Lawmakers probe University of Michigan lab and professors connected to Chinese ‘agroterrorism’
GOP members of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce and the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology announced the probe.
The University of Michigan recently announced a review of policies and protocols after arrest of the three Chinese nationals connected to the lab.
Congressional committees are investigating University of Michigan researchers after Chinese nationals were charged for smuggling a dangerous biological pathogen into the United States.
The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan released a statement on June 3 outlining how two Chinese citizens have been charged for providing false statements, smuggling goods, conspiring, and having committed visa fraud while working in a University of Michigan laboratory.
Shortly after, a third Chinese citizen was charged with sending biological materials to individuals at a lab at the university from a separate lab in Wuhan, China, and is connected to the two initial arrests.
On Wednesday, National Review reported that following the announcement of charges being filed for “potential agroterrorism,” Republican members of the House Education and Science committees are probing Michigan’s research lab and professors who have led research in the lab.
The professors involved in the probe are also reported to have received $9.6 million in funding research grants from the federal government over the past 15 years, and have been connected to Chinese universities.
After the announcement of the charges against the Chinese nationals, the university stated that it will begin reviewing policies in its research labs and consider improving training in response to the recent arrests.
The probe was announced through letters that were sent by lawmakers to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Science Foundation (NSF), and Michigan. Both the NIH and NSF have detailed oversight processes that require compliance with strict federal rules on biosafety, foreign collaborations, and ethical conduct in federally funded labs.
U.S. attorney Jerome Gorgon has called the incidents “part of an alarming pattern that threatens our security.”
Gorgon added that, “The American taxpayer should not be underwriting a (People’s Republic of China)-based smuggling operation at one of our crucial public institutions.”
Campus Reform reached out to the University of Michigan for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
