China’s government intervened to help get charges dropped against three Chinese scientists at the University of Michigan who were accused of helping a colleague smuggle biological materials into the United States, defense lawyers said.
The case was pending in federal court in Detroit, where prosecutors had accused the scientists of involvement in a scheme that U.S. officials said last year was tied to national security. Attorney General Pam Bondi said the government must be vigilant when foreign nationals try to “advance a malicious agenda,” according to the AP report that defense attorneys referenced as part of the government’s framing of the case.
Defense lawyers said the court’s outcome came after a Justice Department request. They said the judge dismissed the charges on Feb. 5, and that the three defendants traveled home to China after the dismissal. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Detroit did not comment on China’s role or on the government’s decision to withdraw from the case, and an email seeking comment from the Chinese Consulate in Chicago was not immediately answered.
The three scientists named in the charges included Xu Bai and Fengfan Zhang, who were charged with conspiring to help another scientist who shipped packages to them from China before she arrived in 2025 for temporary lab research at the University of Michigan. A third man, Zhiyong Zhang, was charged with making false statements.
Bai, Fengfan Zhang and Zhiyong Zhang were in jail for more than three months while the case moved through federal court. Defense lawyer John Minock, who represented Bai, said the dismissal “came as a pleasant surprise,” adding that “The dismissal came as a pleasant surprise. We don’t know the details. What we were told was there was some kind of intervention by the Chinese Consulate in Chicago.”
Ray Cassar, another defense attorney, said he had been working toward a misdemeanor plea deal to resolve the case against Fengfan Zhang before prosecutors simply dropped it. Cassar said he received a phone call stating that China was negotiating with the United States over the three scientists. “We get this phone call saying China is negotiating with the U.S. over these three students. Serious talks,” Cassar said. “These were kids studying for their Ph.D.s. The last thing you want to do is destroy their careers. … Was it the proper thing to do? Absolutely.”
Defense attorney Mark Satawa said the Chinese Consulate’s involvement “getting involved moved the needle.” Satawa said he was preparing to seek dismissal of the false statements charge and noted that Zhiyong Zhang, who spoke Mandarin, did not have a translator when he was questioned by investigators.
The defense attorneys also disputed the nature of the materials at the center of the case. Cassar said the materials were mostly tiny, transparent worms, and he said they had a limited lifespan. He said the packages were not properly labeled, and he suggested Chengxuan Han—the woman who sent the packages—may not have wanted the shipment held up by U.S. inspectors.
“There was no intention of doing anything nefarious,” Cassar said. He added that the worms had been used for studying chemical reactions and light sensitivity. Cassar said the worm shipments were part of lab research conducted under temporary entry to work at the university.
In the report, Han had already resolved similar allegations. In September, she pleaded no contest to smuggling and making false statements and was deported to China after three months in jail. The report also said that in a separate case, Yunqing Jian, another temporary researcher at a campus lab, pleaded guilty to similar charges involving a common plant fungus and was deported after five months in custody.
Roger Innes, an Indiana University expert who reviewed the evidence for Jian’s attorneys, said there was no risk to anyone in the United States, according to the AP account.