1115 Professor Francis Boyle, author of the BioWeapons Act, says Coronavirus is a Biological Warfare Weapon

Professor Francis Boyle, author of the BioWeapons Act, says Coronavirus
is a Biological Warfare Weapon

Newsletter published on February 4, 2020

(1) Professor Francis Boyle, author of the BioWeapons Act, says
Coronavirus is a Biological Warfare Weapon
(2) The coronavirus was engineered by scientists in a lab
(3) 2019-nCoV Virus could be an experimental vaccine - James Lyons-Weiler
(4) Chinese patent for coronavirus S genes
(5) Scientific Puzzles surrounding the Wuhan Novel Coronavirus
(6) Chinese Virologists working at Canadian lab in Winnipeg smuggled
Coronavirus to Wuhan
(7) Chinese Canadian Virologist made 5 trips to China in 2017-18, &
trained scientists at Wuhan lab
(8) Chinese researcher & her students from China removed from Canada's
level-4 Biolab over security breach

(1) Professor Francis Boyle, author of the BioWeapons Act, says
Coronavirus is a Biological Warfare Weapon

https://www.youtube.com/embed/TsyujjitOFM

(2) The coronavirus was engineered by scientists in a lab
https://www.naturalnews.com/2020-02-03-the-coronavirus-was-engineered-by-scientists-in-a-lab.html

Irrefutable: The coronavirus was engineered by scientists in a lab using
well documented genetic engineering vectors that leave behind a
"fingerprint"

Monday, February 03, 2020 by: Mike Adams

(Natural News) Every virology lab in the world that has run a genomic
analysis of the coronavirus now knows that the coronavirus was
engineered by human scientists. The proof is in the virus itself: The
tools for genetic insertion are still present as remnants in the genetic
code. Since these unique gene sequences don't occur by random chance,
they're proof that this virus was engineered by scientists in a lab.

But the WHO and CDC are covering up this inconvenient fact in order to
protect communist China and its biological weapons program, since no
government wants the public to know the full truth about how frequently
government-run labs experience outbreaks. Decades ago, for example, the
U.S. Army ran an Ebola bioweapons lab in the United States, where a
monkey infected one of the scientists there. The strain turned out to be
infectious only in monkeys, not humans, so the world dodged a bullet,
but the U.S. Army "nuked" the entire facility with chemical bombs,
killing all the monkeys and wiping out any last remnant of the virus on
U.S. soil.

You can read the full details of that incident in the book The Hot Zone
by Richard Preston. We've also covered it at NaturalNews.com, where this
book description is reprinted:

In 1989, Reston, VA — one of the most famous U.S. planned communities
located about 10 miles from Washington DC — stood at the epicenter of a
potential biological disaster. This well-known story was narrated by
Richard Preston in a bone chilling account related to the recognition
and containment of a devastating tropical filovirus at a monkey facility
— the Reston Primate Quarantine Unit.

That outbreak occurred because Ebola was found to be spreading through
the air ducts, confirming that Ebola can spread through the air. This
simple fact was vigorously covered up by the entire medical
establishment during the Ebola scare in the United States many years
later, where the CDC transported an infected patient to a hospital in
Dallas, subsequently infecting a nurse who was treated with highly toxic
chemicals that caused permanent kidney damage (she later sued the
hospital for the damage she suffered).

The reason this is relevant is because in order to understand the
coronavirus situation in China, we must first realize that virology
research labs routinely experience lapses in containment. Even the
United States has failed to contain deadly viral strains when trying to
study them. China's BSL-4 labs have experienced multiple accidental
releases of SARS strains, and this new coronavirus is now confirmed to
be an engineered strain that was either used in bioweapons research or
vaccine experiments.

The genomic coding in the virus is not natural, in other words. Just as
you would never encounter a snake in the desert that's writing a book
containing words and grammatical structure, the genetic sequences now
identified in the coronavirus strain are, without question, proof that
human engineers have been tinkering with the strain.

How to genetically engineer viruses: the pShuttle vector One of the
tools used to accomplish this genetic engineering is called pShuttle.
It's a genetic tool set that can carry a payload of genes to be inserted
into the target virus.

Researchers engaged in genetic engineering can purchase the pShuttle
sequence from online retailers such as AddGenes.org, which sells the
sequence for $75, shipped in "bacteria as agar stab."

During this process, of course, the pShuttle leaves behind unique code,
a "fingerprint" of the genetic modification. It is this fingerprint that
has now been identified in the coronavirus.

As revealed by genomics researcher James Lyons-Weiler in this bombshell
analysis article, the pShuttle genetic code is found in the coronavirus
that's circulating in the wild.

This is proof that the virus has been engineered by human scientists.

"IPAK researchers found a sequence similarity between a pShuttle-SN
recombination vector sequence and INS1378," writes Lyons-Weiler for IPAK

(3) 2019-nCoV Virus could be an experimental vaccine - James Lyons-Weiler
https://jameslyonsweiler.com/2020/01/30/on-the-origins-of-the-2019-ncov-virus-wuhan-china/

On the Origins of the 2019-nCoV Virus, Wuhan, China

jameslyonsweiler

January 30, 2020 1,678 Words

Moderately Strong Confirmation of a Laboratory Origin of 2019-nCoV James
Lyons-Weiler, PhD

RECOMBINATION technology has been in use in molecular virology since the
1980's. The structure of the 2019-NCoV virus genome provides a very
strong clue on the likely origin of the virus.

Unlike other related coronaviruses, the 2019-nCoV virus has a unique
sequence about 1,378 bp (nucleotide base pairs) long that is not found
in related coronaviruses.

Looking at the phylogenetic tree recently published derived using all
the full genome sequence, we see the 2019-nCoV virus does not have clear
monophyletic support given the bootstrap value of 75 (Fig 1).

[...]  The gap in the line shows a lack of sequence homology beween the
most similar bat coronavirus and 2019-nCoV. The inserted sequence, which
should not be there is here {visit link}

Here, I review four Option on the origins of the 2019-nCoV Coronavirus
isolated from human patients from Wuhan, China.

Option 1. Natural coronavirus related to bat coronaviruses, Not a
Recombined Virus.

Evidence for: Phylogenetic clustering with Bat coronaviruses.

Evidence against: Low bootstrap support (N=75) and presence of a INS1378.

Status: Falsified hypothesis.

Test: Survey coronviruses in animals in the wild.

Option 2. A recombined virus that naturally picked up a SARS-like spike
protein in it N-terminus (3¢ end) of the viral genome.

Evidence for: The INS1378 codon bias similar to snakes ($)

Evidence against: Insufficient match in database search to other known
CoV spike proteins (Ji et al., 2020)

Status: Speculative hypothesis. Unlikely.

Test: Find an isolate that matches 2019-nCoV in the wild and
reproducibly independently isolate the virus from a wild animal (a match
will confirm).

Option 3. A recombined virus made in a laboratory for the purpose of
creating a bioweapon.

Both China and the US hinted at the other side's potential liability in
playing a role in bringing about a novel coronavirus in the lab
specifically for the purpose of being used as a bioweapon. To add to the
intrigue, a Chinese Scientist was released from BSL-4 laboratory in
Manitoba, Canada for violating protocols, allegedly sending samples of
deadly viruses to mainland China.

On January 26, The Washington Times published this article citing an
Israeli defense expert claiming that China has likely proceeded with a
bioweapons program, but ending the article with a quote to London's
Daily Mail from a US scientist Rutgers University microbiologist Richard
Ebright that "at this point there's no reason to harbor suspicions" that
the lab may be linked to the virus outbreak.

The same person was quoted in a Feb 2017 Nature article stating that
SARS had escaped the Wuhan a facility in Beijing (corrected 2/2/2020)
"multiple times". [...]

It turns out that the sequence from pShuttle is most closely related to
the Spike protein from SARS coronavirus.

This particular technology was used in 2008 to attempt to develop a more
immunogenic vaccine against coronavirus. Here's a Chinese patent for
that technique and product intended for use in a vaccine.

The patent summary reads: {visit link}

The very researchers conducting studies on SARS vaccines have cautioned
repeatedly against human trials [...]

The disease progression in of 2019-nCoV is consistent with those seen in
animals and humans vaccinated against SARS and then challenged with
re-infection. Thus, the hypothesis that 2019-nCoV is an experimental
vaccine type must be seriously considered. [...]

If the Chinese government has been conducting human trials against SARS,
MERS, or other coronviruses using recombined viruses, they may have made
their citizens far more susceptible to acute respiratory distress
syndrome upon infection with 2019-nCoV coronavirus.

The implications are clear: if China sensitized their population via a
SARS vaccine, and this escaped from a lab, the rest of world has a
serious humanitarian urgency to help China, but may not expect as
serious an epidemic as might otherwise be expected.

In the worst-case scenario, if the vaccination strain is more highly
contagious and lethal, 2019-nCoV could become the worst example of
vaccine-derived contagious disease in human history. With an
uncharacteristic aysmptomatic prodromal period of 5-7 days, individuals
returning from China to other countries must be forthright and
cooperative in their now-prescribed 2-week quarantine. [...]
jameslyonsweiler

Dr. Lyons-Weiler is a research scientist and author of three books, the
latest of which is "The Environmental and Genetic Causes of Autism". He
is available for speaking engagements and book signing events at your
location. To contact, follow on twitter @lifebiomedguru, email
ebolapromo[at]gmail.com, and connect via LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jameslyonsweiler

(4) Chinese patent for coronavirus S genes

https://patents.google.com/patent/CN1276777C/en?q=pshuttle-SN&oq=pshuttle-SN

SARS vaccine of adenovirus vector and preparation method, application of
coronavirus S gene

Abstract

translated from Chinese

The present invention belongs to the field of genetic engineering,
particularly relates to adenoviral vector SARS vaccines, their
preparation and coronavirus S genes in SARS (SARS) on vaccines for the
prophylaxis. By means of biological engineering, the coronavirus S gene
in combination with deficient recombinant adenovirus, the protective
immunogen protein or polypeptide expressed therein, through expansion
culture, purification, and formulation to prepare a mucosal
immunogenicity can cause the gene vaccine, respiratory mucosal immune
response induced by the body to produce antibodies against the virus
infection. Specific conditions of the present invention, compared with
conventional inactivated virus particle vaccine, safe, easy to use,
without limitation intramuscular, have broad clinical applications.

III. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A first object of the present invention is to provide adenoviral vaccine
can prevent SARS epidemic "SARS", the better to prevent "SARS" the
occurrence and spread; a further object of the present invention to
provide a using as deficient adenoviral vector, by cloning, recombinant
and other means, adenoviral vector disclosed SARS vaccine preparation
and use of vaccines SARS-associated coronavirus S gene in the manufacture.

Object of the present invention is achieved: by means of biological
engineering, the S gene of SARS-associated coronavirus (CoV total of
four structural gene, wherein one of the S gene, see detailed
description below) in combination with deficient recombinant adenovirus,
constitute a gene vaccine can cause mucosal immunogenicity.

As used Spike gene fragment sequence: Using the S gene sequence (Gene
bank accession number: gbAY278554.2) Gene bank as published as a
template, in accordance with the sequence PCR primers were designed as
follows: V1 GGTCTAGAGT TGTGGTTTCA AGTGATV2 TTTCTAGACC ATGGGTTGTG
TCCTTGCTV3 TTTCTAGACC ATGGCATATA GGTTCAATGV4 TAGGTACCAA TGCCAGTAGT
GGTGV5 TTGGTACCTC CGCCTCGACT TTV6 CCGGTACCAT AAGTTCGTTT ATGTGT wherein a
pair of V1 and V4, the S gene amplified N-terminal fragment; V2 and V5
as a pair of primers, M S gene amplified fragment; V3 and V6 to a pair
of primers, amplification of gene S C-terminal fragment (FIG. 1), the
structure of Figure 2 after amplification.

(5) Scientific Puzzles surrounding the Wuhan Novel Coronavirus

https://www.theepochtimes.com/scientific-puzzles-surrounding-the-wuhan-novel-coronavirus_3225405.html

BY YUHONG DONG

February 3, 2020 Updated: February 3, 2020

The sudden outbreak of the Wuhan Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) has
resulted in all of China's Hubei Province and three major cities in
Zhejiang Province being subjected to quarantine. Other nations are
anxiously trying to get their people out of China, and restrictions are
being placed on flights to China. Because this novel virus has an
extremely high transmission speed (high R0) and a high fatality rate, it
is posing a significant challenge to public health, not only in China,
but around the world.

There are major gaps in our knowledge of the virus's origin, duration of
human-to-human transmission, and clinical management of those infected
based on the current limited information coming from China.
Nevertheless, the findings of those scientists who have recently
published research papers about this virus are summarized below.

Lancet Article Reports Wuhan Virus Not Likely Caused by Natural
Recombination

Most papers reported that the 2019-nCoV is only 88 percent related to
the closest bat coronavirus, only 79 percent to SARS, and just 50
percent to MERS. Professor Roujian Lu from the China Key Laboratory of
Biosafety, National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention,
Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and his co-authors
commented in a Jan. 30 paper in Lancet that "recombination is probably
not the reason for emergence of this virus."

A Jan. 27 2020, study by 5 Greek scientists analyzed the genetic
relationships of 2019-nCoV and found that "the new coronavirus provides
a new lineage for almost half of its genome, with no close genetic
relationships to other viruses within the subgenus of sarbecovirus," and
has an unusual middle segment never seen before in any coronavirus. All
this indicates that 2019-nCoV is a brand new type of coronavirus. The
study's authors rejected the original hypothesis that 2019-nCoV
originated from random natural mutations between different
coronaviruses. (Paraskevis et al 2020 BioRxiv) The article is a preprint
made available through bioRxiv and has not been peer-reviewed.

Puzzles of the Wuhan Novel Coronavirus (Yuhong Dong)

Very High Genetic Identity in Patients Indicates a Recent Transmission
to Humans

  2019-nCoV is an RNA virus. RNA viruses have high natural mutation
rates. The Lancet study by Lu et al. states: "As a typical RNA virus,
the average evolutionary rate for coronaviruses is roughly 10-4
nucleotide substitutions per site per year, with mutations arising
during every replication cycle. It is, therefore, striking that the
sequences of 2019-nCoV from different patients described here were
almost identical, with greater than 99.9% sequence identity. This
finding suggests that 2019-nCoV originated from one source within a very
short period and detected relatively rapidly."

A Jan. 31 article by Jon Cohen in Science said: "The longer a virus
circulates in a human population, the more time it has to develop
mutations that differentiate strains in infected people, and given that
the 2019-nCoV sequences analyzed to date differ from each other by seven
nucleotides at most, this suggests it jumped into humans very recently.
But it remains a mystery which animal spread the virus to humans."

Bat or Huanan Market Source Is Not the Whole Story

Prof. Lu et. al. also discussed the natural host of the virus. An early
hypothesis had been the virus had passed to humans from bats sold at
Wuhan's Huanan Seafood Market.

Lu et. al write: "First, the outbreak was first reported in late
December 2019, when most bat species in Wuhan are hibernating. Second,
no bats were sold or found at the Huanan seafood market, whereas various
non-aquatic animals (including mammals) were available for purchase.
Third, the sequence identity between 2019-nCoV and its close relatives
bat-SL-CoVZC45 and bat-SL-CoVZXC21 was less than 90%. Hence,
bat-SL-CoVZC45 and bat-SL-CoVZXC21 are not direct ancestors of 2019-nCoV."

The authors point out that while the 2019-nCoV causing the Wuhan
outbreak might have initially been hosted by bats, it may have been
transmitted to humans via other as yet unknown mechanisms.

The Science article said: "Huanan marketplace played an early role in
spreading 2019-nCoV, but whether it was the origin of the outbreak
remains uncertain. Many of the initially confirmed 2019-nCoV cases—27 of
the first 41 in one report, 26 of 47 in another—were connected to the
Wuhan market, but up to 45%, including the earliest handful, were not.
This raises the possibility that the initial jump into people happened
elsewhere." [...]

On Jan. 22, 2020, two clinical guidelines for the diagnosis and
treatment of Wuhan 2019-nCoV were posted on China websites. One is
"Quick Guide for the Diagnosis and Treatment of New Coronavirus
Pneumonia" authored by the expert group of Tongji Hospital, and the
other is "Instructions for Handling 2019 New Coronavirus" from the Wuhan
Union Hospital of Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of
Science and Technology. The first guideline clearly points out a
"progressive lymphocyte reduction" while the second guideline highlights
"the importance of monitoring the absolute value of lymphocytes."
(emphasis added)

Therefore, the observed lymphocyte reduction must be of clinical
significance in a certain proportion of patients. CD4 positive T
lymphocytes constitute a major fraction of all lymphocytes. Although not
a routine test for patients with coronavirus infection, perhaps
monitoring CD4 cell counts would be helpful in 2019-nCoV patients.

Another clinical feature of patients infected with 2019-nCoV is the high
levels of serum cytokines and chemokines, which is defined as a cytokine
storm (Huang et al 2020 Lancet). This is consistent with the observation
from Pradhan et al. that the 2019-nCoV S-protein inducing structural
rearrangements in GP120, creating a high affinity binding site for a
chemokine co-receptor such as CXCR4 and/or CCR5. It is well known that
activating T cell surface receptors can cause a cytokine storm. Cytokine
storms have potential to create significant damage to organs and bodily
tissues. If a cytokine storm occurs in the lungs, for example, immune
cells such as macrophages and fluid may trigger tissue damage that
results in acute respiratory distress and possible death.

The United States Centers for Disease Control stated: "There is no
specific antiviral treatment recommended for 2019-nCoV infection." But,
there are a few case reports of Wuhan 2019-nCoV patients benefiting from
empiric treatment with anti-HIV drugs such as lopinavir. More such
detailed clinical experience needs to be shared.

Conclusion

There are many scientific questions regarding this novel virus. Based on
recently published scientific papers, this new coronavirus has
unprecedented virologic features that suggest genetic engineering may
have been involved in its creation. The virus presents with severe
clinical features, which make it a significant threat. It is imperative
for scientists, physicians, and people all over the world, including
governments and public health authorities, to make every effort to
investigate this mysterious and suspicious virus in order to elucidate
its origin and to better enable populations in China and around the
world to respond.

Yuhong Dong holds a M.D. from Beijing Medical University and a doctorate
in infectious diseases from Beijing University. Dong has 17 years of
working experience in viral infectious disease clinical treatment and
antiviral drug research. Dong worked as a doctor in the First Affiliated
Hospital of Beijing Medical University and then later as a Medical
Scientific Expert specialized in antiviral drug clinical research in
Novartis R&D. She currently works as a Chief Scientific Officer in a
Swiss Biotech company.

References {visit link}

(6) Chinese Virologists working at Canadian lab in Winnipeg smuggled
Coronavirus to Wuhan

https://greatgameindia.com/dr-francis-boyle-creator-of-bioweapons-act-says-coronavirus-is-biological-warfare-weapon/

Dr. Francis Boyle Creator Of BioWeapons Act Says Coronavirus Is
Biological Warfare Weapon

By GreatGameIndia

February 3, 2020

In an explosive interview Dr. Francis Boyle, who drafted the Biological
Weapons Act has given a detailed statement admitting that the 2019 Wuhan
Coronavirus is an offensive Biological Warfare Weapon and that the World
Health Organization (WHO) already knows about it.

Francis Boyle is a professor of international law at the University of
Illinois College of Law. He drafted the U.S. domestic implementing
legislation for the Biological Weapons Convention, known as the
Biological Weapons Anti-Terrorism Act of 1989, that was approved
unanimously by both Houses of the U.S. Congress and signed into law by
President George H.W. Bush.

In an exclusive interview given to Geopolitics and Empire, Dr. Boyle
discusses the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan, China and the Biosafety
Level 4 laboratory (BSL-4) from which he believes the infectious disease
escaped. He believes the virus is potentially lethal and an offensive
biological warfare weapon or dual-use biowarfare weapons agent
genetically modified with gain of function properties, which is why the
Chinese government originally tried to cover it up and is now taking
drastic measures to contain it. The Wuhan BSL-4 lab is also a specially
designated World Health Organization (WHO) research lab and Dr. Boyle
contends that the WHO knows full well what is occurring.

Dr. Boyle also touches upon GreatGameIndia‘s exclusive report
Coronavirus Bioweapon – where we reported in detail how Chinese
Biowarfare agents working at the Canadian lab in Winnipeg were involved
in the smuggling of Coronavirus to Wuhan's lab from where it is believed
to have been leaked.

Dr. Boyle's position is in stark contrast to the mainstream media's
narrative of the virus being originated from the seafood market, which
is increasingly being questioned by many experts.

Recently, American Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas also dismantled the
mainstream media's claim on Thursday that pinned the coronavirus
outbreak on a market selling dead and live animals.

In a video accompanying his post, Cotton explained that the Wuhan wet
market (which Cotton incorrectly referred to as a seafood market) has
been shown by experts to not be the source of the deadly contagion.

Cotton referenced a Lancet study which showed that many of the first
cases of the novel coronavirus, including patient zero, had no
connection to the wet market — devastatingly undermining mainstream
media's claim.

"As one epidemiologist said: ‘That virus went into the seafood market
before it came out of the seafood market.' We still don't know where it
originated," Cotton said.

"I would note that Wuhan also has China's only bio-safety level four
super laboratory that works with the world's most deadly pathogens to
include, yes, coronavirus."

China claimed—for almost two months—that coronavirus had originated in a
Wuhan seafood market. That is not the case. @TheLancet published a study
demonstrating that of the original 40 cases, 14 of them had no contact
with the seafood market, including Patient Zero. pic.twitter.com/PdgqgHjkGy

— Tom Cotton (@SenTomCotton) January 30, 2020

Such concerns have also been raised by J.R. Nyquist, the well known
author of the books "Origins of the Fourth World War" and "The Fool and
His Enemy," as well as co-author of "The New Tactics of Global War". In
his insightful article he published secret speechs given to high-level
Communist Party cadres by Chinese Defense Minister Gen. Chi Haotian
explaining a long-range plan for ensuring a Chinese national renaissance
– the catalyst for which would be China's secret plan to weaponiz viruses.

Nyquist gave three different data points for making his case in
analyzing Coronavirus. He writes:

The third data point worth considering: the journal GreatGameIndia has
published a piece titled "Coronavirus Bioweapon – How China Stole
Coronavirus From Canada And Weaponized It."

The authors were clever enough to put Khan's Virology Journal article
together with news of a security breach by Chinese nationals at the
Canadian (P4) National Microbiology Lab in Winnipeg, where the novel
coronavirus was allegedly stored with other lethal organisms. Last May,
the Royal Canadian Mounted Police were called in to investigate; by late
July the Chinese were kicked out of the facility. The chief Chinese
scientist (Dr. Xiangguo Qiu) was allegedly making trips between Winnipeg
and Wuhan.

Here we have a plausible theory of the NCoV organism's travels: first
discovered in Saudi Arabia, then studied in Canada from whence it was
stolen by a Chinese scientist and brought to Wuhan. Like the statement
of Taiwan's intelligence chief in 2008, the GreatGameIndia story has
come under intensive attack. Whatever the truth, the fact of proximity
and the unlikelihood of mutation must figure into our calculations.

It's highly probable that the 2019-nCoV organism is a weaponized version
of the NCoV discovered by Saudi doctors in 2012.

Meanwhile, the mainstream media's narrative still maintains that the
origin of the 2019 Coronavirus is the Wuhan Seafood Market. After
GreatGameIndia published the story on Coronavirus Bioweapon – not only
were our databse tinkered with and our reports blocked by Facebook on
the flimsy reason that they could not find GreatGameIndia Facebook page,
but the report itself was viciously attacked by Foreign Policy magazine,
PolitiFact (known widely as Facebook's propaganda arm) and BuzzFeedNews.

It is not GreatGameIndia alone which is being viciously attacked. Zero
Hedge, a popular alternate media blog was suspended by Twitter for
publishing a story related to a study by Indian scientists finding 2019
Wuhan Coronavirus to be not naturally evolved, raising the possibility
of it being created in a lab. Shockingly, the study itself came under
intense online criticism by Social Media experts resulting in the
scientists withdrawing the paper.

In retaliation India has launched a full-scale investigation against
China's Wuhan Institute of Virology. The Indian government has ordered
an inquiry into a study conducted in the Northeastern state of Nagaland
(close to China) by researchers from the U.S., China and India on bats
and humans carrying antibodies to deadly viruses like Ebola.

The study came under the scanner as two of the 12 researchers belonged
to the Wuhan Institute of Virology's Department of Emerging Infectious
Diseases, and it was funded by the United States Department of Defense's
Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA).

The study, conducted by scientists of the Tata Institute of Fundamental
Research, the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), the Wuhan
Institute of Virology, the Uniformed Services University of the Health
Sciences in the U.S. and the Duke-National University in Singapore, is
now being investigated for how the scientists were allowed to access
live samples of bats and bat hunters (humans) without due permissions.

The results of the study were published in October last year in the PLOS
Neglected Tropical Diseases journal, originally established by the Bill
and Melinda Gates Foundation.

As the author J.R. Nyquist puts it: We need your support to carry on our
independent and investigative research based journalism on the external
and internal threats facing India. Your contribution however small helps
us keep afloat. Kindly consider donating to GreatGameIndia.

We must have an investigation of the outbreak in Wuhan. The Chinese must
grant the world total transparency. The truth must come out. If Chinese
officials are innocent, they have nothing to hide. If they are guilty,
they will refuse to cooperate.

The real concern here is whether the rest of the world has the courage
to demand a real and thorough investigation. We need to be fearless in
this demand and not allow "economic interests" to play a coy and
dishonest game of denial. We need an honest inquiry. We need it now.

(7) Chinese Canadian Virologist made 5 trips to China in 2017-18, &
trained scientists at Wuhan lab

From: Matthew Mitchell <matthewwinstonmitchell@yahoo.com.au>

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/national-microbiology-lab-scientist-investigation-china-1.5307424

Canadian government scientist under investigation trained staff at Level
4 lab in China

Still no answers in probe of government scientists expelled from
National Microbiology Lab in Winnipeg

Karen Pauls · CBC News

Posted: Oct 03, 2019 2:57 PM CT | Last Updated: October 4, 2019

Xiangguo Qiu, her biologist husband and her students have not returned
to work at the National Microbiology Lab in Winnipeg, after being
escorted out in July. RCMP are still investigating what was described by
Public Health Agency of Canada as a possible 'policy breach.' (CBC)

This story was published on Oct. 3, 2019.

A Canadian government scientist at the National Microbiology Lab in
Winnipeg made at least five trips to China in 2017-18, including one to
train scientists and technicians at China's newly certified Level 4 lab,
which does research with the most deadly pathogens, according to travel
documents obtained by CBC News.

Xiangguo Qiu — who was escorted out of the Winnipeg lab in July amid an
RCMP investigation into what's being described by Public Health Agency
of Canada as a possible "policy breach" — was invited to go to the Wuhan
National Biosafety Laboratory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences twice a
year for two years, for up to two weeks each time.

"This will be third-party funded, and therefore no cost to [the Public
Health Agency of Canada]," say the documents, obtained through access to
information requests. The identity of the third-party was redacted.

During a Sept. 19-30, 2017, trip, she also met with collaborators in
Beijing, the documents say, but their names have also been blacked out.

Qiu, her husband Keding Cheng and her students from China were removed
on July 5 from Canada's only Level 4 lab — one equipped to work with the
most serious and deadly human and animal diseases, such as Ebola.
Security access for the couple and the Chinese students was revoked,
sources who work at the lab previously told CBC News.

People working inside the lab told CBC News this week they have heard
the couple may return to work soon.

Ouster of researchers from National Microbiology Lab still a mystery
Several of them, who asked not to be identified for fears of
retribution, say there have always been questions about Qiu's trips to
China — and what information and technology she was sharing with
researchers there.

"It's not right that she's a Canadian government employee providing
details of top-secret work and know-how to set up a high-containment lab
for a foreign nation," one employee said.

The staff member claims RCMP officers have not yet interviewed key
people at the lab, because senior management has not made them
accessible to police or allowed staff to contact them with relevant
information.

A spokesperson for the Public Health Agency of Canada, which runs the
lab, referred questions to the RCMP.

"We encourage anyone who has information and wishes to speak with the
RCMP on this matter to attend RCMP HQ in Winnipeg at 1091 Portage
Avenue," RCMP said in an emailed statement.

"In order to maintain the integrity of the investigative process, we
have no further comment at this time."

A spokesperson confirms the police investigation is ongoing. Both
agencies have said repeatedly there is no threat to public safety.

Researchers must balance caution, collaboration Meanwhile, there has
been no change in Qiu and Cheng's status at the University of Manitoba,
which had severed ties with both of them and reassigned her students in
July.

Qiu is a medical doctor and virologist who helped develop ZMapp — a
treatment for the deadly Ebola virus, which killed more than 11,000
people in West Africa between 2014-2016 and saw an outbreak in Congo
earlier this year.

She is a medical doctor from Tianjin, China, who came to Canada for
graduate studies in 1996. She is still affiliated with the university
there and has brought in many students over the years to help with her work.

During her trips, Qiu also visited the Chinese Academy of Science,
Tsinghua University, the Chinese Medical Academy of Science and Bejing
Institute of Biotechnology.

She spoke at several conferences, including some organized by the World
Health Organization, the Chinese Society of Virology and International
Symposium on Emerging Viral Disease.

Collaboration and information-sharing is common and expected in
academia, says Jia Wang, deputy director of the China Institute at the
University of Alberta in Edmonton.

"In an increasingly globalized world, in an increasingly globalized
field of research, we do see more exchanges and more visits incoming and
outgoing," she said.

But researchers working with international partners also "need to
understand the security parameters and the requirements to follow the
procedures, and to safeguard intellectual property and also safeguard
their research," she said.

There's a balance they need to strike between being cautious and
open-minded to collaboration, though, Wang said.

"In the end, we are hoping that this research exchange will ultimately
benefit Canada and benefit our people here."

Qiu and Cheng have not responded to multiple requests for comment.

Relations between Canada and China have been strained since the
detention last year of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou on a U.S. arrest
warrant.

(8) Chinese researcher & her students from China removed from Canada's
level-4 Biolab over security breach

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/chinese-researcher-escorted-from-infectious-disease-lab-amid-rcmp-investigation-1.5211567

Chinese researcher escorted from infectious disease lab amid RCMP
investigation

Public Health Agency of Canada describes it as a possible 'policy
breach,' no risk to Canadian public

Karen Pauls · CBC News ·

Posted: Jul 14, 2019 3:50 PM CT | Last Updated: July 15, 2019

Dr. Xiangguo Qiu accepting a Governor General's Innovation Award at
Rideau Hall in 2018. She, her husband, Keding Cheng, and an unknown
number of her students from China were removed from Canada's only
level-4 lab on July 5 amidst an RCMP investigation into what's being
described as a possible 'policy breach.' (CBC) This story was published
on July 14, 2019.

A researcher with ties to China was recently escorted out of the
National Microbiology Lab (NML) in Winnipeg amid an RCMP investigation
into what's being described as a possible "policy breach."

Dr. Xiangguo Qiu, her husband Keding Cheng and an unknown number of her
students from China were removed from Canada's only level-4 lab on July
5, CBC News has learned.

A Level 4 virology facility is a lab equipped to work with the most
serious and deadly human and animal diseases. That makes the Arlington
Street lab one of only a handful in North America capable of handling
pathogens requiring the highest level of containment, such as Ebola.

Security access for the couple and the Chinese students was revoked,
according to sources who work at the lab and do not want to be
identified because they fear consequences for speaking out.

Sources say this comes several months after IT specialists for the NML
entered Qiu's office after-hours and replaced her computer. Her regular
trips to China also started being denied.

At meetings on July 8, NML staff were told the researchers are on leave
for an unknown period of time. They were told not to communicate with them.

Qiu is a prominent virologist who helped develop ZMapp, a treatment for
the deadly Ebola virus which killed more than 11,000 people in West
Africa between 2014-2016.

She worked with Gary Kobinger, who is now a professor in the Department
of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases and director of the Research
Centre on Infectious Diseases at Laval University in Quebec.

Affiliated with Chinese university

Qiu is a medical doctor from Tianjin, China, who came to Canada for
graduate studies in 1996. She is still affiliated with the university
there and has brought in many students over the years to help with her work.

Currently head of the Vaccine Development and Antiviral Therapies
section in the Special Pathogens Program at the lab, Qiu's primary field
is immunology. Her research focuses on vaccine development,
post-exposure therapeutics and rapid diagnostics of viruses like Ebola.

She is also an adjunct professor in the Department of Medical
Microbiology at the University of Manitoba.

Cheng also works at the lab as a biologist. He has published research
papers on HIV infections, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), E.
coli infections and Creutzfeldt-Jakob Syndrome.

The RCMP received a referral from the Public Health Agency of Canada
(PHAC) on May 24.

"Based on information received to date, the RCMP has assessed that there
is no threat to public safety at this time," Robert Cyrenne said in an
email to CBC News on Thursday.

PHAC is describing it as a policy breach and "administrative matter" and
says the department is taking steps to "resolve it expeditiously," Eric
Morrissette, the health agency's chief of media relations, said from Ottawa.

No one is under arrest or confined to their home, he added.

When asked for a response to the latest details, Morrissette said there
would be no further comment "for privacy reasons."

A spokesperson for Health Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor said she is
aware of an "administrative investigation" at the lab but has no comment.

"We can assure Canadians that there is absolutely no risk to the
Canadian public and that the work of the NML continues in support of the
health and safety of all Canadians," communications director Mathieu
Filion said in an email Saturday.

Matthew Gilmour, scientific director general of the NML, did not respond
to a request for comment.

A spokesperson for the Canada Border Services Agency said the department
will not confirm or deny whether anyone has been arrested or is under
investigation. That information would only be public if charges are
laid, Judith Gadbois-St-Cyr said in an email Thursday.

No one from the Chinese Embassy could be reached for comment.

'Microbiology can ... involve national security' While there are few
details available, experts say this could be a case of intellectual
property theft or technology leakage to China.

"The National Microbiology Laboratory would have some pretty sensitive
biological research material that ... could be shared either with or
without authorization with foreign countries," said Gordon Houlden,
director of the University of Alberta's China Institute.

"All of this is unproven, but even microbiology, sometimes especially
microbiology, can have issues that involve national security."

It's something the Canadian Security Intelligence Service has already
warned about, said Leah West, who teaches national security law at
Carleton's Norman Paterson School of International Affairs.

"Canada is facing threats from foreign governments seeking to steal
intellectual property and that could include state-funded research," she
said.

"The two big things I want to see is whether or not these individuals
are charged with crimes by the RCMP ...that will give us a lot of
information about what is really at stake here."

West is also interested in seeing how this plays out politically between
Canada and the Chinese government.

Relations between the two countries have been strained since the
detention of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou on a U.S. arrest warrant.

"China and Canada's relationship right now stems from China using
espionage to advance its strategic interests, be that its security
interests or its economic interests," West said. "How Canada deals with
that going forward, especially given that we have two Canadians who
remain in Chinese custody, will be very interesting to watch."

This isn't the first time police have investigated an incident at the lab.

In 2009, a former researcher at the lab was convicted of trying to
smuggle genetic material from the Ebola virus across the Manitoba-North
Dakota border.

The FBI is also investigating cases involving Chinese researchers in the
United States.

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