1 week ago
18
You have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load.
When a Michigan graduate student from China was charged in June in the smuggling of restricted agricultural materials like seeds and a potentially dangerous fungus into the United States, a federal prosecutor said her actions raised “the gravest national security concerns.”
A congressional committee chairman urged the University of Michigan, where the student did her research, to investigate its labs, and went on to accuse China of “a broader, coordinated campaign targeting universities across the country.”
But when the student, Yunqing Jian, pleaded guilty earlier this month, she said she had simply been trying to speed up her research into crop protection. The prosecution conceded that it could not prove she had ill intent, though citing the potential for “devastating harm,” it asked a judge for a two-year prison term.
The judge instead sentenced Ms. Jian to time served — five months — and allowed her to return to China.
However muted the denouement of the case, some lawmakers and foreign policy experts say it, as well as several other cases against Chinese researchers in the United States, highlight a national security threat posed by ties between American universities and institutions with Chinese scientists.
American schools and scientific institutions are being pressed to sever ties with Chinese counterparts. Congress is considering restricting these links. And weeks before Ms. Jian, 33, was charged, the federal government vowed to “aggressively revoke” visas for Chinese students, though President Trump later backtracked.
