Two Chinese researchers have been charged with seed-trade
theft and are being held in Little Rock, Arkansas.
They are accused of stealing seed and trade secrets and
trying to pass them to a delegation of visitors from China.
One of the accused was working as a plant breeder, the other
as a research genetist, both of them at a research facility in Kansas.
Charged are Wengui
Yan of Stuttgart, Ark., and Weiqiang Zhang of Manhattan, Kan.
The
American Seed Trade Association issued a news release praising officials for
detecting the situation.
The association said it “is deeply concerned by the action that has led
to the arrest of individuals conspiring to steal and export seed products, seed
technology and trade secrets developed by U.S. agriculture companies.
“The swift action sends the message that no matter the nationality,
either domestic or international, this practice is unacceptable,” said the news
release from the American Seed Trade Association.
Chinese researchers have been aggressively pursuing genetic manipulation
and gene transfer technology to tackle challenges such as drought, disease,
insects and nitrogen fixation.
