DEVLIN BARRETT2025年6月4日去年夏天，底特律大都会机场的一名海关工作人员查获数袋真菌。司法部指控中国留学生简云青和刘尊勇涉嫌合谋将这些菌种非法带入美国。 David Goldman/Associated PressThe Justice Department announced charges on Tuesday against two Chinese researchers accused of trying to smuggle a fungus into the United States, bringing the case as the government pushes to keep more Chinese students out of the country.美国司法部周二宣布起诉两名中国研究人员，指控他们试图将一种真菌走私入境。此案的提起正值美政府加强限制更多中国学生入境之际。The students, Yunqing Jian, 33, and Zunyong Liu, 34, were in a romantic relationship last July, when U.S. authorities say Mr. Liu arrived in the country carrying small bags of the fungus Fusarium graminearum, which causes a disease that can cripple wheat, barley, maize and rice.涉案学生分别为33岁的简云青（音）与34岁的刘尊勇（音），二人系情侣关系。美国当局称，去年7月刘尊勇入境时，携带数小包禾谷镰刀菌(Fusarium graminearum)，这种真菌会导致一种对小麦、大麦、玉米和水稻造成严重破坏的疾病。The disease, head blight, is a familiar problem for American farmers, particularly in Northern and Eastern states, according to research funded by the Agriculture Department that has tracked it in 32 states last year. The fungus can be particularly damaging to winter wheat crops.美国农业部资助的研究显示，穗腐病（也叫赤霉病，译注）是困扰美国农民的常见病害，尤其是北部和东部各州，去年在32个州出现了这种疾病。这种真菌对冬小麦危害尤为严重。Ms. Jian was arrested and booked in the federal courthouse in Detroit; Mr. Liu is believed to be in China. The criminal charges come as tensions mount between the United States and China over the Trump administration’s vow to “aggressively” revoke student visas for Chinese nationals. Such students, the administration says, risk siphoning off sensitive technology or trade secrets from American labs for the benefit of their home country.简云青已被收押，并在底特律联邦法院登记入案；刘尊勇据信仍在中国。这起刑事案件正值中美关系紧张之际，特朗普政府承诺将“大力”撤销中国留学生的签证，称这些学生可能从美国的实验室窃取敏感技术或商业机密，为中国谋取利益。Jerome F. Gorgon Jr., the interim U.S. attorney in Detroit, said the researchers’ actions amounted to “the gravest national security concerns,” saying they had tried to bring “a potential agroterrorism weapon” into “the heartland of America.”底特律代理联邦检察官小杰罗姆·戈尔根指称，两人的行为构成“最严重的国家安全威胁”，试图将“一种潜在的农业恐怖主义武器”带入“美国腹地”。For decades, U.S. national security officials have worried about — and sometimes arrested — Chinese academics suspected of stealing scientific data from American universities and businesses. The Trump administration’s new push goes further by stripping an unspecified number of students of visas.几十年来，美国国家安全官员一直担心中国学者从美国的大学和企业盗取科研情报，过去也曾有过类似的逮捕行动。特朗普政府的新举措更进一步，将取消部分中国留学生签证，但具体人数不详。Some experts say such a heavy-handed approach is likely to cause more harm than good to U.S. scientific advances, by preventing or dissuading some of the roughly 277,000 Chinese students who arrive in the United States each year to advance their studies.有专家指出，这种强硬做法可能适得其反，不利于美国的科技进步。每年约有27.7万名中国留学生赴美深造，部分人或将因此放弃留美。The new case is distinct from most past national security cases related to Chinese students. Ms. Jian and Mr. Liu are accused not of taking material out of the United States, but of bringing it in. And charging papers specifically cite Ms. Jian’s written pledge of loyalty to the Communist Chinese Party.这起案件与过去大多数涉及中国学生的国家安全案件不同，简云青和刘尊勇被指控的并不是从美国带走材料，而是带入有害物质。而且起诉书特别提及了简云青对中国共产党效忠的书面承诺。When a customs agent at Detroit Metropolitan Airport found the baggies last summer, Mr. Liu at first denied they were his but eventually admitted to smuggling them so that he could conduct research on it at the University of Michigan laboratory where Ms. Jian worked, according to a criminal complaint filed against the pair.根据刑事起诉书，去年夏季底特律大都会机场海关查获涉事菌种时，刘尊勇起初否认物主身份，但最终承认走私是为在密歇根大学实验室进行研究，简云青在那里工作。“Liu stated that, while he was in the United States, he would have free access to the laboratory at the University of Michigan on some days, and that other days his girlfriend would give him access to the laboratory to conduct his research,” the complaint states.起诉书显示，“刘尊勇供述称，他在美期间有时候可自由使用该实验室，其他时候女友会让他进入实验室进行研究。”The complaint also offers evidence of an earlier instance in which the pair may have smuggled material into the United States. Messages exchanged between Ms. Jian and Mr. Liu indicate she may have successfully hidden material in her shoe on a 2022 trip, the complaint said. Other messages cited in the complaint suggest that in early 2024, Ms. Jian arranged for another associate in China to mail a book with a plastic baggie hidden inside.起诉书还提供证据，证明两人恐怕早有前科。诉状称，两人的聊天记录显示，简云青曾在2022年将有关物质藏在鞋子里成功带入境。聊天记录还显示，在2024年初，简云青似乎还安排了一名在中国的同伙邮寄了一本书，书中藏有装着菌种的塑料袋。The complaint said Ms. Jian’s cellphone also contained a work assessment form she had signed in January 2024 related to her research at a Chinese university. The form consisted of a pledge to remain loyal to China and to “support the leadership of the Communist Party of China, resolutely implement the party’s educational guidelines and policies, love education, care for students, unite colleagues, love the motherland and care about international affairs,” according to the criminal complaint.诉状称，简云青的手机中还包含一份她在2024年1月签署的工作考核表，内容与她在一所中国大学的研究有关。根据刑事诉状，考核表包含忠于中国，“拥护中国共产党的领导，坚决贯彻党的教育方针政策，热爱教育事业，关心学生，团结同事，热爱祖国，关心国际大事”的誓言。Ms. Jian and Mr. Liu are charged with conspiracy, smuggling, false statements and visa fraud.简云青和刘尊勇目前面临共谋、走私、虚假陈述和签证欺诈等多项罪名指控。Devlin Barrett为时报报道司法部和FBI。翻译：纽约时报中文网点击查看本文英文版。