Published 4:49 pm Monday, June 9, 2025
Two Chinese citizens are accused of smuggling into the U.S. a fungus that causes Fusarium head blight in wheat and other grains, apparently to conduct unauthorized research at the University of Michigan.
Yunqing Jian, a post-doctoral research scientist at the university, and her boyfriend, Zunyong Lui, a plant pathologist at Zhejiang University in China, were indicted in federal court in Eastern Michigan on suspicion of smuggling, conspiracy, visa fraud and making false statements.
Jian, 33, is being detained in Detroit, while Lui, 34, is in China. FBI Director Kash Patel said in a social media post that the case was a “sobering reminder” the Chinese Community Party was infiltrating American institutions to “target our food supply.”
A 25-page FBI affidavit unsealed June 3 to justify the indictments did not offer any evidence Jian and Lui planned to release the fungus, Fusarium graminearum, onto crops.
Jian came to the Michigan school in 2023 with an extensive background in studying Fusarium graminearum, including co-authoring articles with Lui and other researchers. The Michigan lab, however, does not have a permit to conduct research on Fusarium graminearum, according to the affidavit by FBI special agent Edward Nieh.
Jian and Lui allegedly conspired to continue their research in Michigan. Jian sent Lui a text in May 2024 telling him that a lab supervisor had been looking at Lui’s plants. “I didn’t dare tell her it was Fg …” Jian said, according to the affidavit.
Fusarium graminearum, also known as Gibberella zeae, belongs to a family of pathogens. Many types are harmless, but Fusarium graminearum causes head blight, or “scab,” on wheat, barley, rice and oats.
It’s the most common cause of Fusarium head blight in North America and many other parts of the world, and there is an urgent need to understand how the fungus infects wheat, according to the USDA Agricultural Research Service.
Patel and other government officials portrayed Jian and Lui as Chinese communist operatives. “The alleged actions of these Chinese nationals — including a loyal member of the Chinese community party — are of the gravest national security concerns,” U.S. Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon Jr. said in a statement.
Investigators, searching Jian and Liu’s cell phones and laptops, found a document in which Jian swore allegiance to the Chinese Communist Party. Investigators also found a 70-page report on her accomplishments researching Fusarium graminearum.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian told reporters he was unfamiliar with the case. “The Chinese government always asks Chinese nationals overseas to strictly observe local laws and regulations, and protects their legitimate and lawful rights and interests in accordance with the law,” he said.
The scheme began to unravel July 27, 2024, according to the affidavit. Lui landed at the Detroit airport on a tourist visa. Customs agents found 10 strains of the fungus on filter paper and infected plant material in his backpack, the affidavit alleges.
Liu initially denied knowing anything about the backpack’s contents, but later acknowledged smuggling in the pathogen so he could conduct research at the Michigan lab, the affidavit alleges. Lui was sent back to China.
FBI agents interviewed Jian at the Michigan lab in January. She said she knew nothing about the smuggling until Lui was caught and denied conducting research at the lab on Fusarium graminearum, according to the affidavit.
The FBI alleges a search of Jian and Liu’s electronic devices uncovered evidence that they planned the smuggling and that Lui had previously smuggled in bags of “seeds” stuffed in his shoes in 2022.
The FBI also alleges customs officials in Louisville, Kentucky, in January 2024 intercepted and destroyed a shipment of unknown substances sent from Zhejiang University addressed to Jian’s home address in Ann Arbor, Mich.
