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'Sever relations': Bioterror arrests spark alarm; US CCP expert warns China planning ‘something worse than Covid'

'Sever relations': Bioterror arrests spark alarm; US CCP expert warns China planning ‘something worse than Covid'

Time of India08-06-2025

Gordon Chang talks to Fox Digital (Screengrab from video on X)
In light of recent arrests of two alleged "bioterrorists" in Michigan, an expert has advocated for complete disengagement from diplomatic relations with China, warning that they might be hit with 'something worse than Covid'.
"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."
Chang addressed the recent case involving Chinese nationals Yunqing Jian, 33, and her partner Zunyong Liu, 34.
The pair allegedly conducted unauthorised research on Fusarium graminearum in American laboratories whilst smuggling it into the country over two years. Jian held a post-doctoral research position at the University of Michigan, with her studies partially supported by funding from the People's Republic of China.
The Department of Justice describes Fusarium graminearum as a harmful fungus causing "head blight" in wheat, barley, maize and rice crops, resulting in annual global economic losses worth billions.
The substance poses risks to human health, potentially causing vomiting, liver damage and reproductive complications in humans and animals.
"This couple should be sent to Guantánamo," Chang said. "This Chinese government has declared a 'People's War' on us."
A "People's War" refers to a military strategy established by former Communist Party Chairman Mao Zedong, who passed away in 1976. His leadership resulted in numerous deaths through famine and political persecution.
This strategy involves sustained military and political pressure designed to wear down opponents.
The authorities have charged Jian and Liu with conspiracy, smuggling, false statements and visa fraud.
"We're Americans, so we think we're entitled to ignore the propaganda of hostile regimes," Chang said. "But for a communist party, [a People's War] has great resonance, and what they're doing with their strident anti-Americanism is creating a justification to strike our country," he added.
"This means, for example, that this couple should be sent to Guantánamo," he added. "This was an attack on the United States at a time when China thought it was at war with us," he further said.
In recent years, several incidents have raised concerns about Chinese espionage in the US. Chinese nationals and students have been caught illegally entering military bases, photographing sensitive sites, and attempting to steal trade secrets.
Cases include breaches at a Key West naval station (2020), spying at Camp Grayling (2024), and drone surveillance of naval bases by a University of Minnesota student (2025).
Separately, Harvard professor Charles Lieber was convicted in 2021 for hiding ties to China's Thousand Talents Program.
Commentator Gordon Chang warned that such actions, including suspicious seed distributions, signal ongoing threats to US security.
Former FBI supervisory special agent, told Fox News Digital, "Imagine walking into your local grocery store and seeing empty shelves where bread, cereal, and even pet food used to be," Jason Pack, "Prices spike. Supply chains slow down. All because a foreign actor deliberately targeted the crops that keep America fed. That may sound far-fetched, but it's exactly 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 takes a biological agent like Fusarium graminearum introduced into the wrong place at the wrong time. Food prices rise. Livestock suffer. Exports stop. The economic ripple effects are enormous," he said.

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