Canadian scientists urged to end government-funded research with China in sensitive areas

The new head of Winnipeg's National Microbiology Lab (NML) has some homework to do before he takes over the high-security facility — starting with a long-awaited parliamentary committee report recommending that all government-funded research in sensitive areas involving immediately terminate people or entities from China.

Dr. Jean Longtin, who worked at Quebec's health ministry during the COVID-19 pandemic, will take over in January the laboratory that sparked the recommendations after two of its scientists were fired and stripped of security clearances over concerns about Chinese espionage.

Ending cooperation with China in sensitive areas of study – including artificial intelligence, robotics, life sciences, weapons and energy technology, digital infrastructure, surveillance, space and satellites – was one of the 12 recommendations in the report by the Special Committee on Relations between Canada and the People's Republic of China.

'I would encourage it [Longtin] to read the report,” Conservative foreign affairs critic and committee member Michael Chong told CBC News.

“I think the leadership of the laboratory … needs to understand that they are a critical part of protecting Canadian national security,” he said.

That's partly, he says, because of its role in preventing pandemics and other major health crises, but also because much of the technology at the NML “can be weaponized against Canada by states hostile to the interests of Canada and our citizens .”

Simmering scandal

The NML is currently the only Level 4 biosafety laboratory in the country that can handle the most dangerous viruses.

In 2019, two Chinese-Canadian researchers, Xiangguo Qiu and her husband Keding Cheng, were escorted from the facility and later fired, raising questions and sparking a scandal that had been simmering for years.

According to a Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) assessment, part of a series of documents released in February, Qui “deliberately” shared scientific knowledge and materials with China to benefit the government “and himself, without regard with the implications to her employer or to the interests of Canada.”

These documents also state that the couple failed to disclose professional relationships and collaborations with Chinese researchers and institutions, and brought employees of a Chinese entity “whose work is not in line with Canadian interests” to the NML. The two scientists were never available for comment.

The commission's report says a ban is necessary because of China's “increasingly assertive” efforts to build up its military and scientific power, sometimes through espionage.

“While international cooperation to advance scientific knowledge for the benefit of humanity is important, it does not override the government's need to protect Canada's national security,” the report said.

Chong says some Chinese organizations should be “completely off limits for partnerships” – including the National University of Defense Technology, which researches military technologies.

Christian Leuprecht, a professor and security and defense expert at the Royal Military College and Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, agrees that the report should be required reading “because it makes people realize how easy it was to to infiltrate laboratory.”

Taxpayer-funded research should never end up in the hands of hostile countries or institutions that “can weaponize that research against our interests,” he said.

Complicated process

But some university researchers say decoupling research with another country is complicated.

Hans-Joachim Wieden is a microbiologist at the University of Manitoba, where Qiu and Cheng had academic appointments. He is the university's vice president (research and international), responsible for partnerships and innovation, and oversees the Office of Research Security, which monitors problematic relationships and advises on security measures.

“For example, if we curtail a collaboration with a particular country or institution that was OK a while ago, then that research group has a problem maintaining their research momentum, their research program, their career trajectory, and even the people who do it. working in this research laboratory,” he said. “So this must be done very carefully.”

Wieden says that the university already complies with this restrictions that were introduced by Ottawa last January, banning government-funded researchers from working with people affiliated with a list of about 100 organizations — mainly in China, Russia and Iran.

Those restrictions followed the 2022 National Safety Guidelines for Research Partnershipswhich helps researchers, research organizations, and federal funding agencies identify and mitigate potential national security risks associated with private sector partnerships.

The university is developing training to educate researchers about the security implications of their work and make them aware that it can be misused, but Wieden says this is not mandatory. The issue will also be part of the discussions on the Canadian Science Policy Conference this week in Ottawa.

The federal Liberal government has until early March to respond to the parliamentary committee's report.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Economic Development says international cooperation is essential to promoting scientific development. That's why Ottawa has taken steps to protect Canadian innovations while still distinguishing between the actions of foreign governments and the people and businesses of those countries.

The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), which leads the NML, and Public Safety Canada say they will also contribute to the government's response.

Longtin currently works at CHU de Québec-Université Laval, where he has been the associate medical director of OPTILAB National Capital since 2022. Previously, he was medical director of the Quebec Public Health Laboratory from 2015 to 2019, then special advisor to the Quebec National Director of Public Health from 2020 to 2024.

He will “bring his strong clinical experience and governmental leadership to our team as he leads laboratory activities and further advances the NML scientific agenda,” PHAC said in a statement to CBC News.