First China gave us COVID
But ... Now this ...US stunned by discovery of four plastic bagsA Chinese researcher and her scientist boyfriend have been charged with allegedly smuggling a biological pathogen that “can cause devastating diseases in crops” into the United States.
Yunqing Jian, 33, and Zunyong Liu, 34, are charged with conspiracy, smuggling, false statements, and visa fraud, the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan said in a statement.
Jian, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Michigan, is in US custody while Liu’s whereabouts are unknown.
The Justice Department said the pair conspired to smuggle a toxic fungus called Fusarium graminearum into the US to study further at an American university lab.
The fungus is classified in scientific literature as a “potential agroterrorism weapon,” it said, and causes billions of dollars in losses each year.
It causes vomiting, liver damage, and reproductive defects in humans and livestock, it said.
Border force officers allegedly found the fungus in four plastic, zip lock bags wedged between a wad of tissues in Liu’s backpack as he tried to enter the country via Detroit Metropolitan Airport in July.
The fungus was allegedly discovered in plastic zip lock bags. Picture: United States District Court
According to the complaint, Jian and Liu, her boyfriend, had both previously conducted work on the fungus in China.
“(Liu) first lied but then admitted to smuggling Fusarium graminearum into America… so that he could conduct research on it at the laboratory at the University of Michigan where his girlfriend, Jian, worked,” the Justice Department said.
US Attorney Jerome Gorgon Jr described the smuggling of the fungus into the United States as a “national security” concern and emphasised Jian’s membership in the Chinese Communist Party.
“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,” Gorgon said.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio vowed last week to “aggressively revoke visas” for Chinese students, a move condemned by Beijing as “unreasonable” and “discriminatory.”
– With AFP
