Scientists let go from National Microbiology Laboratory amid RCMP investigation and internal review

[Shiloh]

Source: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manit...tory-1.5904035

Scientists let go from National Microbiology Laboratory amid RCMP
Action taken nearly two years after they were escorted from Canada’s only Level 4 lab
Karen Pauls ? CBC News ? Posted: Feb 06, 2021 10:21 AM CT | Last Updated: February 6


Two Canadian government scientists escorted from the National Microbiology Laboratory amidst an RCMP investigation and internal review have been let go from the Public Health Agency of Canada, CBC News has learned.

"The two scientists are no longer employed by the Public Health Agency of Canada as of Jan. 20, 2021," Eric Morrissette, chief of media relations for Health Canada and PHAC, confirmed in an email late Friday.

"We cannot disclose additional information, nor comment further, for reasons of confidentiality."

Sources say members of the lab's special pathogens unit were called to a meeting on Thursday and told that Dr. Xiangguo Qiu and her husband, Keding Cheng, will not be returning to work. They were not given an explanation.

Cheng, Qiu and her students from China were removed from Canada's only Level 4 lab in July 2019 over what was described as a possible "policy breach" and administrative matter...

...Last year, documents obtained by CBC News through an access to information request found that Qiu was responsible for a shipment of Ebola and Henipah viruses to the Wuhan Institute of Virology four months before she and her husband were escorted from the NML.

At the time, PHAC said the shipment and Qiu's eviction from the lab were not connected.

"The administrative investigation is not related to the shipment of virus samples to China," Morrissette wrote in an email last June.

"In response to a request from the Wuhan Institute of Virology for viral samples of Ebola and Henipah viruses, the Public Health Agency of Canada sent samples for the purpose of scientific research in 2019."

No connection to COVID-19

The RCMP and PHAC have consistently denied any connections between the COVID-19 pandemic and the virus shipments. There is no evidence linking the shipment to the spread of the coronavirus. Ebola is a filovirus and Henipah is a paramyxovirus — no coronavirus samples were sent.

Qiu also made at least five trips to China in 2017-18, including one to train scientists and technicians at China's newly certified Level 4 lab, which does research with the most deadly pathogens, according to travel documents obtained by CBC News in October 2019.

Despite RCMP and PHAC denial of connections, there have been conspiracy theories stating otherwise. One medical expert says we need more transparency on the issue...

[JJackson]

Does anyone have any information relating to this? From the above somebody suspected some Chinese scientists of doing something they shouldn't and threw them out. On investigation no evidence was brought to light or charges made but they, and their students presumably, have moved on to pastures new. The only hard data is that the crimes they were accused of in the press, i.e. shipping viruses to WIV, was done with the authority of Public Health Agency of Canada and is normal practice between research labs. They either need to be charged with something or, if the investigation found nothing, offered a public apology and their jobs back but I doubt they would want them given their treatment.

[sharon sanders]

I do not have info on this.

All people are presumed innocent.

[Treyfish]

PHAC president given until Friday to explain why two scientists were let go

Joan Bryden
Published Monday,March 22, 2021 9:08PM EDT

OTTAWA -- The president of the Public Health Agency of Canada has been given until the end of the week to explain why two Canadian government scientists were let go 18 months after being escorted from Canada's only Level 4 laboratory.

Iain Stewart came under fire Monday from opposition MPs after he repeatedly refused to explain why PHAC terminated the employment of Dr. Xiangguo Qiu and her husband, Keding Cheng, in January.

Stewart told the special committee on Canada-China relations that he could not provide details due to privacy issues and "security with respect to the investigation" still being conducted by the RCMP....

....The pair were escorted out of the National Microbiology Laboratory in July 2019 over what was described as a possible policy breach and administrative matter.

The Winnipeg lab is Canada's highest-security laboratory, designed to deal safely with deadly contagious germs such as Ebola....

..PHAC has said their escorted exit had nothing to do with the fact that four months earlier, Qiu had been responsible for a shipment of Ebola and Henipah viruses to China's Wuhan Institute of Virology....https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/phac...t-go-1.5358099

[sharon sanders]

bump this

[Shiloh]

Source: https://nationalpost.com/news/canada...rnment-patents

Fired Winnipeg lab scientist listed as co-inventor on two Chinese government patents
The federal Public Servants Inventions Act says a government employee cannot file a patent outside the country without the minister’s permission
Author of the article: Tom Blackwell
Publishing date: Jun 23, 2021 • 1 day ago

The high-profile scientist who was fired from Canada’s top infectious disease lab collaborated with Chinese government scientists on inventions registered in Beijing, but closely related to her federal job, intellectual property documents indicate.

Xiangguo Qiu, who’s also under investigation by the RCMP, is listed as an inventor on two patents filed by official agencies in China in recent years.

Qiu was a long-time federal civil servant when the patents were registered in 2017 and 2019 for innovations related to the Ebola and Marburg viruses, key focuses of her work at Winnipeg’s National Microbiology Laboratory.

Qiu’s ouster from the lab remains cloaked in mystery and has been the subject of ongoing debate in Parliament, as opposition parties try, largely in vain, to obtain information on why she and husband Keding Cheng — another scientist at the lab — were let go.

Qiu had extensive dealings with China and Chinese scientists in recent years, including repeated trips to the Wuhan Institute of Virology, a “level-four” disease lab like Winnipeg’s.
Article content

One of the patents listing her as a co-inventor — with five other people — was filed with the Chinese National Intellectual Property Administration by the country’s National Institutes for Food and Drug Control. It describes an “inhibitor for Ebola virus.” Qiu won fame in Canada for helping develop a treatment for Ebola, though the Chinese drug seems different.

The other patent that includes Qiu and six collaborators as inventors was registered by the Inspection and Quarantine Technology Center of Fujian province. It’s for a “detection method,” or test, for Marburg, a hemorrhagic fever similar to Ebola.

Neither Chinese patent makes any mention of her Canadian government employer.

The federal Public Servants Inventions Act states that the federal government owns all inventions “made by a public servant that resulted from or is connected with his duties or employment.”

And the legislation says a government employee cannot file a patent outside the country without the minister’s permission.

Mark Johnson, a spokesman for the Public Health Agency of Canada, refused to comment on whether Qiu had obtained such permission.

Asked if the agency — which administers the lab — was even aware of the patents, he said, “We cannot comment on this matter.”

Qiu could not be reached about the issue, and did not respond to previous phone messages left by the Post...

[Shiloh]

Source: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manit...-out-1.6090188

Mystery around 2 fired scientists points to larger issues at Canada's high-security lab, former colleagues say
'An honest, open discussion from the beginning would have been very, very useful'
Karen Pauls, Kimberly Ivany · CBC News · Posted: Jul 08, 2021 3:00 AM CT | Last Updated: 7 minutes ago
Two leading scientists are standing by a pair of researchers fired from Canada's only Level-4 virology lab, instead pointing the finger at issues inside the Winnipeg-based facility itself.

Dr. Xiangguo Qiu and her biologist husband, Keding Cheng, were stripped of their security clearances and escorted from the National Microbiology Lab (NML) in July 2019.

They were then fired in January, though the Public Health Agency of Canada has refused to say why. A RCMP investigation is also ongoing; no charges have been laid.

For months, opposition MPs have been demanding answers about the couple's dismissal and the removal of the Chinese students they were working with, asking whether it could be linked to espionage.

PHAC and government officials have remained tight-lipped about the dismissal, initially citing privacy legislation, but more recently saying that case involves national security concerns.

Now two former colleagues are speaking out, saying that speculation is wrong.

Intellectual property dispute

For the past two years, Gary Kobinger has been watching the case with dismay and disbelief from his lab at Laval University.

As head of the NML's special pathogens unit until 2016, Kobinger and Qiu worked closely together and were internationally acclaimed for creating ZMapp, an Ebola vaccine that has saved thousands of lives in West Africa.

"[Qiu] told me, 'This is a misunderstanding and I don't know why I was walked out of the building.' She didn't understand. She was, from the bottom of her heart, saying that this is a misunderstanding," he said in an interview.

After talking with Qiu and other government scientists, Kobinger said he believes the incident started when Qiu was travelling to China — with the NML's knowledge and approval — to help set up a Level-4 lab in Wuhan.

Someone at PHAC was concerned she was sharing proprietary information about biosafety protocols and safe work flows, Kobinger said...

[Treyfish]

Special committee of MPs will see secret documents on firing of two Winnipeg infectious disease scientists


By Will LeRoy — Globe and Mail — Nov 1 2022
...Government House Leader Mark Holland said Tuesday that his Conservative, Bloc Québécois and NDP counterparts have signed a memorandum of understanding that will allow MPs on an ad hoc committee to learn why Xiangguo Qiu and her husband, Keding Cheng, were dismissed in January, 2021.

The committee will also see all secret documents involving the transfer of Ebola and Henipah viruses, overseen by Dr. Qiu, to China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology in March, 2019.

https://www.nationalnewswatch.com/20.../#.Y2GhJtLMK00

[Pathfinder]

Translation Google

A possible case of Chinese scientific espionage under the magnifying glass

Anne-Caroline Desplanques | Parliamentary Office| Published on May 17, 2023 at 3:23 PM - Updated at 3:39 pm

OTTAWA | Nearly four years after the events, the Trudeau government is asking three former judges to determine what the public is entitled to know about the nebulous dismissal of two Chinese scientists from the country's most protected laboratory, in Winnipeg.

The government announced Wednesday that former Supreme Court justices Ian Binnie and Marshall Rothstein and former Federal Court of Appeals justice Eleanor Dawson will serve as expert arbitrators in the case. A special committee of parliamentarians from all parties was also formed. It will conduct its work behind closed doors.

“There is question here of a possible case of espionage for the benefit of China, in a high security laboratory. We have to get to the bottom of things and finally shed light on this affair,” declared MP Alain Therrien, parliamentary leader of the Bloc Québécois.

The formation of the committee comes as David Johnston is due to table his report by May 23 determining whether an inquiry or any other form of investigation is needed to shed light on foreign interference in our elections. This dossier has shone the spotlight on the activities of Chinese agents in the country, both in politics and in the scientific sector.

The Winnipeg case dates back to July 2019 when the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) escorted two Chinese scientists, Xiangguo Wiu, and her husband Keding Cheng, out of the National Microbiology Laboratory. They were then fired in January 2021.

All of their students were also expelled, including Feihu Yan, recruited directly from the Chinese Army's Academy of Military Medical Sciences.

Biological weapons

Four months before their expulsion, the scientists had transferred deadly viruses, Ebola and Henipah, to the Chinese Institute of Virology in Wuhan.

However, as part of the aggressive Chinese biological weapons program, this laboratory notably conducts experiments aimed at making a virus more deadly or more contagious, a process called “gain of function”.

The two shared pathogens are classified as agents of bioterrorism: Ebola due to its rapid spread and mortality rate and Henipah due to the possibility of mass dissemination.

“Needless to say, sending viruses from a Canadian lab to a Chinese military-affiliated lab that conducts gain-of-function experiments raises serious national security and global health questions.” , said Tory MP Garnett Genius in March 2021.

Opaque government

Mr. Genius then led the charge, with the support of the Bloc Québécois, before the special committee on Sino-Canadian relations to obtain all the information and documents concerning the transfer of the viruses and the dismissal of the scientists.

But the state closed like an oyster. The Liberal government even went to the Federal Court to ask it to prohibit the disclosure of the information and documents requested by parliamentarians.

Since then, little has filtered from this case. The reasons for the dismissal were not disclosed and no charges were filed. The Public Health Agency, which runs the lab, said only that it was a simple administrative matter, "a possible violation of policy", and that the public was never in danger.

However, the case is in the hands of the Manitoba RCMP's Serious and Organized Crime Section, which is still investigating.

https://www.tvanouvelles.ca/2023/05/17/un-possible-cas-despionnage-scientifique-chinois-sous-la-loupe-1

[Shiloh]

Source: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/poli...-be-probed-by/

Probe under way into firing of infectious disease scientists at top-secret Winnipeg lab
Robert Fife
Ottawa Bureau Chief
Steven Chase
Senior parliamentarian reporter
Ottawa
Published Yesterday
Updated 2 hours ago

A special committee of MPs and judges has begun a probe into the firing of two infectious disease scientists from Canada's top-secret laboratory in Winnipeg and whether they provided confidential scientific intelligence to China.

Mark Kennedy, communications director for Government House Leader Mark Holland, told The Globe Thursday that the special committee has begun its work and will have unfettered access to all national-security documents related to the firing of Xiangguo Qiu and her husband Keding Cheng from the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg in January, 2021.

“Work is underground and documents are available to the committee members. They work independently,” Mr. Kennedy said in an e-mail.

Exactly why the two infectious-disease scientists were fired has been a contentious political issue. At first, the Liberal government would not disclose any information about the reason for the dismissals, even after it was found in contempt of Parliament over its refusal. The government took House Speaker Anthony Rota to court in 2021 for trying to obtain classified documents on the firings, but abandoned the effort when the 2021 election was called...

[Shiloh]

Source: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/win...hina-1.7128865

Scientist fired from Winnipeg disease lab intentionally worked to benefit China: CSIS report
Documents say Dr. Xiangguo Qiu's decisions 'could have impacted public safety'
Catharine Tunney · CBC News · Posted: Feb 28, 2024 6:08 PM EST | Last Updated: February 28

One of the scientists who was fired from Canada's top infectious disease laboratory "intentionally" shared scientific information with China — potentially putting people's health in jeopardy — says an assessment by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS).

The intelligence assessment was released late Wednesday afternoon by the federal government, along with hundreds of other documents about the mysterious dismissal of Dr. Xiangguo Qiu and her husband Keding Cheng.

The scientists and their students worked in the Level 4 virology facility at the Winnipeg-based National Microbiology Lab (NML), which is equipped to deal with the most serious and deadly human and animal diseases.

The couple were marched out of the facility in July 2019 and were stripped of their security clearances. Their dismissals were announced in January 2021, triggering concerns about Chinese espionage and leading to heated demands in Parliament for more information...

[Shiloh]

Source: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner...ript-1.7136299

Unraveling the Winnipeg disease lab mystery - Transcript
CBC News · Posted: Mar 07, 2024 9:00 AM EST | Last Updated: 12 hours ago
Front Burner Episode Transcript Front Burner Transcript for March 7, 2024
Host: Jayme Poisson


JAYME POISSON: Hi, I'm Jayme Poisson.

JAYME POISSON: So you may remember this story from 2019 about this high security infectious disease lab in Winnipeg and these two scientists that were marched out of there under mysterious circumstances. The pair, a husband and wife originally from China, were later stripped of their security clearances and fired. The story triggered concerns about Chinese espionage and led to calls for more information from the federal government. We spoke to our colleague, Karen Pauls, about this story back in 2021. She's been digging into it for years, and there were a lot of unanswered questions at that point. Now, at least some of those questions have been answered, thanks to the release of hundreds of documents largely from Canada's spy agency, CSIS. So today, we've got Karen back on the podcast, along with the CBC's Catharine Tunney, who covers national security and has been digging into these intelligence documents. We're going to recap the story and explain what we've now learned and what mysteries still remain...

[sharon sanders]

bump this