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Straits Times
16-07-2025
- Business
- Straits Times
US opens probe into University of Michigan's foreign funding
Find out what's new on ST website and app. Similar foreign funding probes were opened earlier at Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania and the University of California, Berkeley. WASHINGTON - The US e ducation department said on July 15 that it had opened a foreign funding investigation into the University of Michigan while alleging it found 'inaccurate and incomplete disclosures' in a review of the university's foreign reports. As part of the investigation, the department asked the university to share, within 30 days, tax records related to foreign funding, a list of foreign gifts, grants, and contracts with any foreign source, and other documents, the department said in a statement and in a letter to the university. The University of Michigan will cooperate fully with federal investigators and it takes its responsibility to comply with the law seriously, it said in a statement. 'We strongly condemn any actions that seek to cause harm, threaten national security or undermine the university's critical public mission,' the statement said. The education department said the university's research laboratories were 'vulnerable to sabotage', citing charges brought by the US Justice Department against two Chinese nationals allegedly involving a University of Michigan lab. In June, American federal prosecutors accused two Chinese nationals of smuggling into the US a dangerous biological pathogen that they said had the potential to be used as an agricultural 'terrorism weapon'. Zunyong Liu, 34, a Chinese researcher, is alleged to have brought the pathogen into the US while visiting his girlfriend, Yunqing Jian, 33, in July 2024, according to a Federal Bureau of Investigation complaint. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore July BTO launch to have over 4,600 balance flats, 2 BTO projects with under than 3-year wait Singapore Acute psychiatry services to be expanded across all healthcare clusters: MOH Singapore 'Kpods broke our marriage, shattered our children': Woman on husband's vape addiction Business US tariffs may last well after Trump; crucial for countries to deepen trade ties: SM Lee Multimedia Telling the Singapore story for 180 years Asia Indonesia police detain 12 suspects over baby trafficking ring linked to Singapore Life Walking for exercise? Here are tips on how to do it properly Singapore 'Nobody deserves to be alone': Why Mummy and Acha have fostered over 20 children in the past 22 years The complaint said he admitted to smuggling in a fungus so he could conduct research on it at a University of Michigan laboratory where his girlfriend worked. However, experts have raised doubt about the FBI's claim that the crop fungus smuggled was a threat. In its statement, the education department said the university has received US $375 million ( S$482 million ) in foreign funding since 2020 and was late in reporting US $86 million of that amount. US law requires universities to report donations from foreign sources exceeding US $250,000 in a year. President Donald Trump's administration has launched a widely condemned crackdown against top US universities over a range of issues including pro-Palestinian campus protests against Israel's war in Gaza, transgender rights, climate initiatives and diversity, equity and inclusion programs. Similar foreign funding probes were opened earlier at Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania and the University of California, Berkeley. REUTERS
Yahoo
05-07-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
What Airport Agents Found in This Traveler's Bag Could Wreck U.S. Farms
A seemingly routine trip through Detroit Metro Airport took a sharp turn when federal agents uncovered something alarming in a traveler's luggage—something that could have jeopardized America's food supply. The BBC reported that authorities say Zunyong Liu flew into the United States from China carrying Fusarium graminearum, a crop-destroying fungus responsible for Fusarium head blight, a disease that plagues staple grains like wheat, barley, and rice. Liu told officials he brought the fungus to study with his girlfriend, Yunqing Jian, who works in a University of Michigan lab. Both Liu and Jian now face serious federal charges, including conspiracy, smuggling, false statements, and visa fraud, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Eastern District of Michigan. Fusarium graminearum isn't new to the U.S. In fact, it's already a major issue in North American agriculture. But experts say importing new or potentially more virulent strains of the fungus could worsen the problem, potentially leading to widespread crop failure and supply chain disruptions. The fungus spreads more aggressively in warm temperatures and not only damages crops, but also produces toxins that can cause vomiting, dizziness, and even raise the risk of cancer if consumed. That's part of why federal prosecutors have cited scientific literature calling it a potential 'agroterrorism weapon.' Despite the dramatic charges, some experts are urging perspective. 'It's extremely prevalent in North America,' Harold Kistler, an adjunct professor at the University of Minnesota, told CBS News. 'It's not like a foreign agent coming in—it likely arose here.' Still, the incident highlights just how vulnerable the agricultural system is, especially at the intersection of global travel and science. Security officials didn't release details about how the fungus was discovered, but its presence in a passenger's bag has raised fresh concerns about biosecurity lapses at ports of entry. So far, no widespread contamination has been reported, but the case remains under investigation. In the age of rising global temperatures and shifting supply chains, a single missed bag could mean disaster for crops, and by extension, the food millions depend Airport Agents Found in This Traveler's Bag Could Wreck U.S. Farms first appeared on Men's Journal on Jul 5, 2025
Free Malaysia Today
30-06-2025
- Business
- Free Malaysia Today
Trump says ‘getting along well' with China, downplays hostile acts
Donald Trump points to a reporter to answer questions in the briefing room of the White House in Washington. (AP pic) WASHINGTON : President Donald Trump on Sunday dismissed the importance of aggressive actions linked to Beijing including recent arrests of two Chinese nationals accused of smuggling a dangerous pathogen into the US, saying 'that's the way the world works.' Trump told Fox News that Washington behaves in a similar way. 'You don't think we do that to them? We do, we do a lot of things,' he said on the 'Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo' show. 'That's the way the world works. It's a nasty world.' Trump was responding to a question about how he viewed Chinese intellectual property theft, hacking of the US telecoms system and controversy around the Covid-19 pandemic. He likewise dismissed concerns over a case in which two Chinese nationals were accused last month of smuggling in a toxic fungus. Yunqing Jian, 33, and Zunyong Liu, 34, are charged with conspiracy, smuggling, false statements, and visa fraud. The US justice department said the pair conspired to smuggle into the US a fungus called Fusarium graminearum that causes 'head blight,' a disease of wheat, barley, maize, and rice. Trump downplayed this saying, 'you don't know where that came from, though. I mean, did that come from the country, or is that three wackos that happened to carry something?' Referring to the ongoing US-China trade war, Trump appeared to signal he was satisfied, saying 'We're getting along well with China.' He added: 'I think getting along with China is a very good thing, but they are paying substantial tariffs.' This past week the White House signalled trade progress with China, with an official saying both sides have reached an understanding on issues including expediting rare earth shipments to the US. After talks in Geneva in May, Washington and Beijing agreed to temporarily lower steep tit-for-tat tariffs on each other's products.
South China Morning Post
29-06-2025
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
Trump says ‘getting along well' with China, downplays ‘aggressive' acts linked to Beijing
US President Donald Trump on Sunday dismissed the importance of aggressive actions linked to Beijing including recent arrests of two Chinese nationals accused of smuggling a dangerous pathogen into the United States, saying 'that's the way the world works'. Trump told Fox News that Washington behaves in a similar way. 'You don't think we do that to them? We do, we do a lot of things,' he said on the Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo show. 'That's the way the world works. It's a nasty world.' Trump was responding to a question about how he viewed Chinese intellectual property theft, hacking of the US telecoms system and controversy around the Covid-19 pandemic. He likewise dismissed concerns over a case in which two Chinese nationals were accused last month of smuggling in a toxic fungus. Yunqing Jian, 33, and Zunyong Liu, 34, are charged with conspiracy, smuggling, false statements and visa fraud.
Fox News
27-06-2025
- Fox News
Chinese 'agroterrorism' could threaten US 'survival as a nation,' expert warns
Print Close By Peter D'Abrosca Published June 24, 2025 In light of the arrests of two Chinese nationals who are accused of smuggling a crop-killing fungus across the border, one expert warns that agroterrorism from foreign adversaries could cause a "severe disruption" to the United States. "Agroterrorism is any attempt to bring items into the United States intentionally that would impact our food supply," Kristofor Healey told Fox News Digital. "So this would be biological organisms like we saw in this case in Michigan. A specific lab-grown organism that is intended to attack items that are key to our agricultural survival as a nation." Healey worked for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for 15 years, first in an immigration enforcement role and then in counter-corruption operations. Now, he is a private investigator and expert witness. CHINESE BIOTERROR SUSPECTS' ARRESTS SIGNAL COMMUNIST COUNTRY PLOTTING 'SOMETHING WORSE' THAN COVID: EXPERT "Obviously, we're an agricultural-based economy in many ways, so anything that's attacking our wheat, our barley, the basic standard of what goes into so many of our food products that's being introduced intentionally, that's being introduced by a foreign threat to cause disruption," Healey said. "It's the same as any sort of other type of terrorism that's attacking a civilian population. It's just attacking it from that agricultural standpoint." Chinese nationals Yunqing Jian, 33, and her boyfriend Zunyong Liu, 34, were arrested earlier this month by the FBI for allegedly smuggling Fusarium graminearum into the U.S. and studying it in labs over a two-year period. Jian was a post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Michigan whose research was funded in part by the People's Republic of China. 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," according to the Department of Justice. It is also toxic to humans and can cause vomiting, liver damage and "reproductive defects in humans and livestock." "I don't think Americans really understand or really recognize the threat that the [Chinese Communist Party] actually holds, and how much our economy is built into the CCP-run economy," said Healey. CCP LOYALIST SHOULD BE SENT TO GITMO AFTER ARREST FOR ALLEGED PATHOGEN SMUGGLING, SAYS CHINA EXPERT He said that if a major event, like a war over Taiwan, were to occur, the United States would not be prepared for the wrath that China could unleash on America's crops and other critical infrastructure. "[Agriculture] is a very vulnerable part of our nation's infrastructure if you have individuals who are coming into this country, as was the case in Michigan, who are coming to study, who have a lab background, who have a background in this sort of development of these sort of organisms, studying or working with these sorts of organisms," Healey said. "If they have ill-intent, that's the sort of thing that could cause severe disruption to our food safety, that could cause severe destruction to… what essentially goes into keeping America running." Healey also noted that while the United States focuses a great deal of time on keeping out dangerous people or items like bombs and weaponry, it should be paying more attention to agricultural and biological terror threats, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. SUSPECTED CHINESE BIOTERRORISTS SMUGGLED KILLER AGENT INTO US IN BOOTS, OFFICIALS SAY "I would suggest that is something we need to be thinking about a lot more, because we just came off, five years ago, the entire world being shut down by what now appears to be a biological item that leaked from a laboratory and then infected millions of people and killed millions of people around the globe," he said. Healey warned that Americans should be prepared in the event of such an attack. "You don't have to be a prepper and build a silo in Nebraska and bury all your food supplies and wait for the end of the road, but you do have to be thinking a little bit down the road," he said. "Be prepared in the sense that you're the kind of person who's looking down the road. Not 24 hours in the future, but looking weeks and sometimes months in the future and preparing accordingly." CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Jian and Liu have been charged with conspiracy, smuggling goods into the U.S., false statements and visa fraud. They remain in federal custody. Print Close URL
