Daijiworld Media Network - Washington

Washington, Jun 8: A top US expert on China has raised alarm over a potential threat "worse than Covid" following the indictment of two Chinese scientists accused of smuggling a toxic fungus into the United States.

Yunqing Jian, 33, and her boyfriend Zunyong Liu, 34, allegedly conspired to bring into the US Fusarium graminearum, a fungus responsible for "head blight" disease affecting wheat, barley, maize, and rice. The US Justice Department classifies this fungus as a "potential agroterrorism weapon," causing billions of dollars in agricultural losses annually, as well as health issues like vomiting, liver damage, and reproductive defects in humans and livestock.

America’s foremost China expert, Gordon G Chang, told Fox News that the incident is tantamount to waging war on the US. He warned that unless Washington takes drastic measures, including severing ties with China, the nation could face a crisis even more severe than the Covid-19 pandemic.

Chang referred to a 2019 editorial in China’s People’s Daily that declared a 'people’s war' on the United States, underscoring the Chinese Communist Party’s mobilization for conflict. He urged strict action against the accused, suggesting they should be detained at Guantanamo Bay.

Highlighting recent hostile acts, including unsolicited seed shipments from China to all 50 US states in 2020 and ongoing attempts to infiltrate the US ecosystem, Chang emphasized the urgency of cutting relations with China to prevent future attacks.

An author and former legal counsel in China and Hong Kong, Chang concluded that America is vulnerable to threats not just from Covid or fentanyl but potentially from something far worse if vigilance is not maintained.