Wyoming Grad Student Poisoned Colleague, Arrested Fleeing to China With Stolen Data

What is it with Chinese biology students studying in America? 

On October 6, one Aili Wang, a graduate student in microbiology at the University of Wyoming and a Chinese national, was caught at the Los Angeles International Airport, reportedly trying to flee back to China. In her possession were several laptop computers, electronic storage devices and other data. Behind her, back in Wyoming, was a very sick, unnamed fellow student who Wang is accused of poisoning.

Aili Wang, 32, was arrested Oct. 6 at Los Angeles International Airport, where prosecutors allege she sought to return to China. With her were laptops, electronic storage devices and documents now in the possession of police, who allege Wang was seen on surveillance video rummaging through the desk of the victim who specialized in technology for disease treatment - research similar to work she'd done in China.

Wang remained jailed without bail Tuesday in Los Angeles. She allegedly bought a chemical, acrylamide, over eBay, and it was first detected when the alleged victim's wife and others tested water from the coffee maker he used to brew tea.

Acrylamide is an organic compound, white, odorless, which dissolves readily in water. It's also a neurotoxin when ingested, and can have long-lasting and serious effects, including fatigue and sleeplessness. 

Wang initially denied the claim, but cameras caught her in September and October taking photos and fiddling with her colleague's notebooks — and most important, she was caught rinsing a mug on her colleague’s desk with an unknown liquid, presumably the solution of acrylamide.

During an interview by campus police on Oct. 5, Wang allegedly said she "had not used acrylamide in years." A day later she was taken into custody in Los Angeles while in possession of "multiple laptops, multiple portable external digital storage devices, related accessories, physical records and written materials," according to a request by Wyoming prosecutors to "significantly increase" her $200,000 bond upon extradition.

Wang had no reason to go through the desk of the other student whose federally funded, patent-pending research involved "new technology for cancer, neurological and genetic disease treatment," according to the affidavit.

Note that this is a microbiology student. These are people who work with microorganisms, like bacteria, some of which are pathogens. And this "student" had not only done similar work in China, but was attempting to flee back to China with her data — and we don't know if it was only her own data she was taking.

The issue of China's involvement in biology research is doubtless related to the number of illegal Chinese-operated biological laboratories that we seem to keep finding right here in the United States. Here at RedState, we've reported on this issue before and likely will again. 

This isn't just a matter of science. This is a matter of national security, and it seems time for a moratorium on student visas for Chinese students. Oh, China will no doubt squawk about that, but let them squawk. These people are playing with some very serious stuff here, and allowing hundreds or even thousands of people in from a nation that is at best a rival, and setting them loose in a biological laboratory, seems a very, very bad idea.

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