US lawmakers are requesting an intelligence briefing on the Chinese Communist Party’s infiltration of the Winnipeg lab.

May 26, 2024 TruthUSA

A U.S. Congressional committee is requesting a briefing from the nation’s top intelligence official regarding Beijing’s infiltration of Canada’s highest-security lab in Winnipeg. This comes after reports emerged that two scientists collaborated with the Chinese military to acquire Western technologies.

The House of Representatives’ Committee on Energy and Commerce is seeking a briefing on the findings of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) regarding the activities of the two dismissed Winnipeg scientists, Xiangguo Qiu and her husband, Keding Cheng.

Committee chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers referred to the two as “spy-scientists” in a May 24 letter addressed to Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines.

The committee is conducting an inquiry into the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic to aid legislative deliberations on biosecurity reforms.

As part of the investigation, Ms. Rodgers’ committee is particularly interested in details concerning the two scientists’ communications with the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) in China. The letter emphasized that information revealed by CSIS in a February report sheds light on the interests and actions of the WIV leading up to the pandemic.

In July 2019, the two scientists were escorted from the National Microbiology Laboratory (NML) in Winnipeg during an RCMP investigation and had their security clearances rescinded. They were subsequently terminated in January 2021 due to undisclosed connections to Chinese regime entities and involvement in the regime’s talent recruitment programs.

Key Concerns

In a press release accompanying the letter, Ms. Rodgers and two subcommittee chairs expressed worries about various aspects of the scientists’ ties to the Chinese regime.

“Of particular interest is that Dr. Qiu shared the Ebola genetic sequence, research intellectual property related to Ebola, and potentially other pathogens with China without authorization,” the press release stated.

According to information from CSIS released in February, Ms. Qiu facilitated a shipment of Ebola and Nipah virus strains from NML to the WIV in March 2019.

In addition, Ms. Qiu sought to join a “Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) Advanced Customer Cultivation Project” with WIV to develop mouse-adapted and guinea pig-adapted Ebola viruses for mRNA vaccine research from Jan. 1, 2019, to Dec. 31, 2021.

In November 2018, PHAC approved the WIV’s request to transfer Nipah and Ebola strains. Subsequently, in March 2019, the NML dispatched 15 different virus strains to the Chinese lab.

U.S. lawmakers also expressed reservations about Ms. Qiu and Mr. Cheng’s participation in the Chinese regime’s global talent recruitment programs, classified by CSIS as encouraging economic espionage and intellectual property theft.

“CSIS discovered an application from her to one of China’s talent programs, where she committed to work for the WIV for at least two months annually. As part of her role, CSIS noted that Dr. Qiu pledged to ‘construct the People’s Republic of China’s biosecurity platform for new and powerful infectious disease research,'” the press release addressed.

The statement mentioned that Ms. Qiu likely secured a position under the Thousand Talents Program, a prominent Chinese talent recruitment initiative, through the WIV.

Citing CSIS, the U.S. lawmakers highlighted that Ms. Qiu misled investigators, denying her actions, providing incomplete information, and benefiting personally from the arrangement.

Furthermore, the legislators noted that PHAC discovered Ms. Qiu’s untruth about an October 2018 trip to China, initially claiming it as a personal vacation. She later admitted that the trip was funded by the WIV and that she met the WIV’s director during the visit.

The two scientists have returned to China, with Ms. Qiu reportedly involved in research for the Chinese military.

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