Thread by @MichaelChongMP

1/ VF: “In Canada, a government lab’s decision to ship Ebola samples to the WIV set off a scandal that resounded all the way to the office of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and played a role in the dissolution of parliament in the fall of 2021.”

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vanityfair.com/news/2023/11/c…

2/ “On the afternoon of March 31, 2019, Canadian health bureaucrats watched nervously as Air Canada flight AC031 took off from Toronto Pearson International Airport, headed to Beijing.”

3/ “The passengers on board had no way of knowing about the plane’s hazardous payload: a box with 24 vials of Ebola virus from 12 different strains, and six vials of highly lethal Henipaviruses, nestled amid 33 pounds of dry ice. The samples had come from the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg, Canada’s only BSL-4 facility, and were bound for the Wuhan Institute of Virology.”

4/ “Qiu’s request to share Ebola samples bumped through the sleepy Canadian health bureaucracy, subject to oversight that was arbitrary at best. Even the Public Health Agency of Canada’s director of biorisk and occupational safety services seemed bewildered when she explained to colleagues that, ‘when we try to get an export permit, we are told we don’t need one.’”

5/ “Instead of demanding proof that the WIV was a certified BSL-4 lab, accredited to research Ebola, the presiding bureaucrats accepted a letter from a WIV official attesting to it. ‘I trust the lab and would be personally fine to sign off,’ one offered.”

6/ “But the Winnipeg lab’s scientific director general responded, ‘I have some concerns here. No certifications are provided, they simply cite they have them. What is the nature of the work, and why are our materials required.’ He added, ‘Good to know that you trust this group. How did we get connected with them?’”

7/ “As the transfer of samples proceeded, Canadian officials contending with arduous safety procedures in Toronto expressed hope the viruses would be routed through Vancouver instead.”

8/ “The first inkling of trouble came four months later. On July 5, 2019, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) arrived at the lab. Qiu, her scientist husband, and several students from China working with them were marched out and had their security clearances revoked.”

9/ “The RCMP had acted on a tip from a foreign intelligence service, it was later reported. What exactly that tip was, and whom it came from, remain unclear. At the time, however, the FBI was investigating the Chinese government’s use of talent recruitment programs to obtain intellectual property and other sensitive data from Western labs.”

10/ “Once COVID-19 struck, questions about what had transpired at the Winnipeg lab erupted in parliament and the Canadian press. Troubling reports emerged: that two Chinese military scientists had received security clearances and accessed the lab, in violation of rules that restricted access to only citizens of Canada and its close allies; and that Qiu, a frequent visitor to the WIV, had collaborated with a top scientist from the People’s Liberation Army, Major General Chen Wei. It was also reported that the RCMP was investigating whether plasmid DNA from the Winnipeg lab, typically used to help create viruses or vaccines, had been shared with the WIV without authorization.”

11/ “An RCMP spokesperson said its investigation is ‘ongoing,’ adding, ‘National security criminal investigations are often complex, multijurisdictional, and resource intensive, and can take several years to complete.’”

12/ “As opposition parties in parliament, from Conservatives to the far left, demanded answers, the Trudeau government defied a House of Commons order to produce documents. Instead, it took the unprecedented step of suing the House Speaker to block disclosures, claiming that national security was in jeopardy. It then dissolved parliament and called for new elections, thereby voiding the order and forcing opposition parties to start again.”