Chinese researchers charged with biohazard smuggling at University of Michigan

America’s top research universities have become the newest battleground in the ongoing war against Chinese espionage, as two Chinese nationals working at the University of Michigan have been charged with smuggling dangerous biological materials into the United States. These arrests are only the latest example of how the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) continues to exploit American institutions to threaten national security.

The University of Michigan, a major recipient of federal research funding, announced Tuesday that it is now “actively reviewing all relevant policies” after the Department of Justice brought charges against the two researchers. Both individuals were involved in advanced scientific work at the university one as a PhD student, the other in post-doctoral research.

Here’s what we know:

• PhD student Chengxuan Han, from Wuhan, China, was arrested at Detroit Metropolitan Airport attempting to smuggle biological materials related to roundworms, which can devastate crops like corn, soybeans, peanuts, and more.

• Earlier this month, researcher Yunqing Jian and her boyfriend, Zunyong Liu, were charged for attempting to smuggle a fungal plant that causes "head blight," a disease that can wipe out wheat, barley, corn, and rice harvests.

• The DOJ has made it clear that these incidents represent an “alarming pattern that threatens our security,” according to U.S. Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon, Jr.

The threat is not just academic it strikes at America’s food security and economic stability. As FBI Director Kash Patel bluntly stated, “The CCP is working around the clock to deploy operatives and researchers to infiltrate American institutions and target our food supply, which would have grave consequences… putting American lives and our economy at serious risk.”

The broader danger:

• The University of Michigan received $1.17 billion in federally sponsored research expenditures last year 57% of its total research budget.

• Federal agencies are increasingly concerned that American taxpayer dollars are indirectly funding CCP-connected research operations.

• Just last year, the university terminated its partnership with a Chinese university after five Chinese students were caught misleading investigators following a suspicious trip to a Michigan military base.

The Trump administration has recognized this threat for years. In a series of decisive moves, President Trump aggressively revoked visas of Chinese students with ties to the CCP and those studying in sensitive scientific fields. Secretary of State Marco Rubio recently emphasized that revocations are focusing on students linked to the Party’s vast network of operatives.

“The American taxpayer should not be underwriting a PRC-based smuggling operation at one of our crucial public institutions,” Gorgon added. And he’s right. This is not simply academic dishonesty it’s state-sponsored espionage and biological sabotage, carried out right under our noses on U.S. soil.

While Trump continues to negotiate tough trade terms with China, his administration’s crackdown on CCP infiltration in American universities is a crucial line of defense. Yet Democrats and the academic establishment have largely remained silent or even sympathetic to foreign student programs that are easily exploited by hostile regimes.

The stakes are clear: if America doesn’t take these threats seriously, the CCP will continue using our own institutions against us. It’s time to secure our universities, protect our research, and put American national security first.

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