ExclusiveThe Shocking Truth Behind the Lab Poisonings

For more than a year, Rongyuan's health was deteriorating. She suffered vomiting, hair loss, and illnesses she could not explain. Then she installed a hidden camera. The footage showed her colleague approaching her water bottle. Testing found cadmium, a toxic heavy metal. That colleague, David Xu, was later convicted of poisoning her. Another American research institution also faces an alleged poisoning, this time involving a graduate student's tea. two workplaces, two investigations. What happens when danger comes from someone working beside you? Welcome to News Planet. I'm your host, Kathleen Lee. At a Berkeley engineering firm, prosecutors say David Hsu repeatedly poisoned colleague Rong Yuan's food and water between 2017 and 2019. Initially charged with attempted murder and poisoning, Hsu pleaded no contest to one felony poisoning count in 2023. He received two years of probation. On October 12th, a judge granted his petition to dismiss the conviction after he completed probation over objections from Yuan and prosecutors. Yuan says she still suffers health problems and can work only part-time. At the University of Wyoming, graduate student Ailey Wang faces an aggravated assault and battery charge over allegations she poisoned a colleague. The alleged victim developed unexplained symptoms. Testing of water from his coffee maker identified acrylamide, according to investigators. Prosecutors' alleged surveillance footage also showed Wang examining his research materials and handling his mug. Wang was arrested October 6th at Los Angeles International Airport while allegedly trying to return to China. She remained jailed in Los Angeles pending extradition, with Wyoming bond raised to $1.5 million cash only. The cases do raise serious questions about workplace safety, chemical access, and protection of research. But the most hidden and dangerous one is unasked. Are all of these events linked to the CCP? One is Wang Heather Zhang, the California woman, charged with acting as an unregistered Chinese government agent. Federal prosecutors allege she conducted surveillance on relatives of a senior Taiwanese official at the direction of Chinese officials. She was arrested at LAX before a planned flight to China. Another is Zhang Yu. A federal indictment alleges that Zhang and co-defendant Xu Zewei participated in hacking campaigns directed by officers of China's Ministry of State Security, including intrusions targeting American research. Zhang remains at large. Those cases contain explicit allegations of state direction. And some Chinese government operations have already produced convictions. Chen Jinping pleaded guilty to helping operate an undeclared Chinese police station in Manhattan. While personal violence, suspected research theft, and state-directed espionage are different categories, the amount of cases that have been resurfacing lately is concerning. The amount of treason the American government and its people have been facing is not acceptable. American institutions must confront both betrayal inside the workplace and interference from foreign governments. But we especially must not let outsiders or those of communist ideologies corrupt our country. For now, we'll be waiting for more truths to rise from the shadows. Those that don't have the United States' best interests at heart will reap what they sow. That's all we have today for News Planet. Thanks for watching and we'll see you next time.