Federal authorities arrested another University of Michigan scholar from China this week, revealing an alarming pattern of potential national security threats.

Chengxuan Han is facing federal charges for attempting to smuggle biological material into the United States, according to a criminal case filed Monday and reviewed by the Detroit News.

'The American taxpayer should not be underwriting a (People's Republic of China)-based smuggling operation at one of our crucial public institutions.'

Han is pursuing a doctorate at the College of Life Science and Technology in the Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan, China, and was invited to participate in a visiting scholar program at UM.

From September to March, while in China, she allegedly mailed four packages containing "biological material related to round worms" to the UM Professor Laboratory, according to prosecutors. The recipients of the packages were not named.

Interim U.S. Attorney Jerome Gorgon stated that Han obtained the biological materials from the Wuhan university.

On Sunday evening, Han arrived at the Detroit Metropolitan Airport after catching a flight from Shanghai.

An FBI agent claimed that Han, while undergoing secondary inspection at the airport, "made false statements that she had not sent packages to members of the UM Lab."

Photo by: Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

"When pressed, Han admitted that she had shipped packages to members of the UM Lab. Han initially stated to (Customs and Border Patrol) officers that the packages were plastic cups (rather than petri dishes) and a book (omitting the envelope with suspected biological materials concealed in it)," the FBI agent wrote.

During another interview with the FBI, Han "admitted to sending the packages, admitted that the packages contained biological material related to round worms, and admitted to making false statements to the CBP officers during her inspection," prosecutors' argued.

Han told federal authorities that the concealed or mis-manifested biological material included Nematode Growth Medium, a formulation used to cultivate microscopic roundworms, and plasmids, small and circular DNA molecules in bacteria and some microscopic organisms.

According to the FBI, Han claimed she sent one of the packages "as a 'game' with clues written above each plasmid."

Han also allegedly deleted the contents of her electronic device a few days before arriving in Michigan.

According to the complaint, “Han stated she deleted the content to ‘start fresh’ while she was in the United States.”

Nematode. Photo by Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images

Gorgon called Han's alleged attempt to smuggle in the material "an alarming pattern that threatens our security."

"The American taxpayer should not be underwriting a (People's Republic of China)-based smuggling operation at one of our crucial public institutions," the interim U.S. attorney added.

CBP Acting Director of Field Operations John Nowak stated, "The guidelines for importing biological materials into the U.S. for research purposes are stringent, but clear, and actions like this undermine the legitimate work of other visiting scholars."

Han faces up to 20 years in federal prison if convicted.

Her attorney, Rhonda Brazile, declined a request for comment from the Detroit News. UM did not respond to the outlet's request for comment.

Last week, another University of Michigan scholar and her boyfriend, both from China, were arrested by federal authorities for allegedly attempting to smuggle a potential bioweapon into the U.S.

These arrests come just days after Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that the Trump administration would "begin revoking visas of Chinese students, including those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields."

However, President Donald Trump indicated on Wednesday that his administration would be pulling back those efforts, citing a new trade deal with China.

He wrote in a post on Truth Social, “OUR DEAL WITH CHINA IS DONE, SUBJECT TO FINAL APPROVAL WITH PRESIDENT XI AND ME. FULL MAGNETS, AND ANY NECESSARY RARE EARTHS, WILL BE SUPPLIED, UP FRONT, BY CHINA. LIKEWISE, WE WILL PROVIDE TO CHINA WHAT WAS AGREED TO, INCLUDING CHINESE STUDENTS USING OUR COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES (WHICH HAS ALWAYS BEEN GOOD WITH ME!). WE ARE GETTING A TOTAL OF 55% TARIFFS, CHINA IS GETTING 10%. RELATIONSHIP IS EXCELLENT! THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER!”

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Agroterrorism plot? Chinese nationals arrested for smuggling potential bioweapon into US: FBI

Federal authorities arrested two Chinese nationals after they were accused of attempting to smuggle a potential bioweapon into the United States, claiming they wanted to use it to conduct research at the University of Michigan.

On Tuesday, the Department of Justice announced charges against Yunqing Jian, 33, and her boyfriend, 34-year-old Zunyong Liu.

'These two aliens have been charged with smuggling a fungus that has been described as a "potential agroterrorism weapon" into the heartland of America, where they apparently intended to use a University of Michigan laboratory to further their scheme.'

According to authorities, Liu arrived in the U.S. with a bag of fungus, Fusarium graminearum, which could be used as a potential agricultural terrorism weapon. The biological pathogen causes a devastating disease in wheat, barley, maize, and rice, the Detroit News reported.

Photo by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images

An FBI agent claimed in a criminal filing that Liu made “false statements” to Customs and Border Protection officers regarding his reason for visiting the U.S. and his knowledge of the fungus in his possession.

“Ultimately, Liu admitted to smuggling the pathogen and stated that he brought the pathogen into the United States so that he could conduct research on it at a laboratory at the University of Michigan where his girlfriend, Jian, worked,” the agent wrote.

Interim U.S. Attorney Jerome Gorgon stated, “The alleged actions of these Chinese nationals — including a loyal member of the Chinese Communist Party — are of the gravest national security concerns.”

“These two aliens have been charged with smuggling a fungus that has been described as a ‘potential agroterrorism weapon’ into the heartland of America, where they apparently intended to use a University of Michigan laboratory to further their scheme,” Gorgon added.

Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images

The federal charges follow President Donald Trump’s crackdown on China’s infiltration of American universities.

Last week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that the administration would implement new visa restrictions on Chinese students.

He wrote in a post on X, “The U.S. will begin revoking visas of Chinese students, including those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields.”

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Fungus Not Among Us: CCP-Linked Scholar Arrested for Scheme To Smuggle Crop-Destroying Pathogen Into US, Prosecutors Say

Authorities arrested a University of Michigan scholar and Chinese Communist Party member for allegedly smuggling a biological pathogen into the United States that could be used as a terrorism weapon to devastate U.S. food crops, according to a federal filing unsealed Tuesday.

The post Fungus Not Among Us: CCP-Linked Scholar Arrested for Scheme To Smuggle Crop-Destroying Pathogen Into US, Prosecutors Say appeared first on .

Chinese national accused of voting in US election skips hearing, prompting bench warrant

A Chinese national accused of voting in the 2024 election in Michigan now faces a bench warrant after he failed to attend a hearing last week.

Haoxiang Gao, a 20-year-old Chinese national with a green card, was supposed to show up for a hearing in district court on Thursday but never appeared, prompting Judge J. Cedric Simpson to issue a bench warrant for his arrest. Simpson decided to issue the bench warrant after conferring with Gao's lawyer, K. Orlando Simón.

'We have copies of the voter registration form that both includes a checked box and an affirming statement of citizenship.'

Gao's legal ordeal began back on October 27 at the University of Michigan, where he apparently registered to vote and cast a ballot on the same day. He used his UM student ID card to prove local residency, Michigan Enjoyer learned after submitting several public information requests about the incident.

He must have had some misgivings about his actions because he then called the Ann Arbor clerk's office, inquiring about whether green-card holders were eligible to vote. When the staff member explained that green-card holders were ineligible to vote, Gao allegedly claimed he knew of someone who had voted using their green card at the University of Michigan Museum of Art.

Gao then called the clerk's office back 20 minutes later and admitted that he was the person who had voted and that he had "lied on the forms and attested to being a U.S. citizen," according to an email from Ann Arbor clerk Jacqueline Beaudry.

"We have copies of the voter registration form that both includes a checked box and an affirming statement of citizenship," Beaudry wrote. "We have the application to vote as well."

The following day, Gao arrived at the clerk's office looking "very upset" and claiming to have fessed up to local law enforcement, Beaudry added. Staff at the office claimed they couldn't do anything for him and suggested he find legal counsel.

It was sage advice. Gao was later charged with perjury and being an unauthorized elector who attempted to vote, both felonies. At his arraignment in November, Gao "stood mute," meaning he did not enter a specific plea, the Detroit News reported at the time.

Now with a bench warrant against him, law enforcement officers are compelled to arrest Gao, should they encounter him. As of Friday, no follow-up hearing for Gao had been scheduled.

At the moment, it's unclear where he is. Both Simón, Gao's attorney, and the University of Michigan’s Student Legal Services declined a request for comment from Votebeat, while UM and the Washtenaw County prosecutor's office did not respond to a request for comment.

'This young man’s case is what showed our entire nation the giant loophole in Michigan's election laws that allow non-citizens to vote.'

Gao is one of 16 noncitizens believed to have voted in Michigan last fall, according to an audit. Leftists like Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson — now running to replace Gretchen Whitmer as governor — celebrated the results of the audit as evidence that the system works as designed.

Such instances "represent 0.00028% of the more than 5.7 million votes cast by Michiganders in the presidential election," Benson insisted, even though she testified before Congress in September that "there is no evidence that noncitizens are voting."

However, focusing solely on the presidential election, as Benson and others have done, basically ignores the more competitive races down ballot where noncitizen votes could have greater impact. In fact, a 2024 state race in Maine was decided by just a single vote, and dozens of other state-level races across the country were decided by 100 votes or fewer.

State Rep. Bryan Posthumus (R-Rockford) — who has already proposed a constitutional amendment that would require prospective voters to provide proof of citizenship when they register and when they go to cast a ballot — believes Gao's case represents a much wider problem regarding election integrity in Michigan.

"This young man’s case is what showed our entire nation the giant loophole in Michigan's election laws that allow non-citizens to vote," Posthumus said in a statement to Blaze News.

"We now know definitively that non-citizens have voted in our elections and are voting in our elections. Law enforcement will handle this fugitive, while my part will be to close the gap by amending our state constitution to require proof of citizenship."

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