Exclusive: China gene firm providing worldwide COVID tests worked with Chinese military

 SYDNEY (Reuters) - BGI Group, the world's largest genomics company, has worked with China's military on research that ranges from mass testing for respiratory pathogens to brain science, a Reuters review of research, patent filings and other documents has found.

By Kirsty Needham   REUTERS  31 January 2021

© Reuters/CHINA STRINGER NETWORK FILE PHOTO: A technician works at a genetic testing laboratory of BGI, formerly known as Beijing Genomics Institute, in Kunming

The review, of more than 40 publicly available documents and research papers in Chinese and English, shows BGI’s links to the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) include research with China’s top military supercomputing experts. The extent of those links has not previously been reported.

BGI has sold millions of COVID-19 test kits outside China since the outbreak of the new coronavirus pandemic, including to Europe, Australia and the United States. Shares of BGI Genomics Co, the company’s subsidiary listed on the Shenzhen stock exchange, have doubled in price over the past 12 months, giving it a market value of about $9 billion.

© Reuters/CHINA STRINGER NETWORK FILE PHOTO: Technicians work at a genetic testing laboratory of BGI in KunmingBut top U.S. security officials have warned American labs against using Chinese tests because of concern China was seeking to gather foreign genetic data for its own research. BGI has denied that.

The documents reviewed by Reuters neither contradict nor support that U.S. suspicion. Still, the material shows that the links between the Chinese military and BGI run deeper than previously understood, illustrating how China has moved to integrate private technology companies into military-related research under President Xi Jinping.

The U.S. government has recently been warned by an expert panel that adversary countries and non-state actors might find and target genetic weaknesses in the U.S. population and a competitor such as China could use genetics to augment the strength of its own military personnel.

BGI has worked on PLA projects seeking to make members of the ethnic Han Chinese majority less susceptible to altitude sickness, Reuters found, genetic research that would benefit soldiers in some border areas.

Elsa Kania, an adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security think tank, who has provided testimony to U.S. Congressional committees, told Reuters that China’s military has pushed research on brain science, gene editing and the creation of artificial genomes that could have an application in future bioweapons. She added that such weapons are not currently technically feasible.

© Reuters/CARLOS GARCIA RAWLINS FILE PHOTO: Soldiers of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) march outside the Great Hall of the People in Beijing

BGI’s pattern of collaboration with the Chinese military was a “reasonable concern to raise” for U.S. officials, said Kania.

In response to Reuters’ questions, BGI said it adheres to international standards and Chinese laws related to open science, data sharing and genomic research. It said its collaboration with military researchers was for academic purposes only.

“BGI strongly rejects any accusations about links with the PLA, particularly in relation to our COVID-19 test kits,” it said in a statement.

China’s defence ministry did not respond to requests for comment.

'ENHANCE' SOLDIER STRENGTH

Chinese technology companies have come under increasing scrutiny by the United States and were subject to mounting restrictions under the administration of Donald Trump. In November, the Department of Commerce proposed a rule to add gene editing software to the U.S. export control list, saying it could be used to create biological weapons. Officials in the new administration of President Joe Biden have signalled a continued tough approach to what they see as a rising threat from Beijing.

A technology industry panel on artificial intelligence, appointed by the U.S. government and chaired by former Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt, raised the alarm in October about China’s financial support for its biotechnology sector, its advantages in collecting biological data, and the PLA’s interest in potential military applications.

The panel, which will deliver its final report in March, warned about adversaries using artificial intelligence to identify genetic weaknesses in a population and engineering pathogens to exploit them, and genetic research designed to enhance soldiers’ mental or physical strength.

The panel recommended that the U.S. government “take a more aggressive public posture regarding BGI,” citing national security risks posed by the company’s links to the Chinese government and its trove of genomic data.

The U.S. Department of State did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Reuters’ findings.

In response to Reuters’ questions, China’s foreign ministry said the U.S. government had “wantonly misinterpreted and smeared China’s military-civil fusion policy,” and was imposing unreasonable sanctions that would hamper research.

“China’s military-civil fusion policy is aimed at effectively mobilizing military and civilian resources, coordinating socio-economic growth and national defense development, and benefiting the public with scientific and technological progress. This policy is above board and beyond reproach,” the ministry said in a statement to Reuters.

It added that this was “customary international practice” and said the U.S. government had effectively pursued military-civil fusion for more than 100 years.

‘KEY PROJECTS’

BGI Group, based in Shenzhen, has grown quickly by selling genetic sequencing services to universities and health systems around the world and amassing a large DNA databank. It created China’s first cloned pig in 2010.

One science paper authored by BGI founders Yang Huanming and Wang Jian along with the PLA’s Key Laboratory of High Altitude Medicine and the Third Military Medical University focused on experiments with the brains of monkeys suffering altitude sickness.

The study, published in January 2020, stated that it was funded as one of the “key projects of military science and technology” by the PLA. A decade ago, the military university’s research sought to identify genes related to altitude sickness so the PLA could screen for susceptible soldiers. The latest research focused on how drugs interacting with genes could potentially protect a person from brain injury.

An earlier 2017 study designed by BGI’s Wang and published in conjunction with a PLA research centre in Xinjiang looked at the effect of rapid mountain ascent on the bodies of “young, healthy men.”

China has the world’s longest highland border, which includes its border with India, where fighting broke out between the two countries' troops in 2020. A 2018 paper by the same PLA laboratory stated that “high altitude disease is the main reason for reduced combat effectiveness and health damage to soldiers at high altitudes and influences the results of war.”

Reuters was unable to contact Yang and Wang. BGI said its research collaboration with the PLA lab and the Third Military Medical University, where Yang has been a professor for almost two decades, was “for academic purposes only.”

SEQUENCING COVID

BGI jointly holds a dozen patents for tests that screen for genomes linked to disease with the military university, the PLA’s Academy of Military Medical Science, which is the top medical research institute of the PLA, and PLA hospitals.

One patent was granted in 2015 to BGI and the Academy of Military Medical Science for a low-cost test kit to detect respiratory pathogens, including SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) and coronaviruses.

BGI’s current chief infectious disease scientist, Chen Weijun, is listed as an inventor on the patent documents. Chen was among the first scientists to sequence COVID-19, taking samples from a military hospital in Wuhan, according to sequence data later shared internationally.

Chen is listed as affiliated with the Academy of Military Medical Science in three science papers reviewed by Reuters.  In response to Reuters’ questions, BGI said in a statement that Chen has not been affiliated with the PLA’s Academy of Military Medical Science since 2012. Chen did not respond to a request for comment.

BGI’s COVID-19 test kit did not use the method jointly patented with the PLA, the company said in the statement.

Four BGI researchers have also been jointly affiliated with another military institution, the National University of Defence Technology (NUDT), according to publicly available science and conference papers reviewed by Reuters. Hunan-based NUDT is under the direct leadership of China’s Central Military Commission, the top-level body that steers the Chinese military and is headed by Xi.

The NUDT is on a U.S. blacklist as a threat to national security because its Tianhe-2 supercomputer - one of the world’s most powerful - is used to simulate nuclear explosions, according to a Department of Commerce listing. That listing restricts U.S. companies from supplying NUDT with technology.

One researcher, Peng Shaoliang, was instrumental in developing software to speed up BGI’s sequencing of human genomes using supercomputing developed by NUDT.

Peng has won military awards for his work. He is a member of an expert group advising the Central Military Commission’s Science and Technology Commission, set up in 2016 when Xi began promoting a strategy to integrate China’s civilian and military research.

Patent applications in 2020 show Peng is also a member of the PLA’s Institute of Military Medicine. Liao Xiangke, the head of the NUDT’s supercomputer programme and a major general in the PLA, has published seven scientific papers either co-authored with BGI researchers or crediting them for providing data and source code.

BGI said in a statement to Reuters that Peng and Liao “were two collaborators of BGI for the project at the time for the purpose of academic exchange only. Since the project ended BGI has no more affiliation with them.”

Peng and Liao did not respond to requests for comment.

BGI said it uses Tianhe-2 on a commercial basis, as well as other supercomputing platforms, to speed up research. The papers it wrote with the NUDT were for academic purposes only, it said, and were open for public reference, while the programmes themselves have ended.

Tianhe-2 has also been used to solve pharmaceutical, cryptology, engineering and climate problems that have no military application, the company said.

(Reporting by Kirsty Needham in Sydney; Additional reporting by Humeyra Pamuk and Alexandra Alper in Washington and Beijing newsroom; Editing by Kevin Krolicki and Bill Rigby)

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/technology/exclusive-china-gene-firm-providing-worldwide-covid-tests-worked-with-chinese-military/ar-BB1der4q

Ireland BYPASSED! Von der Leyen contacted by Dublin after Brexit protocol triggered

 The EU has triggered a Brexit clause less than a month after the UK left the bloc as Brussels panics over the coronavirus vaccine chaos involving a shortage of supplies from drugmaker AstraZeneca.  

Paul Withers

 30  January 2021

The protocol, which forms a vital part of the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement with the EU, normally allows for free movement of goods from the bloc into Northern Ireland. It states goods should be able to move freely between the EU and Northern Ireland because the region still remains in the Single Market for goods and also operates under Brussels' customs rules.

But the EU has now triggered Article 16 of this protocol to temporarily place export controls on this movement in respect of coronavirus vaccines.

This has sparked Ireland into urgent action, with Taoiseach Micheal Martin contacting Ms von der Leyen to express concern over the move.

A spokesman for the Irish Prime Minister said: "We are aware of the issue and the Taoiseach (prime minister) is currently in discussions with European Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen to express our concerns."

Ireland's Foreign Minister Simon Coveney tweeted: "We are working with the EU Commission to try to resolve this issue and protect the integrity and operation of the NI Protocol."

© GETTY brexit ireland eu protocol vaccine© @simoncoveney / Twitter brexit ireland simon coveney

JP Campbell, the BBC's business and economics editor for Northern Ireland, tweeted: "Very strong sense that the Commission blindsided the British AND Irish govts on Article 16.

RTE Europe Editor Tony Connelly tweeted: "The Irish government was not alerted by the European Commission of the decision to trigger Article 16 of the NI Protocol as part of its launch of the vaccine transparency mechanism, @rtenews understands.

"Officials have spoken of their "shock" and "concern" at the move. The Taoiseach Micheal Martin has spoken by phone to @vonderleyen "more than once".

"Officials suspect the Commission's Brexit Task Force was not alerted to the move, or was alerted "late in the day". Maros Sefcovic, who chairs the Joint Committee implementing the NI Protocol has been in touch with Michael Gove, his opposite number, it's understood.

READ MORE: Brexit LIVE: French MEP turns on EU and admits UK Brexit victory

© GETTY brexit northern ireland arlene foster

"Dublin's understanding is that because the Protocol prohibits any export ban for EU goods entering NI, but also provides for unfettered access for NI GB goods, it was seen as a potential loophole.

"The European Commission has announced a new transparency mechanism allowing member states to monitor if vaccine doses which are contractually destined for member states are instead exiting the EU.

"Irish officials believe the use of Article 16, which provides for either side to take safeguard measures if there are significant societal or economic consequences is inappropriate in this situation as the idea of vaccines entering the UK via the NI backdoor as "far fetched".

"However, Dublin is fully aware that the shortfall in AstraZeneca vaccines is also a crisis for member states, not least Ireland. The view is that the NI Protocol has got inadvertently swept up in the broader vaccine crisis.

DON'T MISS

Brexiteer dismantles 'squealing' Remainers over furious EU vaccine row [COMMENT]

'We were RIGHT' Brexiteer savages EU vaccine 'totalitarianism' [OPINION]

EU's 'vaccine protectionism' could cost world economy £6.7trillion [ANALYSIS]

© GETTY brexit eu ursula von der leyen© GETTY brexit northern ireland michael gove

"Sources say the government is seeking a solution to the issue and that the Taoiseach has conveyed to VDL the implications of the move and the sensitivities around the Protocol in NI, ie that Article 16 is not appropriate in this scenario."

The move to activate Article 16 will frustrate any effort to use Northern Ireland as a back door to bring vaccines into Great Britain.

Stormont First Minister Arlene Foster said: "By triggering Article 16 in this manner, the European Union has once again shown it is prepared to use Northern Ireland when it suits their interests but in the most despicable manner - over the provision of a vaccine which is designed to save lives.

"At the first opportunity, the EU has placed a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland over the supply chain of the coronavirus vaccine."

Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary Louise Haigh said: "Unilateral actions like this do nothing to aid the stability in Northern Ireland which the protocol was designed to preserve.

UK Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove has spoken to his counterpart on the EU-UK joint committee, Maros Sefcovic, to "express the UK's concern over a lack of notification from the EU about its actions in relation to the NI protocol".

© EXPRESS brexit eu covid vaccine

Downing Street added in a statement: "The UK Government is urgently seeking an explanation from the European Commission about the statements issued by the EU today and assurances as to its intentions.

"The UK has legally-binding agreements with vaccine suppliers and it would not expect the EU, as a friend and ally, to do anything to disrupt the fulfilment of these contracts.

"The UK Government has reiterated the importance of preserving the benefits of the Belfast/Good Friday agreement and the commitments that have been made to the two communities."

Euronews political editor Darren McCaffrey, tweeted: "EU decision to invoke Article 16, clearly without prior notice has managed to unite the British and Irish governments, Labour, the DUP and SDLP in disagreement with the move. When did that last happen?"

This sparked a response from Brexiteer Martin Daubney, who wrote: "It's also united & emboldened the entire Eurosceptic movement in one fell swoop."

The EU has repeatedly lashed out at vaccine maker AstraZeneca for failing to deliver the shots it had promised, with the bloc facing a shortfall of up to 60 percent until the end of March.

In a further blow, EU member states are also receiving fewer deliveries of the vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna than anticipated.

On Friday, the European Commission revealed it had agreed a plan to control the exports of vaccines from the continental bloc as part of measure to ensure its own supplies.

EU Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis told a news conference the new export controls are "time limited".

They will initially last until the end of March and will apply to Covid vaccines the bloc has already purchased.

The EU could choose to block the export of a vaccine if they believe this could undermine its own supplies.

The Commission has been quick to stress this is not an export ban of any kind.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/other/ireland-bypassed-von-der-leyen-contacted-by-dublin-after-brexit-protocol-triggered

BBC: EU vaccine export row: Bloc backtracks on controls for NI

 The EU has reversed its decision to trigger an emergency provision in the Brexit deal to control Covid vaccine exports from the EU.

30 January 2021

IMAGE COPYRIGHTREUTERS

image captionDespite the reversed decision, the EU is introducing export controls on vaccines made in the bloc

The EU has reversed its decision to trigger an emergency provision in the Brexit deal to control Covid vaccine exports from the EU.

The move could have seen checks at the border of Ireland and Northern Ireland to prevent shipments entering the UK.

The Brussels U-turn came hours after it was announced, following condemnation from London, Dublin and Belfast.

The plans had been part of the EU's new export controls on vaccines, to combat delivery shortfalls.

It is the latest development in a deepening dispute over delays to the production and distribution of Covid vaccines across the EU.

• What's the problem with the EU's vaccine programme?
• WHO criticises EU over vaccine export controls
• Foster urges UK to override part of Brexit deal

The Brexit deal guarantees an open border between the EU and Northern Ireland, with no controls on exported products.

However, Article 16 of the Northern Ireland Protocol part of the deal allows the EU and UK to choose to suspend any aspects they consider are causing "economic, societal or environmental difficulties".

On Friday evening the EU announced it would trigger the clause and introduce the export controls on its vaccines entering Northern Ireland in a bid to prevent the region becoming a backdoor for jabs to be sent to the UK mainland.

It said the actions were "justified" to avert problems caused by a lack of supply.

But the proposals sparked concern from Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin as well as all five parties in Northern Ireland's devolved government.

Northern Ireland First Minister Arlene Foster described it as "an absolutely incredible act of hostility" that created a hard Irish border, while Ireland's Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said in a tweet: "The [Northern Ireland] Protocol is not something to be tampered with lightly, it's an essential, hard-won compromise, protecting peace and trade for many."

Later on Friday evening, following talks with UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen tweeted that the UK and EU had "agreed on the principle that there should not be restrictions on the export of vaccines by companies where they are fulfilling contractual responsibilities".

She said the backtrack, which was outlined in a European Commission statement, came after "constructive talks" with Mr Johnson in which he had expressed "grave concerns" about the initial plan.

The BBC's Brussels correspondent, Kevin Connelly, said Ms von der Leyen's midnight tweet seemed to "wind down" the idea that there could be a "vaccine war" where jab supplies are prevented from reaching the UK.

"Mistake," "misjudgement," "blunder."

These are just some of words EU insiders have been using privately to describe the European Commission's initial decision on Friday to suspend areas of the Brexit deal dealing with Northern Ireland, a part of its Covid vaccine row.

Although it then U-turned on those plans, critics say the damage was already done.

Brussels previously lectured the UK government about respecting the Irish Protocol - which was painfully and carefully drafted during Brexit negotiations.

Now the EU seemed quick to undermine the agreement.

Member state Ireland felt stung that it hadn't been consulted. This all adds to the impression of chaos surrounding the EU's vaccine rollout.

Brussels was already under fire from a growing number of EU countries for having been slow to sign vaccine contracts with pharmaceutical companies.

This "mishap" over the Irish Protocol, as Spain's Foreign Minister called it, hasn't exactly helped the commission's reputation.

Julian Smith, Conservative MP and former Northern Ireland secretary, said the EU had "pulled the emergency cord" without following the proper processes that had been agreed over years of negotiations.

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme the move came "without anywhere near the level of understanding of the Good Friday Agreement, of the sensitivities of the situation in Northern Ireland".

"It was an almost Trumpian act - I'm very pleased that they've changed their minds," he said, adding that the EU's "major issue" with its Covid vaccine rollout "does not excuse" their actions.

• How many people have had the jab so far?
• Coronavirus: A year of high-speed discovery
• Single-dose Johnson & Johnson jab is 66% effective

BBC business correspondent Katie Prescott said firms in Northern Ireland were stunned that the European Commission could trigger a change that was only meant for the "most egregious circumstances" - just one month after the UK's post-Brexit transition period with the EU ended.

Conservative MP and former international trade secretary, Dr Liam Fox, said the EU had shown it was "willing to impose [a] hard border on Northern Ireland" despite the "precious" agreements in place to prevent such a situation, with "very little requirement and no notice".

"It was like an episode of Carry On at the [European] Commission yesterday, except that it wasn't funny," he told BBC News.

Mr Martin welcomed the EU's reversal, describing it as a "positive development given the many challenges we face in tackling Covid-19".

It was not thought that the move would have directly disadvantaged Northern Ireland, which gets its vaccine supplies through the UK procurement system.

The Department of Health confirmed Health Secretary Matt Hancock had a "constructive discussion" on the supply of vaccines with his Northern Ireland counterpart Robin Swann, who tweeted it was "essential" confidence and trust were rebuilt after the EU's actions.

The Irish government and its diplomats have spent a huge amount of time and energy educating their EU partners on the nuances of the Irish border.

During the Brexit negotiations there was a slick operation where visiting dignitaries and camera crews were whisked up the road from Dublin airport to see the border in County Louth.

This paid dividends for Ireland: its concerns remained top of the EU's priorities during the negotiations.

Some of the European Commission's most talented officials were deeply involved in the Irish elements of the Brexit deals.

But something clearly went badly awry on Friday.

The use of the Article 16 mechanism, to override part of the Brexit deal, caught the Irish government by surprise.

Those Commission officials with special knowledge of Ireland were either not consulted or not listened to.

Dick Roche, Ireland's former Europe minister, told the BBC the government had been "blindsided" and "embarrassed".

He said the Taoiseach had been "very annoyed" and made "very strong representation" to urge the Commission to change its mind.

Despite later backtracking on Article 16, the EU is still introducing new controls giving its member states the power - should they want to - to block exports of the coronavirus vaccine to countries including the UK, if the company making them has not honoured existing contracts with the EU.

The European Commission said the temporary mechanism is to combat "the current lack of transparency" over vaccine exports outside the EU, and is not an export ban.

But the World Health Organization is among those criticising the move, saying "vaccine nationalism" could prolong the pandemic and further widen global inequality.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-55865539