A newly released book is reigniting debate over one of Canada’s most controversial national-security cases: the mysterious dismissal of two scientists from the National Microbiology Laboratory (NML) in Winnipeg and their hidden links to China’s military-aligned research institutions.
In Under Assault: Interference and Espionage in China’s Secret War Against Canada, author and former national-security analyst Dennis Molinaro offers the most detailed public account to date of Dr. Xiangguo Qiu and Dr. Keding Cheng, whose 2019 removal from Canada’s only Level-4 virology lab coincided with growing geopolitical scrutiny between Canada and China — and shortly before the world learned of COVID-19.
A celebrated scientist whose career turned abruptly
Dr. Qiu, a medical doctor and virologist originally from China, joined the Winnipeg P4 laboratory in 2003. She gained international recognition for her pioneering work using monoclonal antibodies to treat Ebola, helping develop ZMab, a therapy that saved lives during the 2014 West Africa outbreak. She received the Governor General’s Innovation Award in 2018.
But in July 2019 — months before the global COVID-19 outbreak — Qiu, her husband Cheng, and several Chinese trainees were escorted out of the laboratory. The federal government refused for years to release details, citing national security.
Secret collaborations with Chinese military-linked researchers
According to newly unsealed CSIS documents cited in Molinaro’s book, Qiu had been:
- Co-operating with scientists affiliated with the People’s Liberation Army (PLA)
- Applying for Chinese talent-recruitment programs without informing Canadian authorities
- Travelling secretly to the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) for undisclosed presentations
- Participating in research projects involving synthetic virus experiments, including gain-of-function studies
- Listed as co-author on publications with researchers tied to China’s Academy of Military Medical Sciences, which is associated with biological-weapons research
CSIS found that Qiu was slated to receive up to $1 million in research funding for part-time work at the Wuhan lab, and had been placed in charge of “overall planning” for a project creating synthetic virus strains capable of crossing species.
Her husband, Cheng, reportedly facilitated access for Chinese visitors to restricted areas of the lab and shared internal passwords. Some visitors attempted to remove vials of restricted pathogens.
Both scientists denied wrongdoing but were found by CSIS to be “a threat to the security of Canada.”
Ebola samples, missing paperwork, and international alarm
Part of the controversy stemmed from Qiu’s transfer of Ebola and Nipah virus samples from Winnipeg to the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Although she had sought approval, the required documentation was never completed. The samples were nonetheless shipped.
Around the same time, U.S. officials had raised concerns about biosafety at the newly constructed Wuhan P4 lab, expressing fears that its research — including Ebola work — could have military applications.
COVID-19, lab-leak theories, and Canadian connections
Molinaro’s book retraces how early U.S. government assessments — including those by the Department of Energy, FBI, and later the CIA — suggested, with low confidence, that COVID-19 may have originated from a laboratory incident in Wuhan.
The book notes that:
- Qiu had ongoing involvement in gain-of-function-style research approved at Wuhan in early 2019.
- Several early COVID-19 scientific analyses suggested the virus was unusually well-adapted for human transmission.
- Canada’s initial attempt to secure vaccines in 2020 relied on CanSino Biologics, a Chinese firm whose key vaccine developer was PLA Major General Chen Wei — a scientist who had previously collaborated with Qiu.
China ultimately withheld vaccine samples, causing the Canada–CanSino vaccine partnership to collapse.
Return to China
According to the book, Qiu and Cheng are now living in China under altered identities and continue to engage in scientific work linked to PRC institutions, including patent filings in China.
Unanswered questions
Molinaro suggests that while definitive proof may never emerge, the overlapping timelines raise unresolved issues:
- Did Qiu’s undisclosed work contribute — directly or indirectly — to research that led to the COVID-19 outbreak?
- Why did the Canadian government resist releasing details for years?
- How vulnerable is Canada’s research infrastructure to foreign interference?
The federal government, CSIS, and Public Health Agency of Canada maintain that national-security considerations limit what can be publicly disclosed. China denies any wrongdoing.
What remains clear, Molinaro argues, is that the case illustrates how scientific collaboration, when not properly safeguarded, can be exploited in ways that endanger national security — and perhaps global health.