China Is Escalating Efforts to Steal Technology in Academia, Private Sector: CSIS Director

Canadian Security Intelligence Service Director David Vigneault prepares to appear before the Special Committee on the Canada–People’s Republic of China Relationship, on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, on April 29, 2024. The Canadian Press/Justin Tang

China’s efforts at technology theft is extending beyond government institutions to increasingly target academia and the private sector, Canada’s top intelligence official has warned.

Canadian Security Intelligence Service director David Vigneault made the comment April 29 while testifying before the House of Commons special committee on the Canada–People’s Republic of China (PRC) relationship.

“There’s been a tremendous amount of work done by our colleagues in the Communications Security Establishment to prevent a number of these [cyberattacks],” he said. “I think the statistics are mind-boggling in terms of the amount of attempts against government institutions every day.”

“But more and more, what we see is that those entities—PRC hacking groups—are not only going after government institutions, but they’re also targeting the private sector and academia to acquire the kind of information and data they need to pursue their objectives.”

Mr. Vigneault was responding to a question from NDP MP Charlie Angus, who cited a well-publicized incident in 2014 where a Chinese state-sponsored cyberattack breached Canada’s National Research Council computer systems. Mr. Angus asked about the Canadian government’s conflicting stance toward Beijing, highlighting its pursuit of increased trade despite being targeted by the regime’s malicious activities.

Mr. Vigneault, who was involved in investigating the 2014 cyberattack, said Canada and its allies noted Beijing’s shift to a more aggressive approach to international relations at that time, following Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s rise to power.

“I think it was around that period of time that people realized that things were changing in the PRC,” he said. “Under the leadership of Xi Jinping, I think we saw the beginning of a change in their approach and the aggressiveness with which they would pursue their interests.”

Chinese Recruitment Programs

Public attention has recently been drawn to Beijing’s intellectual property theft following the disclosure of documents related to the dismissal of two scientists from Canada’s highest-security lab in Winnipeg, a matter under scrutiny by the House of Commons Canada–China committee.

The scientists, Xiangguo Qiu and Keding Cheng, who are married, were escorted from Winnipeg’s National Microbiology Lab (NML) by the RCMP in July 2019 and were subsequently terminated in January 2021.

The couple was accused of having ties to Beijing and had applied for China’s global “talent recruitment programs,” which Western intelligence agencies warn incentivize economic espionage and intellectual property theft. Ms. Qiu participated in the most well-known “Thousand Talents Program,” which aims to attract top scientists globally to enhance Chinese economic and military capabilities. Meanwhile, Mr. Cheng applied for a similar Chinese program in 2013 while employed at the Winnipeg lab.

Security officials raised concerns about Ms. Qiu’s undisclosed research partnership with China, including her involvement in an undisclosed patent in China based on research conducted at the NML. Ms. Qiu filed a patent in China in October 2017 without the knowledge of the management of the Public Health Agency of Canada, which oversees the NML.

Despite the concerns, Ms. Qiu was still authorized to send deadly Ebola and Nipah virus strains to a Chinese research institute in 2018.

MPs on the Canada-China committee are pressing for answers regarding the delay in the government’s investigation into the two dismissed scientists because the probe began months after initial red flags were raised. The NML first alerted the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) of Ms. Qiu and Mr. Cheng potentially working on behalf of a foreign actor, but they were not terminated until two and a half years later in January of 2021.

Citing his past experience in workforce reduction in the private sector, Conservative MP Michael Chong questioned the lengthy process in removing the two scientists, stating, “In this situation, from start to finish, the process took almost two and a half years. Do you think that is an appropriate length of time?”

Mr. Vigneault defended the time period for CSIS to produce intelligence for the Public Health Agency of Canada, saying that it was done “in a very effective manner.”

He declined to comment on whether the intelligence agency had suspected that Ms. Qiu and Mr. Cheng would flee from Canada. The two scientists have returned to China, with Ms. Qiu reportedly engaged in research for the Chinese military.