Overview

• The US Department of Justice has charged Yunqing Jian and Zunyong Liu with smuggling samples of Fusarium graminearum into the country and conducting unauthorized research at a University of Michigan lab.
• China analyst Gordon G Chang characterized the incident as part of Beijing’s 2019 ‘People’s War’ doctrine and called for severing diplomatic ties to avert threats surpassing the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Chang cited past incidents of unsolicited seed shipments from China as evidence of a covert campaign to undermine US agriculture and infrastructure.
• Crop experts point out that the fungus has been present in US grain supplies for over a century and is effectively managed through fungicides, resistant crop strains and toxin monitoring.
• The case has intensified scrutiny of US biosecurity protocols and fueled debate over research collaborations and agricultural safeguards between Washington and Beijing.