A Chinese national was detained in the US on Tuesday, according to FBI director Kash Patel, who is accused of bringing a hazardous natural disease into the country. Patel claimed in a social media post on X that Yunqing Jian had received money from the Chinese government for operate on this disease in China. Yunqing Jian is alleged to have brought a dangerous pathogen called Fusarium graminearum, an agroterrorism broker, into the US to conduct studies there, according to Patel. Head plague, a condition of wheat, barley, maize, and rice, is a disease caused by this fungus that may cause serious health problems in both people and livestock. Every season, it causes billions of dollars in financial losses around the world,” he continued. Zunyong Liu, Jian’s fiance, is a professor at a Chinese university, and he is facing legal issues. Liu is alleged to have lied in the first place, then admitted to doing so through the Detroit Metropolitan Airport, so that he could do research at the University of Michigan. Jian and Liu have each been accused of conspiracies, smuggling items into the US, making false statements, and evading visas. The FBI and US Customs and Border Protection simultaneously conducted the research. According to Patel,” This fungus can cause a condition called head plague, a condition of grains, barley, corn, and rice, which can cause significant health issues in both humans and livestock,” and it is “responsible for billions of dollars in financial losses worldwide each year.” Patel also issued a warning about the broader threat posed by such activities: “CCP is working around the clock to build operatives and researchers to invade American institutions and objective food supply
