DETROIT (AP) — Two Chinese scientists accused of smuggling or shipping biological material into the United States for use at the University of Michigan will remain in custody after waiving their right to a hearing Friday in federal court.
Yunqing Jian and Chengxuan Han said in separate court appearances in Detroit that they would not challenge the government's request to keep them locked up while their cases move forward.
“This is a constantly evolving situation involving a large number of factors,” Han's attorney, Sara Garber, told a judge. She didn't elaborate and later declined to comment.
Han was arrested Sunday at Detroit Metropolitan Airport after arriving on a flight from China, where she is pursuing an advanced degree at Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan. She planned to spend a year completing a project at the University of Michigan lab, and is accused of shipping biological material months ago to laboratory staff.
It was intercepted by authorities. The FBI, in a court filing, said the material is related to worms and lacked a government permit. Experts told The Associated Press it didn't appear to be dangerous.
Jian's case is different. She is charged with conspiring with her boyfriend, another scientist from China, to bring a toxic fungus into the U.S. Fusarium graminearum can attack wheat, barley, maize and rice.
The boyfriend, Zunyong Liu, was turned away at the Detroit airport last July and sent back to China after authorities found red plant material in his backpack.
Jian, who worked at the university lab, was arrested June 2. Messages between Jian and Liu in 2024 suggest that Jian was already tending to Fusarium graminearum at the lab before Liu was caught at the airport, the FBI said.
Jian's attorneys declined to comment Friday.
Federal authorities so far have not alleged that the scientists had a plan to unleash the fungus somewhere. Fusarium graminearum is already prevalent in the U.S. — particularly in the east and Upper Midwest — and scientists have been studying it for decades. Nicknamed “vomitoxin” because it’s most known for causing livestock to throw up, it can also cause diarrhea, abdominal pain, headache and fever in animals and people.
Researchers often bring foreign plants, animals and even strains of fungi to the U.S. to study them, but they must file certain permits before moving anything across state or national borders.
The university has not been accused of misconduct. It said it has received no money from the Chinese government related to the work of the three scientists. In a statement, it said it strongly condemns any actions that “seek to cause harm, threaten national security or undermine the university’s critical public mission.”
This photo provided by the Sanilac County, Mich., Sheriff's Office on Friday, June 13, 2025, shows Chinese scientist Yunqing Jian. (Sanilac County Sheriff's Office via AP)
This photo provided by the Sanilac County, Mich., Sheriff's Office on Friday, June 13, 2025, shows Chinese scientist Chengxuan Han. (Sanilac County Sheriff's Office via AP)
Defense lawyers for Chinese scientist Yunqing Jian, from left, David Duncan, James Gerometta and Norman Zalkind leave federal court in Detroit on June 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Ed White)
NEW YORK (AP) — A “click-to-cancel” rule, which would have made it easier for consumers to end unwanted subscriptions, has been blocked by a federal appeals court days before it was set to go into effect. But there are ways to end those subscriptions and memberships, even if they take some work.
The rule would also have required companies to disclose when free trials and promotional offers would end and let customers cancel recurring subscriptions as easily as they started them. But even without the new federal guidance, here are some ways to stay on top of subscription and membership fees.
Experts at the Consumer Federation of America recommend setting calendar reminders for whenever a free trial period ends, to alert yourself to cancel promotional offers before the real recurring costs kick in. The auto-enrollment process, in which the company does not remind the consumer via email that a trial is about to end and higher monthly payments will begin, was also at the heart of the FTC's rule.
“No subscription business model should be structured to profit from a gauntlet-style cancellation process," said Erin Witte, Director of Consumer Protection for the Consumer Federation of America, in a statement on the click-to-cancel rule.
Regularly reviewing your credit card and debit card bills can also help you keep track of any recurring charges — including price increases you may have missed or that you didn't anticipate when trying out a new membership or subscription.
“Companies make it easy for consumers to click to sign up and easy for the companies to automatically withdraw funds from consumers’ accounts,” said Shennan Kavanagh, Director of Litigation at the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC) in a statement on the FTC's click-to-cancel rule. “People should not (have to) spend months trying to cancel unwanted subscriptions.”
Given the FTC's vacated rule, though, companies may still legally require that customers cancel memberships or subscriptions by phone, even as they permit signing up, enrolling, and paying bills online. Consumer advocates say this places an extra burden of time and energy on the consumer to stop an unwanted recurring fee, but sometimes knowing the terms of the subscription and getting on the phone is worth the trouble.
Apps like Rocket Money and services like Trim, which is accessed through a browser, can keep track of your recurring monthly fees and subscriptions, for free — or for a fee — and can help you catch new ones or even unsubscribe from some services.
For parents, especially, a service like Trim could help inform them that a child has started a new subscription, game or membership before the fees recur. And Rocket Money will actively work to end unwanted subscriptions for you, for a monthly price. If the company can't successfully end or cancel the subscription or membership, it will give the customer the information needed to do so. Trim also provides this service, in its premium form, for an additional fee.
The FTC is currently moving forward with preparations for a trial involving Amazon’s Prime program, which accuses the retailer of enrolling consumers in its Prime program without their consent and making it difficult to cancel subscriptions.
Often, when a consumer tries to cancel a subscription for something like Prime, which offers free delivery and streaming video, the company will offer a month or more of the subscription at a promotional rate — half off, or at other, better-seeming values, to entice a customer to stay. Staying strong in the face of what may appear to be a good deal can help you stop recurring monthly fees before you forget to cancel them again.
Agreeing to yet another trial or promotional rate, which is another on-ramp to auto-enrollment, just continues the cycle, according to consumer advocates.
The FTC's rule would have required businesses to obtain a customer’s consent before charging for memberships, auto-renewals and programs linked to free trials. The businesses would have also had to disclose when free trials and promotional offers would end.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit said this week that the FTC made a procedural error by failing to come up with a preliminary regulatory analysis, which is required for rules whose annual impact on the U.S. economy is more than $100 million.
The FTC said that it did not have to come up with a preliminary regulatory analysis because it initially determined that the rule’s impact on the national economy would be less than $100 million. An administrative law judge decided that the economic impact would be more than the $100 million threshold, and the court decided to vacate the rule.
Former President Joe Biden's administration had included the FTC’s proposal as part of its “Time is Money” initiative, which aimed to crack down on consumer-related hassles.
The Associated Press receives support from Charles Schwab Foundation for educational and explanatory reporting to improve financial literacy. The independent foundation is separate from Charles Schwab and Co. Inc. The AP is solely responsible for its journalism.
FILE - A person looks at their phone at Seattle–Tacoma International Airport on Sunday, June 1, 2025, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane, File)
