Former Republican Michigan Rep. and current GOP Senate candidate Mike Rogers is calling on the federal government to take action after a second Chinese national affiliated with the University of Michigan (U-M) was arrested for allegedly smuggling biological materials into the country.
On Monday, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the arrest of a U-M scholar from the People’s Republic of China (PRC) for allegedly sending biological materials to a university lab and lying to federal officials. Just days prior, on June 3, another Chinese national at U-M was charged with conspiracy for allegedly smuggling a fungus designated as a potential bioweapon into the U.S.
“They’re purposely smuggling in pathogens that could be devastating to American crops, American health and the American economy,” Rogers told the Daily Caller News Foundation on Tuesday. “I think this is a concerted effort by the Chinese intelligence services.” (RELATED: Another Chinese National Busted Allegedly Smuggling Bio-Materials To University Of Michigan Lab)
Rogers, who announced his Senate bid in April, said he would welcome a federal investigation into U-M and urged Congress to “step up.” He also expressed support for President Donald Trump’s recent decision to suspend the entry of foreign nationals into Harvard University, which has been another suspected hotbed of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) influence.
“Universities will say this is about academic freedom, but academic freedom does not include espionage activities from nations that hope to do us harm,” Rogers said. “You always want the next Einstein to come to the U.S., so we have to make sure we aren’t prohibiting Einstein from coming in, but there are countries we have to worry about. We have to start looking at the kind of students and the type of things they have access to.”
Arthur Lupia, U-M’s interim vice president for research and innovation, released a statement Tuesday addressing the recent arrests, noting that the university is fully cooperating with investigators, reviewing relevant policies, reexamining its internal protocols and “ensuring that failure to comply with all laws, regulations, and policies will have consequences, up to termination.”
The latest arrests are not the only instances of potential or suspected Chinese espionage linked to U-M.
Five Chinese U-M students were charged in 2024 after allegedly being discovered with cameras at Camp Grayling, where drills with Taiwanese forces took place in 2023. Additionally, in 2020, two Chinese nationals at the university were arrested for allegedly spying on a naval base in Key West, Florida.
“Take the list of things they’ve been attempting to do, from stealing intellectual property to sending spies to campuses to steal information, to now trying to smuggle pathogens,” Rogers said. “We wouldn’t allow weapons engineers from the Soviet Union in the ’80s to come study at universities.”
TOPSHOT – A screen shows images of China’s President Xi Jinping as people visit the Museum of the First National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party in Shanghai on February 27, 2025, ahead of the opening of the annual session of the National People’s Congress on March. (Photo by HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP via Getty Images)
Rogers said that the issue is especially significant for Michigan, which he described as the “canary in the coal mine” regarding the threat posed by Chinese infiltration, saying, “We’ve lost thousands of jobs to their ability to steal intellectual property and designs.”
“Democrats are not taking this risk seriously,” Rogers said, pointing to the CCP-linked battery company Gotion, which was planning on setting up in the state with the help of state and federal subsidies.
The DCNF reported extensively on Gotion’s ties to China through its China-based parent company, Gotion High-Tech, revealing that the firm employed 923 CCP members in 2022 and uncovering footage on its website showing employees visiting CCP memorials dressed as Red Army soldiers to pledge their lives to the Party.
After enduring widespread public and political criticism, the company suspended its permit application to build a plant earlier in 2025.
“They were going to build batteries outside of Big Rapids, which was clearly not in the interest of Michigan and the U.S. But the Democrats couldn’t wait to shovel wheelbarrows of cash to build these things,” Rogers said.
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