2 Chinese nationals charged with smuggling 'dangerous' 'pathogen' into US: DOJ [View all]
Source: ABC News
Two Chinese nationals have been charged with allegedly smuggling into the U.S. a fungus called "Fusarium graminearum, which scientific literature classifies as a potential agroterrorism weapon," the Justice Department said Tuesday.
Yunqing Jian, 33, and Zunyong Liu, 34, citizens of the People’s Republic of China, were allegedly receiving Chinese government funding for their research, some of which at the University of Michigan, officials said.
"The complaint also alleges that Jian’s electronics contain information describing her membership in and loyalty to the Chinese Communist Party. 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," according to a DOJ press release.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement that the Justice Department "“has no higher mission than keeping the American people safe and protecting our nation from hostile foreign actors who would do us harm."
Read more: https://www.yahoo.com/news/2-chinese-nationals-charged-smuggling-165600612.html
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