In the wake of discovering that two Chinese nationals, one of whom was working for the University of Michigan as a researcher, were trying to smuggle an “agroterrorism” weapon into the United States to attack America’s wheat supply, a senior Trump Administration official sounded off on the situation and revealed what is going on with the terror attack.
As background, the two Chinese nationals involved are Yunqing Jian, 33, and Zunyong Liu, 34, both of whom were caught with wheat blight in their possession, which they apparently planned to release in America, and after being apprehended were charged with conspiracy, smuggling goods into the U.S., false statements, and visa fraud.
Describing the horrible material in their possession in a press release that described the general situation, the Department of Justice revealed that they had been caught “smuggling into America a fungus called Fusarium graminearum, which scientific literature classifies as a potential agroterrorism weapon.”
Then, speaking to the New York Post about the matter, lawmakers and officials sounded off on what they saw as a CCP-backed plot to wage war on the American food supply and decimate our wheat farms. One such senior Trump official, for example, told the NYP, “This is an attack on the American food supply.”
Further, one expert on the wheat blight fungus told the New York Post that while wheat blight already exists in the United States, what we do not currently have is a manipulated version designed to be more resistant to treatment and/or to spread more easily across farms. Such a fungus, which could have been worked on as part of “research” by the two Chinese nationals, would be devastating to American wheat farms and thus the food supply.
Members of Congress sounded off on the matter as well. For example, Arkansas Republican and House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rick Crawford told the Post that this appears to be PRC-directed unconventional warfare against the United States. He said, “The CCP will use every tool in its warfare toolbox to cripple the United States and bring us to our knees.”
Continuing, Rep. Crawford explained that such a pathogen as the wheat blight brought into America by the two Chinese nationals could cause serious damage to the American agricultural sector, saying, “A pathogen like this, if successfully introduced into a crop, could inflict significant economic loss for U.S. agriculture producers.”
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Also chiming in was Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA), who described the fungus the FBI caught the Chinese nationals in possession of as a potential bioweapon,” telling the NYP, “We are very fortunate the Trump administration and federal law enforcement stopped this potential bioweapon before it compromised our nation’s food supply.”
Further, Sen. Ernst explained that this was an assault on American food security, saying, “This is exactly why I have always said and will continue to say – food security is national security. Between this latest bioweapon and China’s highly-concerning purchases of U.S. farmland around our military bases, we must stay on guard against the threat from Communist China in our own backyard.”