MICHIGAN — In a chilling insider threat case bearing striking similarities to China’s covert use of a married couple to develop an Ebola bioweapon and bat coronavirus research using Canada’s highest-security lab in Winnipeg, a Chinese researcher in Michigan and her boyfriend have been charged with smuggling a biological pathogen described as a potential “agroterrorism weapon” into the United States, according to federal charging documents unsealed Tuesday.

The FBI alleges that Yunqing Jian, a “loyal” Chinese Communist Party member and a 33-year-old postdoctoral researcher at the University of Michigan, and her boyfriend Zunyong Liu, 34, conspired to smuggle dangerous biological material, committed visa fraud, and made false statements to federal agents after U.S. border officials discovered samples of Fusarium graminearum hidden inside Liu’s backpack at Detroit Metropolitan Airport. The reddish plant material—identified as multiple strains of a fungus known to devastate cereal crops—was concealed in four plastic baggies, wrapped in tissues.

It was not the couple’s first illicit border crossing with biological materials. The case underscores a broader pattern: repeated clandestine transfers of biohazards across North American borders; visa fraud by Chinese students accessing elite laboratories; loyalty pledges to the Chinese Communist Party by researchers; and the strategic use of Chinese military-linked research grants—all elements shared with the notorious Winnipeg case.

At Canada’s National Microbiology Laboratory, researchers Dr. Xiangguo Qiu and her husband, Keding Cheng, secretly collaborated for years with China’s top biowarfare institutions—including the Wuhan Institute of Virology and the Academy of Military Medical Sciences. In 2019, Qiu and Cheng coordinated the unauthorized export of live Ebola and Henipah virus samples from Winnipeg to Wuhan. Canadian intelligence documents indicate that Keding Cheng pledged loyalty to the Chinese Communist Party, while Dr. Qiu was recruited as a key collaborator on the Wuhan lab’s bat filovirus project, which multiple Western intelligence agencies now assess resulted in an accidental lab leak that caused the COVID-19 pandemic.

The FBI’s newly unsealed agroterrorism case also details coordinated lab penetration involving facilities in Texas, Michigan, and Zhejiang University in China, dating back to at least 2022. In July 2024, Liu arrived in Detroit on a tourist visa while carrying several undeclared samples of the fungus, in violation of U.S. import restrictions, according to a sworn affidavit.

Since August 2022, Jian—evidently operating under Chinese Communist Party direction—had also worked at a university in Texas, where her research focused specifically on Fusarium graminearum. According to the FBI affidavit, her work at both the Texas institution and the University of Michigan was funded by the Chinese government. Files recovered from Jian’s phone included a signed “annual self-assessment form” dated January 2024 from Zhejiang University, in which she outlined her research accomplishments and affirmed her loyalty to the principles of the Chinese Communist Party.

“Electronic evidence also shows that Jian has been involved in smuggling packages of biological material into the United States on prior occasions,” the indictment alleges.

The allegation of Chinese funding and bonds of loyalty are critical to the case. Radio Free Asia has previously reported that many thousands of Chinese students studying abroad on government-backed scholarships are required to sign such forms as part of their continued funding.

The new U.S. indictment suggests a growing pattern of covert Chinese state-directed espionage activity targeting elite research facilities in North America, with espionage agents working under cover of academics and science—specifically involving romantic pairs who exploit Western institutions and scientific openness to traffic pathogens with dual-use potential.

U.S. Attorney Jerome Gorgan said in a statement: “The alleged actions of these Chinese nationals—including a loyal member of the Chinese Communist Party—are of the gravest national security concerns.”

“These two aliens have been charged with smuggling a fungus that has been described as a ‘potential agroterrorism weapon’ into the heartland of America, where they apparently intended to use a University of Michigan laboratory to further their scheme,” Gorgan added.

According to case filings, “Fusarium graminearum is responsible for billions of dollars in economic losses worldwide each year,” and “toxins produced by Fusarium graminearum cause vomiting, liver damage, and reproductive defects in livestock and humans.”

Agroterrorism is a form of hybrid warfare targeting a population’s food supply and economy. It involves the malicious use of plant or animal pathogens to cause devastating diseases and is closely related to biological and chemical warfare.

Liu and Jian had previously studied the pathogen as university students in China, according to the FBI. Since 2023, Jian had been working at the University of Michigan’s Molecular Plant-Microbe Interaction Laboratory, a facility focused on understanding the molecular biology of crop disease and plant immune responses.

Liu initially told U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers that he didn’t know what the materials were and suggested someone else must have planted them in his bag. But he quickly changed his story under FBI questioning.

“Liu stated that he intentionally hid the samples in his backpack because he knew there were restrictions on the importation of the materials,” the complaint says. “Liu confirmed that he had intentionally put the samples in a wad of tissues so CBP Officers would be less likely to find and confiscate them, and he could continue his research in the United States.”

Court filings show that Liu intended to deliver the samples to Jian’s lab and assist in cloning and culturing the fungus, should earlier experiments fail. Investigators say the couple coordinated in advance and had previously communicated about biological sample transfers.

When investigators spoke to Jian, she denied knowing anything about Liu’s smuggling or plans to research the pathogen.

But an examination of Liu’s and Jian’s electronic devices uncovered WeChat messages from 2022 in which they discussed smuggling seeds into the United States.

“I put them in my Martin boots,” Liu wrote, according to the complaint. “In a small bag. The ziplock bag. Very small.”

“That’s good,” Jian replied, the complaint says. “Just put it in your shoes.”

Liu’s attempt to bring fungal samples into the United States on a tourist visa, without the necessary permits, mirrors the unauthorized transfer of sensitive materials by Dr. Xiangguo Qiu and her husband Keding Cheng, who orchestrated the shipment of live Ebola and Henipah virus samples from Canada’s high-security lab to the Wuhan Institute of Virology in 2019. Documents from Canadian investigations indicated the couple and their students also smuggled biological materials from China into Canada for use in the Winnipeg lab.

Both incidents highlight a reckless disregard for biosecurity protocols and the coordinated use of Chinese students to infiltrate North American labs through visa fraud—bringing materials from China into research institutions and illegally conducting work on the samples using taxpayer-funded facilities to advance China’s scientific and strategic interests. As a Cold War-style scenario between Washington and Beijing heats up, and American military officials warn of China’s “imminent” threat to invade U.S. ally Taiwan, these actions also raise chilling questions about Beijing’s military-aligned objectives for this research.

In the case of the PLA penetration of Canada’s National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg, investigations showed that in 2019, Qiu and Cheng coordinated the unauthorized shipment of live Ebola and Henipah virus samples from the Winnipeg lab to Wuhan, while conducting joint studies with an elite network of bioweapon researchers directly tied to PLA Major-General Chen Wei. CSIS investigations later confirmed Qiu was recruited into the Thousand Talents Plan.

As The Bureau has reported, in August 2018, CSIS warned senior federal health officials of insider threat risks related to Qiu and Cheng. Despite the warning, the couple maintained access to Canada’s most sensitive virology materials for months. Qiu’s collaboration with PLA military scientists on Ebola engineering and bat coronavirus projects was documented in co-authored papers and grant applications and award nominations.

As early as 2013, Keding Cheng filled out an application for the PRC’s “Science and Technology Innovation Talent Program,” requiring applicants to “passionately love the socialist motherland” and maintain Chinese citizenship.

By 2016, Dr. Qiu was nominated for an award by a senior military official from the Chinese Academy of Military Medical Sciences, recognizing her collaborations with Major-General Chen Wei, a leading figure in China’s biological weapons research. CSIS investigations revealed that Dr. Qiu and Major-General Chen collaborated on multiple research projects dating back to 2012.

Dr. Qiu’s use of Canada’s facilities to benefit China was well recognized in Beijing. An award nomination for Dr. Qiu noted that she “used Canada’s Level 4 Biosecurity Laboratory as a base to assist China to improve its capability to fight highly pathogenic pathogens … and achieved brilliant results.”

But in the Canadian case, for unknown reasons, the Chinese couple was allowed to return to China while under RCMP national security investigation.

The Michigan case charges come as the Trump administration is moving to tighten restrictions on Chinese access to U.S. research institutions. “We are looking to revoke visas for Chinese students, especially those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said last week. The Biden-era pause on such restrictions was formally reversed under President Trump’s new executive order in May.