Chinese National Admits to Smuggling

LINCOLN, Neb. (DTN) -- The Chinese scholar charged with allegedly smuggling a pathogen into the U.S. was sentenced to time served and has left the country because of a plea agreement reached with federal prosecutors.

Yunqing Jian, 33, is a former scholar at the University of Michigan who along with her boyfriend, Zunyong Liu, was arrested for smuggling into the U.S. Fusarium graminearum, which is classified by scientific literature as a potential agroterrorism weapon.

Jian pled guilty to one count of smuggling and one count of making false statements to investigators, according to court documents filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Eastern Michigan. Liu remains in custody and has been jailed in the U.S. since June 2025. His case still is pending.

Jian was jailed for five months and nine days when she was released, according to a sentencing memorandum filed by her attorneys.

"As part of this agreement, the defendant specifically acknowledges and states that the defendant has not been persecuted in and has no present fear of persecution in the People's Republic of China on account of her race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion," according to the plea agreement.

"Similarly, the defendant further acknowledges and states that the defendant has not been tortured in and has no present fear of torture in the People's Republic of China."

The U.S. government, according to its sentencing memo, asked that Jian be sentenced to 24 months in prison.

Attorneys for Jian questioned the U.S. prosecution of the case, in the defendant's sentencing memo.

"The defendant also submits, both based on counsel's history of representing Chinese defendants and on the press coverage and political hysteria that the defendant's case has engendered, that there is strong prejudice in this country against Chinese defendants that has colored this prosecution as well," the memo said.

"It should not play any part in determining Dr. Jian's sentence."

In 2022, Jian started a postdoctoral position with Libo Shan at Texas A&M University, and the laboratory was then moved to the University of Michigan in August 2023, according to court documents.

About the smuggling of the fungus into the U.S., "She understands she was wrong to do these things and has expressed in her letter to the court her remorse at her actions," her attorneys told the court in the sentencing memo.

"While the offenses are serious, her motives were to continue her research without the interruption necessary to obtain materials properly, and to help Liu to pursue research that had the goal of finding better ways of combating Fg infestations of crops."

The fungus is known to cause head blight, a disease of wheat, barley, corn and rice, and is responsible for billions of dollars in economic losses worldwide each year. Fusarium graminearum's toxins cause vomiting, liver damage and reproductive defects in humans and livestock.

The U.S. Attorney's Office in Detroit said in a news release in June 2025 that Jian received Chinese government funding for her work on the pathogen in China.

A single smuggling charge comes with up to 20 years in prison.

The complaint alleges that Jian's electronics contain information describing her membership in and "loyalty to the Chinese Communist Party."

It is further alleged that Jian's boyfriend, Liu, worked at a Chinese university where he conducts research on the same pathogen and that he first lied, but then admitted to smuggling Fusarium graminearum into the U.S. through the Detroit Metropolitan Airport, so that he could conduct research on the pathogen at the laboratory at the University of Michigan where his girlfriend, Jian, worked.

The DOJ complaint details another alleged smuggling instance that occurred in August 2022.

Read more on DTN:

"Pathogen Smuggling Plea Deal in Works," https://www.dtnpf.com/….

"What Exactly is Fusarium Graminearum? Common Fungus Makes Big Headlines," https://www.dtnpf.com/….

Todd Neeley can be reached at todd.neeley@dtn.com

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