National Review: Lawmakers Probe Professors, Lab Tied to Chinese Researchers Accused of Smuggling ‘Potential Agroterrorism Weapon’

Several congressional committees launched a sweeping probe into University of Michigan professors and research labs tied to two Chinese citizens charged with smuggling a “potential agroterrorism” fungus into the U.S., National Review has exclusively learned.

Those professors have received approximately $9.6 million in federal research funding since 2010 and previously held concurrent positions with universities in China and the U.S., the lawmakers wrote in lengthy letters launching the probes, which also examine the federal grant making process, earlier on Wednesday.

Congressional investigators also found that Zunyong Liu, one of the two Chinese researchers charged earlier this month on smuggling charges, is listed as an affiliate of a Chinese-government-sponsored research talent pipeline program.

Liu received funding from a Chinese province to conduct research on the fungus this year, they alleged. While Yunqing Jian, his co-defendant and girlfriend, was arrested this month, Liu is understood to be at large in China.

The letters, which were obtained by NR, went out to the University of Michigan, the National Institutes of Health, and the National Science Foundation.

“Taxpayer dollars should never fund research tied to the Chinese Communist Party — especially involving dangerous biological materials. These arrests reveal alarming gaps in oversight. We’re calling on NIH, NSF, and the University of Michigan to act swiftly to protect our labs and our national security,” a spokesperson for the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party told National Review.

In addition to the China committee, which is helmed by Representative John Moolenaar, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce and the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology are also leading the probe. The chairmen of those panels are Representatives Tim Walberg and Brian Babin.

The 25 all-GOP signatories of the letters also included Representatives Elise Stefanik, Neal Dunn, and Virginia Foxx.

A University of Michigan spokesperson told NR that it plans to answer the the lawmakers posed in their letter to the school.

Liu and Jian were charged in Michigan earlier this month on charges of smuggling in a toxic, crop-killing fungus called Fusarium graminearum. That prompted widespread concern about university research security lapses.

You may read the full article here: https://www.nationalreview.com/news/exclusive-lawmakers-probe-professors-lab-tied-to-chinese-researchers-accused-of-smuggling-potential-agroterrorism-weapon/.