DETROIT, Mich. (WXYZ) — A University of Michigan researcher was back in federal court Thursday, days after being criminally charged over smuggling what the FBI says is “a potential agroterrorism weapon” that can be damaging to food crops.
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Yungqing Jian, a researcher at U-M, is accused of helping to smuggle fusarium graminearum through Detroit Metro Airport last July with the help of her boyfriend, Zunyong Liu.
PREVIOUS REPORT: Chinese nationals accused of smuggling pathogen into U.S. for work at U-M
The pathogen can cause “head blight,” a disease that can be devastating to crops.
“It certainly is smuggling, it certainly is lying, it certainly is obstruction,” said Matthew Schneider, a former US Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan. “But whether or not it’s agroterrorism, that hasn’t been shown yet in court.”
Dr. Martin Chilvers is a field crops pathologist at Michigan State who has studied the pathogen.
“Fusarium graminearum is a fungal species that’s capable of causing infection on wheat, corn and other crop species,” he said.
Chilvers stresses that the pathogen is widely prevalent across the country, it occurs in nature and is widely studied.
Fusarium graminearum can be imported from other countries for research purposes, he said, but only after seeking permits from the Department of Agriculture.
“Because the strain has been brought in internationally, there’s always a concern that it might be a little different, it might have other properties that might be a concern,” Chilvers said.
According to a criminal complaint, Zunyong Liu—a Chinese citizen who studies biological pathogens—was caught by Customs and Border Patrol officers trying to smuggle in samples of the fungus last July at Detroit Metro Airport.
At first, the feds say Liu “made false statements” to officers, saying “he did not know” what the samples were and “that someone must have put them into his bag.”
He would later admit, according to the complaint, that he planned to clone the different strains in experiments he would conduct with his girlfriend, who worked at a lab at the University of Michigan, conducting research that the feds say was funded largely by the Chinese government.
“So many people might think that this is unusual. Unfortunately, it’s not,” Schneider said. “This is exactly the game plan of Chinese research scientists paid for by the Communist Party.”
While agroterrorism cases are not common, Schneider said the allegations laid out in the criminal complaint follow a formula utilized by the Chinese government.
“That’s really no different from people coming into the United States and maybe counterfeiting auto parts and learning those sciences here or counterfeiting windmill parts and learning how to do that in our labs,” Schneider said, “then bringing that back to China.”
The criminal complaint does not make any reference to a broader plot to spread the fungus outside of the lab in Ann Arbor.
Based on what he’s seen, Dr. Chilvers says he does not believe this case represents agroterrorism.
“I mean it’s serious from the standpoint of the regulations and how things should be brought into the country,” Chilvers said.
“My guess is the isolates were brought in for research purposes, non-nefarious reasons, just to better understand the system and provide better disease management options in the long term.”
Jian's detention hearing today was adjourned because she is currently in the process of hiring her own private lawyer, said her court-appointed attorney.
The new hearing will take place next Friday.
Contact 7 Investigator Ross Jones at ross.jones@wxyz.com or at (248) 827-9466.
