The FBI on Wednesday alleged that two Chinese lab researchers at the University of Michigan were plotting to smuggle a crop-killing fungus into the United States, according to the New York Post.
Yunqing Jian, 33, a Communist Party loyalist funded by the Chinese government, allegedly plotted with her boyfriend, Zunyong Liu, 34, to illegally transport the fungus, Fusarium graminearum. Last July, Liu was arrested at Detroit Metropolitan Airport on suspicion of attempting to smuggle in packages of Fusarium graminearum, the FBI told the Post.
“This is an attack on the American food supply,” one senior Trump administration official said.
One expert told the Post that the fungus is already present in the U.S. but could be made more harmful to the environment were it genetically modified to be resistant to treatment.
In a criminal complaint filed in a Michigan federal court against the two researchers on Monday, federal officials argued that the fungus could be used as a “potential agroterrorism weapon,” capable of poisoning both humans and livestock.
The two have so far been charged with conspiracy, the smuggling of goods into the U.S., false statements, and visa fraud.
“The bacteria infects wheat, barley, corn and rice. When it does, it can devastate crops,” a national security source specializing in agricultural microbiology told the Post. “The key question is if the bacterial strain being brought in has been modified to make it resistant to treatment or to make it more pathogenic.”
The source urged federal investigators to “have a genome sequence done,” saying it could pose a serious danger “if the Chinese manipulated the strain.”
Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, told the Post that the FBI may have intercepted a “potential bioweapon.”
“We are very fortunate the Trump administration and federal law enforcement stopped this potential bioweapon before it compromised our nation’s food supply,” she added.
“This is exactly why I have always said and will continue to say – food security is national security. Between this latest bioweapon and China’s highly-concerning purchases of U.S. farmland around our military bases, we must stay on guard against the threat from Communist China in our own backyard.”
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