CSIS chief opens up about China’s interest in Canadian universities

The head of Canada’s intelligence agency spoke openly about China’s interest in partnering with Canadian universities to gain a military edge during a conference with his Five Eyes counterparts on Tuesday.

“China has been very transparent,” Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) Director David Vigneault said.

“Everything that they’re doing in our universities and in new technology, it’s going back into a system very organized to create dual-use applications for the military.”

Vigneault made the comments on stage during a rare public gathering with spy bosses from the U.S., the U.K., Australia and New Zealand.

The representatives of the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing alliance are meeting in California’s Silicon Valley at the invitation of U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Christopher Wray to discuss adversaries’ use of technology and threats to innovation and research. 

Vigneault said CSIS has been trying to warn Canadian universities about the People’s Republic of China’s motivations and has offered guidance.

“We’re not telling people who they should hire or not hire. But we tell them … if you’re working for one of those seven universities in the PRC associated with the People’s Liberation Army, you know it’s probably not a good idea if you’re working in cutting-edge technology in the university,” said Vigneault.

According to the Hoover Institution, which hosted Tuesday’s event, a cluster of institutions in China, often referred to as the “Seven Sons of National Defence,” collaborate with universities around the world to harvest research and divert it to military applications.

Vigneault said CSIS supports Canadian universities being able to attract talent from around the world, including China. 

“But you also need to understand that, unfortunately, the rules of engagement, the rules of the games have changed,” he said.

“They’ve been so bold about what they’re doing, how they have been stealing intellectual property, how they have interfered in our democratic processes, how they have been engaging on campuses, of all places to interfere.”

China’s IP theft ‘unprecedented’: Australian intelligence chief 

Earlier this year, the Globe and Mail reported that 50 Canadian universities have collaborated for years with a Chinese military research university.

Since 2005, those institutions have published more than 240 joint papers with Chinese military scientists on such topics as quantum cryptography, photonics and space science, said the newspaper. 

In February the Liberal government announced it would ban all federal research grants for projects linked to “foreign state actors” that pose a threat to Canada’s national security — and urged provinces and universities to follow suit. 

Mike Burgess, head of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, bluntly told the audience that “all nations spy.”

“All nations seek secrets and all nations seek strategic advantage. But the behaviour we’re talking about here goes well beyond traditional espionage,” he told the conference.

“And the threat is that we have the Chinese government engaged in the most sustained, scaled and sophisticated theft of intellectual property and acquisition of expertise that is unprecedented in human history. And that’s why we’re together.”

‘It’s not enough to cry wolf’: Vigneault 

During an exchange moderated by former U.S. secretary of state Condoleezza Rice, Vigneault also spoke of trying to engage with the Canadian business community on threats.

Recently, leaders in Canada’s business community have been demanding that the intelligence service be given the power to share intelligence with companies being targeted for economic espionage.

Earlier this month, the Business Council of Canada, made up of chief executives and entrepreneurs in the country’s major companies, called on Ottawa to update the CSIS Act so that private firms targeted by foreign interference actually know they’re in danger.

“We need to go out of our way to give concrete examples,” Vigneault acknowledged. “Because it’s not enough to cry wolf.”

Business Council of Canada president Goldy Hyder joined the Canadian delegation at the conference. He said Canadian businesses are more than ready to work with government to protect national security.

“In an era of renewed geopolitical rivalry, when a country’s ability to continuously push the boundaries of science and technology is the foundation upon which military, economic, and cultural power now rests, deep and sustained partnerships between the private and public sectors are necessary to protect our citizens and our prosperity,” he said in a post on social media.

A spokesperson for Public Safety Minister LeBlanc recently said the federal  government is looking at improving information sharing but wouldn’t commit to a timeline.

The Five Eyes intelligence service leaders are taking questions from reporters later tonight.