Farmers in Iowa are accusing the Chinese state of stealing valuable seed samples from America, that have been genetically modified to improve crops, in order to reproduce them back home.
A bipartisan delegation from Congress hosted a roundtable in Dysart, a town in central Iowa, on [August 3] to hear from locals about “the impacts of the [Chinese Communist Party’s] malign tactics to undermine American agriculture.” The area has previously been visited by Chinese nationals to dig up the improved seeds.
It cited a 2012 case in which a Dysart farmer spotted a man in business attire digging up hybrid seeds, which were then sent back to China. Mo Hailong was later arrested by the FBI for stealing U.S. agriculture trade secrets, and convicted of various crimes related to the long-term conspiracy in 2016.
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“In my opinion, it’s part of a much larger, country-wide, slow-motion heist of American intellectual property,” Mike Gallagher, chairman of the select committee and a Republican representative from Wisconsin, told the meeting. “We have a duty to protect all our technology, whether it’s in Silicon Valley or in a cornfield here in Iowa.”
