The Canadian Security Intelligence Service discovered that one of two scientists expelled from Canada’s most secure microbiology lab worked closely and surreptitiously with Chinese government labs, as well as with “institutions whose goals have potentially lethal military applications.”
On Wednesday, the government made available hundreds of files connected to the dismissal of Xiangguo Qiu and her husband, Keding Cheng, from the national microbiology lab in Winnipeg. The two were hauled out of the lab in 2019 and fired in 2021.
The hundreds of pages of records include CSIS assessments conducted after the pair was marched out of the labs. The espionage agency suggested that the Public Health Agency of Canada withdraw both scientists’ security clearances.
They discovered that Qiu had extensive ties to the Chinese government.
“The Service assess that Ms. Qiu developed deep, cooperative relationships with a variety of People’s Republic of China institutions and has intentionally transferred scientific knowledge and materials to China in order to benefit the PRC government,” reads a January 2021 letter recommending her security clearance be revoked.
W in the actual F?
VISIT OUR YOUTUBE CHANNELCSIS determined that Qiu had sought for and likely secured a position under China’s Thousand Talents scheme, a government-sponsored scheme that recruits Chinese professionals while simultaneously allowing them to remain in their jobs in Western countries.
The Wuhan Institute of Virology helped Qiu get the job, and CSIS found that the Thousand Talents Program gives researchers up to $1 million in study grants, as well as better visa and Chinese health care access.
CSIS discovered that Qiu held many appointments as a visiting professor with Chinese schools, but she would omit them from her CV when looking for work in Canada. Qiu was discovered to have consistently lied during interviews about all of this, despite being offered numerous opportunities to come clean.
“Qiu continued to make blanket denials, feign ignorance, or tell outright lies,” the CSIS letter stated.
The Chinese government’s intelligence agency also said bad things about Cheng. They said he had to know his wife was lying and that he had definitely applied to one of the government’s talent programs.
“Despite being given ample opportunities to provide truthful statements to the interviewers, regarding topics of concern relating to his security clearance, the service assesses that Mr. Cheng failed to tell the truth in areas where he most needed to,” they stated at the time.
The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) launched a protracted inquiry to get to the bottom of the incident, which resulted in various investigations and CSIS reports, as well as a grievance from both persons who claimed they were discriminated against because they were Chinese.
The National Security Management Division of PHAC was told in September 2018 that Qiu was listed as an author on a Chinese patent that might include scientific information created at the Canadian Sciences Centre for Human and Animal Health (CSCHAH) in Winnipeg.
She was later discovered to have shared scientific data without the proper authorization.
Qiu was discovered to have transferred sensitive items outside of the national microbiology lab without authorization, including antibodies, to the China National Institute for Food and Drug Control and some others to the United Kingdom and the United States for testing.
She also admitted to sending many emails to research associates using personal email addresses like Gmail or Yahoo rather than her official company account.
Cheng not only used his personal email accounts and unlawful external drives to perform government business, but he also violated security standards by granting students under his supervision access to the scientific network via a computer in the laboratory.
He was also found to have permitted those pupils to operate in the laboratories alone and failed to prevent them from improperly removing laboratory supplies on at least two occasions in October 2018.
According to a CSIS Security Assessment, Cheng “circumvented” government laws and standards governing the sharing of sensitive information in order to aid his spouse, Qiu, in engaging with foreign entities and applying for foreign-sponsored talent programs.
It is unknown if Qiu and Cheng are still residing in Canada.
During the last Parliament, the Liberals sought to have these documents exposed, even bringing the Speaker of the House of Commons to court to avoid their release.
Last autumn, the Liberals promised to have an ad hoc committee of opposition MPs evaluate the records, with any disagreements over redactions resolved by a panel of judges. In an introduction to the hundreds of pages, the MPs on the committee stated that the proposals were unnecessary.
“The information appears to be mostly about protecting the organization from embarrassment for failures in policy and implementation, not legitimate national security concerns, and its release is essential to hold the government to account,” the lawmakers said in their letter.
Health Minister Mark Holland defended the lengthy procedure for releasing the information.
“That ad hoc committee rightfully did its work and released the documents that we have today. It’s a success of that process. The reason it took time is because we’re dealing with national security,” he explained.
He admitted that what transpired at the laboratory was inappropriate, but reassured Canadians that the lab is now safe.
“Since that period of time extraordinary efforts have been taken to ensure that nothing like it will occur again and those protocols are well in place.”
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre described it as a “unprecedented and terrifying security breach” and stated that he will prioritize securing Canada’s labs against similar breaches.
“This is a massive national security failure by Justin Trudeau and his Liberal government, which he fought tooth and nail to cover up, including defying four parliamentary orders and taking the House of Commons Speaker to court,” said Poilievre in an email to the National Post.
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