Qaida following the 9/11 attacks in the U.S.

And in 2008, four people were charged and later convicted of federal crimes following an arson fire at Agriculture Hall at Michigan State University in 1999 and a related arson of commercial logging equipment in northern Michigan. Federal officials said both arsons were committed on behalf of the Earth Liberation Front, a loosely organized movement of environmental extremists.

“It certainly would not be high up on the list of individual targets in recent years, but when you look at the landscape of critical infrastructure, the food supply chain is going to be an increasingly tempting target for both state and non-state actors who are continually looking for weak points to exploit in the U.S.,” said Jon Lewis, a research fellow at the Program on Extremism at George Washington University.

The roots of the case involving the Chinese scholar and her boyfriend stretch to March 2024. That is when Liu applied for a B2 tourist visa to enter the U.S.

The application asked: Do you seek to engage in espionage, sabotage, export control violations or any other illegal activity while in the United States?”

Liu answered “no,” and officials approved his tourist visa.

He arrived at Detroit Metro four months later, in July 2024.

During an inspection, an officer found a hidden note in Chinese, a round piece of filter paper and four baggies filled with small clumps of reddish plant material, the FBI agent wrote.

Liu lied when asked questions about the materials, according to the court filing, saying someone “must have put them into his bag.”

“After further questioning, Liu acknowledged that the materials were different strains of the pathogen Fusarium graminearum,” the agent wrote.

Liu told investigators he planned to clone the different strains and make additional samples if the experiments on the reddish plant material failed, according to the government.

“Liu stated that he intentionally hid the samples in his backpack because he knew there were restrictions on the importation of the materials,” the agent wrote. “Liu confirmed that he had intentionally put the samples in a wad of tissues so CBP officers would be less likely to find and confiscate them, and he could continue his research in the United States.”

Liu told investigators he planned on using UM’s Molecular Plant-Microbe Interaction Laboratory to research the biological materials, the FBI agent wrote. That is the same lab where Jian conducts research on Fusarium.

“Liu stated that, while he was in the United States, he would have free access to the laboratory at the University of Michigan on some days, and that other days his girlfriend would give him access to the laboratory to conduct his research,” according to the FBI.

Before preventing Liu from entering the U.S. and sending him back to China, investigators searched the man’s iPhones. One contained an article titled “2018 Plant-Pathogen Warfare under Changing Climate Conditions,” the FBI agent wrote. The article describes how Fusarium graminearum is an example of a destructive disease and pathogen for crops.

A subsequent test of the materials found in Liu’s luggage revealed that the filter paper contained Fusarium graminearum and the reddish plant material was infected with Fusarium graminearum.

Liu and Jian worked together at the UM lab until April 2024, when Liu returned to China.

A search of Liu’s devices revealed messages between the couple that indicate Jian previously smuggled biological material into the U.S., the FBI agent wrote.

The messages are from August 2022 and discuss smuggling seeds into the U.S.

“Where to put it? Jian wrote.

“Just put it in your shoes,” Liu wrote.

“I stuffed them in the shoes,” Jian wrote.

Travel records show that one day after the couple exchanged the messages, Jian arrived in San Francisco from South Korea. She did not declare that she was importing biological materials, according to the FBI.

The investigation intensified four months ago, in February, after Donald Trump assumed the presidency. That is when FBI agents interviewed Jian at the UM lab. She made several false statements, according to the government.

She denied knowing her boyfriend planned to study in the U.S. or bring biological materials into the country, the FBI agent wrote. She also denied helping Liu’s research on Fusarium graminearum.

During the interview, FBI agents asked her to provide her cellphone. She refused, but investigators seized it and searched the device after obtaining a search warrant.

The search uncovered a form signed last year that included Jian’s pledge to support the Chinese Communist Party, according to the FBI.

The search also revealed a conversation between Jian and another person in January 2024 that indicated prior smuggling efforts. That included unknown substances shipped to the U.S. that were hidden between the pages of a used statistics book.

The book, destined for Jian’s home in Ann Arbor, was intercepted by federal agents and analyzed by biological threat specialists in Kentucky.

The samples were subsequently destroyed.

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