A federal judge has just banned a Chinese doctoral student from studying in Ontario, fearing that Beijing would encourage him to spy. The affair will certainly have “ripple effects” on other universities in Canada and Quebec.
Yuekang Li had been accepted for a doctorate in engineering at the University of Waterloo, where he would have specialized in microfluidic technology. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) refused him a visa: Beijing encourages Chinese researchers to study abroad, so that they collect information for its Chinese military-industrial complex.
An act of “non-traditional espionage”
The student quickly challenged IRCC’s refusal in court. In his decision, Federal Court Chief Justice Paul Crampton agrees with IRCC’s view that the research Li proposes to conduct in Canada amounts to “non-traditional espionage.”
The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) has been warning for years that Beijing threatens Canada’s national security and intellectual property in sensitive areas, including biopharmaceuticals. In a secret report obtained by the Globe and Mail, CSIS said Beijing is using Canada as an alternative because some of its students are no longer allowed to study in the United States. Since 2020, Washington has barred a wide range of Chinese students and postdoctoral researchers from accessing American universities.
Another case of Chinese scientific espionage
Will we one day end up knowing the ins and outs of a blatant case of Chinese scientific espionage which has been under investigation since 2019?
The National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg, Canada’s main virus research center, has for years allowed a couple of Chinese scientists to conduct virus research there. They were abruptly removed from their positions in July 2019. Their whereabouts since then have been a mystery.
The two Chinese researchers were fired after shipping samples of the Ebola and Henipah viruses to China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV). The Public Health Agency of Canada says it has alerted the RCMP about the matter, but declined to comment further.
Extraordinary, right? Two scientists working for the Chinese army were able to join the research teams at the Winnipeg lab. One of them was even responsible for a section of the program on special pathogens. Canada’s largest infectious disease laboratory was supporting the Chinese army’s viral research.
The Conservatives, NDP and Bloc Québécois demanded that the government say why the two Chinese scientists were fired. Justin Trudeau evaded the questions, calling them racist.
What have they become? It can be assumed that they decided to collaborate with the RCMP and/or CSIS in exchange for political asylum in Canada. In March 2023, the RCMP was still investigating them but refused to say more.
The public hearings of the commission on Chinese political interference in Canada are scheduled to begin on January 29. Judge Marie-Josée Hogue must also look into Ottawa’s capacity to detect, prevent and counter this interference. I hope that Judge Hogue will also shed light on this matter.