OTTAWA – Canada fired two scientists working at a high-security infectious disease laboratory in 2021 because they provided confidential information to China, The Globe and Mail newspaper reported on Feb 28.

Officials concluded that the husband and wife team were “a realistic and credible threat to Canada’s economic security”, the paper said, citing a mass of documents that the government released after a long fight with opposition legislators who had demanded information behind the sackings.

Health Minister Mark Holland, decrying what he called unacceptable security lapses at the lab at the time, said there had been no risk to national security.

Dr Xiangguo Qiu and her husband, Dr Keding Cheng, were escorted out of National Microbiology Lab in Winnipeg in 2019 and had their security permits revoked. They were fired in 2021.

The Canadian police said in 2019 that they were launching a probe into the matter, but the revelation on Feb 28 was the first time that details of the sackings were revealed. The documents show that the Canadian Security Intelligence Service concluded Dr Qiu “had intentionally transferred scientific knowledge and materials to China”, the Globe said.

It is not clear whether the couple is still in Canada.

The news is likely to worsen already chilly ties with Beijing, especially since Ottawa has set up an investigation into alleged Chinese interference in domestic Canadian affairs.

The Winnipeg laboratory’s work includes research on the most dangerous human and animal pathogens, such as Ebola.

“At no time did national secrets, or information that threatened the security of Canada, leave or enter the lab,” Mr Holland told reporters, saying the couple had not been transparent about their dealings with China. REUTERS