In May, Secretary of State Marco Rubio vowed to “aggressively revoke visas for Chinese students,” and in the months since, we’ve witnessed a sweeping discriminatory crackdown and invasive scrutiny toward Chinese students simply for their national origin. Rubio even boasted, “Every time I find one of these lunatics, I take away their visa.” This is not about national security. It is racial profiling that feeds into the broader campaign to demonize China and lay the ideological groundwork for war by painting Chinese people as a threat to be contained, punished, and excluded.
Recently, two Chinese postdoctoral researchers at the University of Michigan were accused of bringing a fungus (Fusarium graminearum) into the US without prior authorization. Yunqing Jian, who is still in the U.S., was arrested, deemed an “agroterrorist,” and may face prison time if not deported back to China. While the researchers may have mishandled protocol, the accusation of conspiracy to commit agricultural terrorism is wildly disproportionate and deeply politicized. Remember the weather balloon that was spying on you? These extreme lies are meant to drive hate and distrust.
👉Tell the University of Michigan: Protect Your Chinese Scholars!
The truth is, Jian's past and current research centers around finding ways to mitigate the damage to crops caused by the fungus. Experts on the fungus have disputed the claim that it can be used as a weapon, stating that it is widely prevalent in the U.S. and even originated in North America. They argue that releasing it into the wild would have no impact on what’s already out there. Therefore, the claim that this is a plot by China to commit agroterrorism against the U.S. is baseless and is solely being used as a tool to spread anti-China rhetoric, aggravate hatred and fear against Chinese people, and push us toward war.
So far, the University of Michigan has done nothing to protect its Chinese scholars who face persecution from the U.S. government. Universities have a duty to protect their community, not aid and abet its discriminatory targeting.
👉University of Michigan: Denounce Discrimination and Support Your Students and Scholars!
The case against the two University of Michigan researchers is not isolated, but part of a broader campaign of surveillance and demonization of Chinese academics that has been going on for years.
Another researcher affiliated with the University of Michigan, Chengxuan Han, was arrested for sending roundworms through the mail, something many speculate she did not know she needed a permit for. Han’s case follows the same disturbing pattern: suspicion merely because she is Chinese, exaggerated charges, and devastating consequences for a promising young scholar. Like so many others, her life and career have been derailed by a climate of anti-China fear and government overreach.
In 2022, Jane Wu, a postdoctoral researcher at Northwestern University, took her own life after facing unfounded accusations of espionage, enduring months of FBI interrogation, and losing her lab. She is one of many individuals whose lives have been ruined by the ongoing persecution of Chinese people in the U.S. Even though Wu was cleared of the allegations, Northwestern leadership shut down her lab and forced her into a psychiatric facility against her will, ultimately leading to her death. Wu’s family recently filed a lawsuit against Northwestern University for its discrimination and abuse, a warning to all U.S. universities that silence is complicity.
Without protection, the number of cases of Chinese academics being targeted will continue to rise, and the tragic human costs of racism and demonization will proliferate. U.S. universities need to be held accountable for their complicity. They must not enable the ongoing persecution, but stand up for the students and scholars they have a duty to protect. If they don’t, they are merely acting as cogs in the imperial machine, reinforcing anti-China and anti-Chinese racism, while manufacturing consent for a catastrophic war against China that would devastate the lives of millions.
👉University of Michigan: Your Silence is Complicity! Speak Out For Your Scholars!
Peace and solidarity,
Megan, Jodie, and the CODEPINK Team
Contact [email protected] to learn more.
