Research grants not screened for connection to Chinese program

Article content

OTTAWA – Applicants for Canada’s federal research grants aren’t screened for affiliation with China’s Thousand Talents Program, an initiative implicated in leaks to China from Canada’s infectious disease lab and which CSIS has warned poses a threat of economic espionage to research institutions.

The Thousand Talents Program is one of several programs Beijing uses to recruit well-placed people from Chinese expatriate communities, working in science and technology fields in other countries, in a bid to increase Chinese research and development.

Article content

Article content

Documents released last month revealed the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) believed Xiangguo Qiu, a since-fired doctor at Canada’s microbiology lab in Winnipeg, had been part of the program and had multiple undeclared associations with Chinese universities.

But the federal government’s granting councils, which hand out more than $2 billion in research funding every year, don’t specifically screen for researchers connected to China’s program.

The National Post asked the Canada Institutes for Health Research (CIHR), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council about their policies and received an identical statement from all three agencies.

“Canada’s research ecosystem must be as open as possible and as secure as necessary as researchers need to collaborate with reliable and trusted partners to drive innovation,” reads the statement from David Coulombe with CIHR. “While the federal granting agencies do not collect data regarding participation in foreign talent and recruitment programs, such as China’s Thousand Talents program, they do provide advice and guidance on how researchers can mitigate their research security risks.”

Article content

Article content

Qiu was a celebrated researcher at the National Microbiology Lab, which studies the world’s most dangerous pathogens, before being abruptly suspended in 2019 and then fired in 2021 for concealing unauthorized work with Chinese institutions and leaking scientific secrets to China.

After resisting multiple attempts from parliamentary committees to release information about the security breach, the Liberal government finally released documents last month that detailed the decision to fire Qiu and her husband, Keding Cheng. He was also a researcher at the lab and was found to have breached security protocols at the lab and to have collaborated with his wife’s deceptions.

In a security assessment, CSIS determined that Qiu was likely associated with the Thousand Talents Program, which it said posed a serious risk of enabling Chinese spying in Canada.

Article content

“Service information reveals that these programs aim to boost China’s national technological capabilities and may pose a serious threat to research institutions, including government research facilities, by incentivizing economic espionage and theft of intellectual property,” the CSIS assessment said.

CSIS had also previously prepared briefing materials in 2020 for the then minister of public safety that stressed the dangers posed by foreign academic recruitment programs.

“CSIS is aware that foreign talent recruitment programs are used to advance the economic and strategic objectives of hostile states at the expense of Canada’s national interests, which may result in lost jobs and expertise, a loss in Canadian government-funded research, and a diminished competitive global advantage,” the briefing note said.

The Thousand Talents Program rewards participants with multiple incentives, including access to Chinese university laboratories, preferential housing, travel and medical care in China, and an additional funding that can amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars, according to a 2016 report from the Conference Board of Canada.

Article content

China’s talent recruitment plans were highlighted in a 2019 U.S. Senate report as a threat to American research institutions. It reported that Beijing had succeeded in recruiting thousands of people in foreign countries, with the explicit goal of advancing China’s strategic advantages, with an emphasis on gaining military advantage. It noted that in 2018, China had started concealing its recruitment efforts and participants were encouraged to lie about their involvement.

In January, Public Safety Minister Dominic Leblanc, Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne and Health Minister Mark Holland published a new policy on research grants designed to prevent foreign infiltration in specific research areas, including artificial intelligence, quantum computing, biotechnology, weapons development and other sensitive areas.

Any Canadian researchers seeking funding in those fields would have to attest that they have no affiliation with a long list of schools and institutes in Russia, China and Iran.

When CSIS conducted its assessment of Qiu as part of the investigation into her activities, it found she had left several positions with Chinese universities off of her Canadian resume. That includes one institution that is now on the banned list and three that are not on the list.

Article content

Andréa Daigle, a spokesperson for the government’s Industry Department, said the list of banned institutions is constantly evolving.

“The Named Research Organizations is a non-exhaustive list of universities, research institutions, or laboratories connected to military, national defence or foreign state security organizations that pose a risk to Canada’s national security and researchers,” Daigle said in an email. “The list will remain evergreen and will continuously be updated as the threat evolves to ensure Canada continues to address risks toward Canada’s national security and researchers.”

Daigle said all granting institutions can also revoke funding over national security risks at any time.

“In addition, on a case-by-case basis, the granting agencies have the authority to terminate grants if the Government of Canada determines that they pose an unacceptable national security risk,” he said.

She said the department also offers guidance to researchers in Canada, encouraging them to report to their Canadian employers if they take on any funding or work with foreign institutions.

National Post
rtumilty@postmedia.com

Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark nationalpost.com and sign up for our daily newsletter, Posted, here.

Article content