It’s a serious national security threat.
A sinister plot.
A plan to contaminate crops and reduce crop yield.
A plan to cause infertility in livestock.
A plan to poison Americans and weaken our immune system.
Here are 7 things to know and 4 things to do now:
- An agroterrorism plot is discovered.
In 2024, the FBI discovered that two Chinese nationals – one of them a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Michigan, the other a researcher at Zhejiang University in China – were attempting to smuggle the fungus Fusarium graminearum into the U.S.[1]
Zunyong Liu, the researcher from China, arrived at Detroit Metropolitan Airport on a tourist visa on July 27, 2024.[2]
During a routine inspection, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents found four transparent baggies containing reddish plant material hidden inside wads of crumpled tissue.[3]
A note written in Mandarin along with a piece of filter paper with hand-drawn circles and codes was also found.[4]
The CBP alerted the FBI, which sent the plant material to a lab and launched an investigation.
Fusarium graminearum is classified as a potential agroterrorism weapon.
It can cause “head blight” in crops and produce toxins that are harmful to livestock and to humans.
- The dangers of Fusarium graminearum.
This fungus infects the kernel development of grain crops in rainy weather during the flowering season, resulting in significantly reduced crop yields.[5]
In corn, for example, the fungus leads to mold growth called “ear rot” in the kernels at the top of the ear, which produces inedible corn.[6]
The fungus also causes a similar condition called “head blight” in wheat, barley, and rice.[7]
Fusarium graminearum also contaminates crops with 4 different mycotoxins which, if consumed, can poison humans and livestock in the following ways:
- Vomiting and food poisoning-like symptoms in humans and animals
- Hormonal dysfunction causing infertility in livestock – especially pigs
- Immune system suppression in humans
In addition to the harmful effects of the mycotoxins on animals and humans, the fungus is responsible for billions of dollars of economic losses from crop damage worldwide each year.[8]
- A national security threat is thwarted – for now.
FBI Director Kash Patel said that the attempted smuggling of a “dangerous biological pathogen” into the U.S. represents a serious national security threat to America’s food supply.[9]
Yunqing Jian, the postdoctoral researcher at the University of Michigan, denied knowledge of Liu’s smuggling when she was questioned.
But messages on her cell phone contradicted her testimony, showing that she was complicit.
The FBI searched the phones of both suspects and found messages coordinating the smuggling – even including two prior attempts by Yunqing Jian:
- In 2022, she attempted to hide biological material in her shoe.
- In 2023, she attempted to ship filter papers in a textbook.
Zunyong Liu’s phone also contained an article titled “Plant-Pathogen Warfare under Changing Climate Conditions.”[10]
And Jian’s phone contained a form pledging loyalty to the Chinese Communist Party.[11]
- Communist China agents charged.
Yunqing Jian was arrested by the FBI.
She was charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States, smuggling goods into the United States, making false statements, and visa fraud.[12]
She is being held behind bars as a potential flight risk.
Zunyong Liu was denied entry into the U.S. and was sent back to China.
These charges were kept sealed until June 3rd of this year, when they were unsealed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan.[13]
- Communist Chinese spies still active in the U.S.
The attempted smuggling of Fusarium graminearum by Yunqing Jian and Zunyong Liu is not an isolated case.
FBI Director Kash Patel told Fox News, “This case is a sobering reminder that the Chinese Communist Party continues to deploy operatives and researchers to infiltrate our institutions and target our food supply, an act that could cripple our economy and endanger American lives.”[14]
Messages on Jian’s phone from 2024 indicated that she was already handling Fusarium graminearum in the lab at the University of Michigan, and that she was being funded by the CCP in China.[15]
The University of Michigan didn’t have federal permits for the pathogen and was not aware of Jian’s research.[16]
In a similar smuggling attempt, a Chinese Ph.D. student from the College of Life Science and Technology at the Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST) in Wuhan was apprehended at the Detroit Metropolitan Airport.[17]
She was attempting to smuggle illegal biological materials related to roundworms into the U.S.
- China’s pattern of deception and destruction.
We must not minimize or underestimate what Communist China is doing.
They are using every resource and every means possible to lull us into a false sense of security while they secretly weaken us from within.
They are using our own technology within our own businesses and institutions that are within our own borders – to attack us on our own soil.
They are persistently and secretly attacking our infrastructure industries, as we pointed out last week in the article, “The Hidden Economic War with China: 12 Disturbing Strategies to Bring America to Its Knees.”[18]
They are as determined to conquer us as Hamas and Hezbollah are determined to destroy the nation of Israel.
If we are not vigilant to enhance and protect our national security, there may very well come a day when China will dictate to us the terms of our surrender.
And if we scoff at them or resist, they will simply shut down our power grid and disable our satellite network and return us to the dark ages while they waltz in and take over our powerless government.
- American policy toward Chinese students and researchers.
It’s uncertain what U.S. policy toward Chinese students and researchers is going to be now that President Trump has made an agreement with China to end the tariff war between the two countries.
Prior to the interim trade deal, Secretary of State Marco Rubio had announced that the U.S. would begin aggressively revoking visas for Chinese students in response to a few students using drones to conduct surveillance of military bases and other sensitive areas.
But one of the stipulations of the trade deal is that Chinese students would be able to attend American universities.
So where does that leave us?
Some sort of vetting of any Chinese nationals inside the U.S. for any reason MUST be established to prevent compromising our national security.
What you should do now.
- Pray for wisdom for President Trump, and pray that future China trade negotiations would be in the best interests of the U.S., not in the best interests of the CCP.
- Pray that the State Department negotiators and bureaucrats would represent President Trump’s foreign policy objectives and not seek to undermine him.
- Pray that DoD and CIA bureaucrats would work toward world peace and not toward endless wars. This alone would cause the military and intelligence leaks to stop.
- Consult our Voter Guide for all elections. This will help you vote only for candidates that understand the threat of Communist China.
What do you think? Email me at [email protected].
[1] Tom Winter, https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/chinese-couple-charged-smuggling-biological-pathogen-us-rcna208658
[2] Annabelle Timsit, https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/06/04/fungus-chinese-researchers-us-agroterrorism-weapon/
[3] Tom Winter, op. cit.
[4] Annabelle Timsit, op. cit.
[5] Marina Zhang, https://www.theepochtimes.com/health/fusarium-graminearum-the-fungus-allegedly-smuggled-by-chinese-researchers-and-its-risks-5869460
[6] Ibid.
[7] https://www.justice.gov/usao-edmi/pr/chinese-nationals-charged-conspiracy-and-smuggling-dangerous-biological-pathogen-us
[8] Ibid.
[9] Danielle Wallace, https://www.foxnews.com/us/patel-chinese-nationals-charged-smuggling-known-agroterrorism-agent-into-us-direct-threat
[10] Annabelle Timsit, op. cit.
[11] Annabelle Timsit, op. cit.
[12] TomWinter, op.cit.
[13] www.justice.gov, op.cit.
[14] Danielle Wallace, op. cit.
[15] www.justice.gov, op.cit.
[16] Tom Winter, op. cit.
[17] Jennie Taer, https://nypost.com/2025/06/09/world-news/another-chinese-scientist-from-wuhan-charged-with-smuggling-illegal-biological-material-into-us/
[18] https://www.craighuey.com/?s=Economic+War+with+China