By LINDA BOYLE
The US Department of Justice has announced charges against two Chinese nationals accused of smuggling a dangerous biological agent into the United States. The agent in question is Fusarium graminearum, a toxic fungus considered a potential agroterrorism weapon.
Authorities say the fungus was discovered in luggage at the Detroit Metropolitan Airport. According to the DOJ, Fusarium graminearum causes “head blight,” a disease that devastates crops like wheat, barley, maize, and rice. It is responsible for billions of dollars in agricultural losses globally each year. Its toxins are also dangerous to humans and livestock, potentially causing vomiting, liver damage, and reproductive issues.
Who are the individuals charged? A boyfriend-girlfriend pair — Yunqing Jian, 33, and Zunyong Liu, 34 — both citizens of the People’s Republic of China and, according to prosecutors, loyal to the Chinese Communist Party. Jian, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Michigan, received funding from the Chinese government to conduct her research. Liu was conducting similar work at a lab in China.
Notably, the University of Michigan does not hold federal permits to possess or study Fusarium graminearum, the FBI reports.
The pair now face charges of conspiracy, smuggling goods into the U.S., making false statements, and visa fraud. While Jian has been apprehended, Liu remains in China. The US does not have an extradition treaty with the Chinese government, making his arrest unlikely unless he returns to US soil.
FBI Director Kash Patel described the case as “a sobering reminder that the CCP is working around the clock to deploy operatives and researchers to infiltrate American institutions and target our food supply.” He warned that such actions put American lives and the economy at serious risk.
It’s important to note that a complaint is merely an allegation. The individuals charged are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. The FBI and U.S. Customs and Border Protection are continuing their investigation.
When asked for comment, Chinese Embassy spokesman Liu Pengyu said he was not familiar with the specifics of the case but emphasized that the Chinese government expects its citizens abroad to follow local laws while also pledging to defend their legitimate rights.
This is a developing story, and more details are likely to emerge.
But the bottom line is clear: The CCP is showing an alarming interest in actions that could harm the American people.
From buying up American farmland to attempting to smuggle a crop-destroying fungus into the country, the signs are hard to ignore. China is not our friend.
Sure, we can trade with them, and many Americans enjoy inexpensive goods imported from China, especially around the holidays. But we must not confuse economic partnership with trust.
Is the CCP’s endgame to weaken our food supply? To cripple us from within?
It’s a question worth asking. And it should concern us all.
Linda Boyle, RN, MSN, DM, was formerly the chief nurse for the 3rd Medical Group, JBER, and was the interim director of the Alaska VA. Most recently, she served as Director for Central Alabama VA Healthcare System. She is the director of the Alaska Covid Alliance/Alaskans 4 Personal Freedom.
First covid; now this.
No one from China or any other nation ideologically incompatible with our American values should be conducting any ‘research’ here.
In January of 2020 while flying north to the Slope on Alaska Airlines, there was a group of Chinese tourists ‘going to see the Northern Lights’. I speak enough Chinese to understand. Two weeks later in our camp and others we all were sick with this unusual respiratory illness. To this day I wonder.
“According to the DOJ, Fusarium graminearum causes “head blight”
Maybe now we know what has infected and afflicted all the leftists over the past 10 years? Because there is certainly something wrong with their heads.
Puzzle’s missing some pieces.
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Maybe it’s a test, see what gets through, or a diversion, you look here, we sneak it in there, couldn’t be somebody’s false-flag operation just to remind us the Communist Chinese are evil.
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First-time sneak or first one caught, who knows? Considering what’s at stake, could one be forgiven for suggesting a teensy bit of waterboarding to find out?
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Problem with chemical and biological warfare (CBW) is nothing stops your enemy from returning the favor in spades. Remember “gain of function”?
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China is now the world’s largest agricultural importer, surpassing both the European Union (EU) and the United States. …China has committed to purchase $12.5 billion more agricultural and related products from the United States over 2017 levels”
(‘https://www.fas.usda.gov/data/china-evolving-demand-world-s-largest-agricultural-import-market)
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Another problem is your country can’t grow enough food, you have to import food from your enemy to feed your people, and keep you in power since starving people tend to lose fear, even their fear of the mighty CCP.
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So your strategy’s to kill your major food supplier’s ability to feed your country, knowing you can’t get that much food, that quickly, that economically, from anywhere else in the world?
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Don’t forget the lab in CA that was found a year or two ago.