Canadian Scientist’s Secret Work on Wuhan Bat Virus Could Have Caused Covid, New Revelations in Book
30th October 2025
In his new book Under Assault, historian and former Canadian national security analyst Dennis Molinaro uncovers evidence that Chinese-Canadian scientist Dr. Xiangguo Qiu secretly collaborated on a 2019 Wuhan “bat filovirus” research project that some Western intelligence agencies — including the CIA, with varying degrees of confidence — assess to have likely caused the COVID-19 pandemic.
While The Bureau has previously reported on Qiu’s links to Wuhan’s “Batwoman,” Shi Zhengli, Molinaro’s findings — drawn from redacted CSIS records, open-source intelligence, and parliamentary disclosures — take the case significantly further, situating Qiu’s compromise within the broader escalation of Chinese intelligence collection in Canada since 2000, and highlighting Ottawa’s conspicuous lack of capacity — or will — to enforce against Beijing’s incursions.