Conservatives launch probe into 'classified' Winnipeg lab documents

THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang and THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods

An Opposition motion to study the Winnipeg lab scandal has finally passed after an earlier motion failed a committee vote.

On March 26, Conservative MP Michael Chong tabled a motion at the Canada-China relations committee to probe confidential documents pertaining to multiple security breaches at Canada’s top infectious disease laboratory.

He called the issue a “grave and serious matter,” where a government scientist, Dr. Xiangguo Qiu, “clandestinely” worked with Chinese agents with ties to its military.

Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre earlier informed reporters that the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) gained access to “all of our most important virological secrets” at the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg.

Canada’s Intelligence Service contends the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) secretly sponsored Dr. Qiu to work with the PLA, which paid foreign scientists under the table for Chinese military application of Western civilian research.

POILIEVRE: Head of pathogens at Winnipeg biolab was "collaborating" with Chinese military. People's Liberation Army official had "personal access" to Canada's "most important virological secrets."https://t.co/vD78U502Po pic.twitter.com/7ZhJYUYJPQ

— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) March 1, 2024

According to CSIS records, WIV hired Dr. Qiu because she was the only “Chinese” scientist worldwide with access to a Level 4 lab outside China.

Poilievre called her a “realistic and credible threat to Canada's economic security.” 

On February 28, the Trudeau Liberals disclosed a 614-page report on the lab leaks. They defied four orders from the House and took the former House Speaker to court to avoid disclosing the documents.

MPs waited three years to see the documents that shed light on the affair, said Chong, who urged opposition MPs to study the matter appropriately.

Liberal MPs proposed multiple amendments to the motion to reduce the scope of the proposed study. It “cannot be turned into a political show,” said Liberal MP Yasir Naqvi.

A previous attempt by the foreign affairs critic failed to pass committee on March 4th, reported The Epoch Times.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal-NDP coalition joined forces Monday to block further inquiry into the Winnipeg lab leaks.https://t.co/qIaIsDGqum

— Rebel News Canada (@RebelNews_CA) March 5, 2024

“This is about foreign interference. This is about national security. And all of us have an important and a serious obligation to treat all these matters very seriously,” he added.

MPs from all opposition parties eventually passed the motion with only minor amendments.

An earlier Intelligence investigation uncovered 44 collaborative projects with Chinese scientists independent of the lab and two Winnipeg scientists of Chinese descent.

Officials previously learned of collaborations with military researchers included experiments with Ebola, Lassa fever and Rift Valley fever, including Major-General Chen Wei, China’s leading military epidemiologist and virologist. 

“I wasn’t aware. I didn’t know,” Dr. Qiu told CSIS investigators earlier when asked about Chen’s bioweapon’s research.

A special parliamentary investigation into the firing of two Chinese scientists at Canada’s top infectious disease laboratory has learned the feds withheld information to shield themselves from national scrutiny, according to MPs.

MORE: https://t.co/vMgSCNkADy pic.twitter.com/JzuJJzMzP3

— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) February 24, 2024

The former earlier shipped two exceptionally virulent strains of the Ebola and Nipah viruses to the virology Institute, where she currently works on antibodies for the viruses.

Dr. Qiu’s lab managers initially welcomed the collaboration with foreign scientists but that soured towards the end of her tenure.

In July 2019, Dr. Qiu and her husband, Keding Cheng, lost their security clearances at the Winnipeg laboratory after they leaked confidential information to China. 

The Public Health Agency of Canada gave them their walking papers in January 2021 but never disclosed the reason for their dismissal.

A Chinese pharmaceutical company listed Dr. Qiu as a “major completion personnel” last March on a therapeutic antibody project for Ebola alongside the PLA. Cheng’s whereabouts remain unknown.

Dr. Qiu is most closely aligned with the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), which specializes in military technology, such as intercontinental ballistic missiles and atomic bombs. The university reportedly maintains close military ties.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQdaxkGAOIk