By Olivier Acuña Barba •
Published: 07 Jun 2025 • 18:05
• 3 minutes read
US officials and a China expert warn the fungus can be used in agroterrorism, but biology experts disagree | Credits: DOJ
A US expert on China said the Trump Administration should sever relations with the Asian country because he says it is clear they are plotting a bioterror attack that will have greater consequences than COVID and fentanyl.
Attorney and Chinese Communist Party expert Gordon Chang told Fox News Digital during an interview in connection with the recent arrest of two Chinese nationals allegedly caught smuggling a highly toxic fungus into the United States, which is considered to be a potential weapon for agro or bioterrorism.
“The only way to stop this is to sever relations with China,” attorney and Chinese Communist Party expert Gordon Chang told Fox News Digital. “And I know people think that’s drastic, but we are being overwhelmed, and we are going to get hit. And we are going to get hit really hard. Not just with COVID, not just with fentanyl, but perhaps with something worse.”
A potential agroterrorism weapon
On Tuesday, two Chinese nationals were charged with allegedly smuggling into the U.S. a fungus called “Fusarium graminearum, which scientific literature classifies as a potential agroterrorism weapon,” the Department of Justice(DOJ) said.
Yunqing Jian, 33, and Zunyong Liu, 34, citizens of the People’s Republic of China, allegedly received funding from the Chinese government for their research, some of which was conducted at the University of Michigan.
“The complaint also alleges that Jian’s electronics contain information describing her membership in and loyalty to the Chinese Communist Party,” a DOJ press release said.
The University of Michigan released a statement saying, “We strongly condemn any actions that seek to cause harm, threaten national security or undermine the university’s critical public mission. It is important to note that the university has received no funding from the Chinese government concerning research conducted by the accused individuals.”
The US DOJ said Fusarium graminearum is a toxic fungus that causes a crop-killing “head blight,” a disease of wheat, barley, maize and rice that “is responsible for billions of dollars in economic losses worldwide each year.”
It is also toxic to humans, and can cause vomiting, liver damage and “reproductive defects in humans and livestock,” the department added.
Experts refute the DOJs fungus statement
However, agriculture experts interviewed by Reuters this week said the fungus has been in the country for more than 100 years, can be prevented by spraying pesticides, and is only dangerous if ingested regularly and in large quantities.
“As a weapon, it would be a pretty ineffective one,” said Jessica Rutkoski, a crop sciences professor, wheat breeder and geneticist at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Rutkoski and other researchers said in-depth testing for the fungus’s toxin, widespread use of fungicides and the difficulty of intentionally creating an infection with the pathogen would make it a clumsy weapon. The FBI and DOJ declined to comment to Reuters.
Chang said, “This couple should be sent to Guantánamo. This Chinese government has declared a ‘People’s War’ on us.”
The expert also told Fox that in 2020, Americans across the United States received seeds via mail from China. He stated that it was an attempt to introduce invasive species that could potentially destroy crops throughout the US. He also noted that this year, Chinese online retailer Temu did the same.
‘It doesn’t take a bomb to disrupt the economy’
“Imagine walking into your local grocery store and seeing empty shelves where bread, cereal, and even pet food used to be,” Jason Pack, a former FBI supervisory special agent, told Fox News Digital.
“Prices spike. Supply chains slow down. All because a foreign actor deliberately targeted the crops that keep America fed,” Pack added. “That may sound far-fetched, but it’s precisely the kind of scenario that becomes possible when someone brings a dangerous agricultural pathogen into the United States.
“It doesn’t take a bomb to disrupt an economy. It requires a biological agent, such as Fusarium graminearum, to be introduced into the wrong place at the wrong time. Food prices rise. Livestock suffer. Exports stop. The economic ripple effects are enormous,” Pack
