A person receives a nasal swab COVID-19 test at the Tom Bradley International Terminal at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) on Dec. 22, 2020.
Since the outbreak, people have been scrambling to get nucleic acid tests to determine if they are infected with COVID-19 (the Chinese Communist virus). But how sensitive is this mass medical data? The National Counterintelligence and Security Center (NCSC) came out with a report in February that revealed a troubling security concern.
The NCSC report noted that over the years, the Chinese Communist Party has, through both legal and illegal means, collected massive medical data sets from the United States and countries around the world with the intent of using them for purposes only it can control. During the COVID-19 virus pandemic, the Chinese Communist government increased its efforts to obtain U.S. health data, particularly DNA data, through hacking and other means.
The report states, “Since the virus pandemic, China has marketed its own New Crown (CCP virus) test kits globally. in August 2020, China’s UW Genetics (BGI) claimed to have sold test kits to 180 countries and established virus laboratories in six months and in 18 countries.”
The company’s webpage of Shenzhen-based BGI states that BGI has overseas centers and core laboratories in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific, forming a network that “covers the whole country and radiates globally. The reporter checked the “global distribution” chart on the website of UW-Gene, which shows that UW-Gene has laboratories in three cities in the United States, including Boston, and representative offices in eight cities, including New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
The world’s largest DNA database
According to the August 2020 article “Genomic Surveillance: The Orwellian World of Communist Party Control,” published in the online magazine Winter, the Chinese government has been collecting DNA from prisoners since 2003 to create a forensic database, but has since expanded the scope of the collection to create “the world’s largest DNA database.
In 2017, the Wall Street Journal reported on a criminal case in Sichuan province nine years ago in which two shopkeepers were killed and police solved the case by collecting the DNA of thousands of school boys and identifying the common biological characteristics of their blood relatives. Inspired by that case, a scaled-down form of DNA collection was conceived.
Police originally planned to test the DNA of the town’s 130,000 residents, but backed off due to public opposition and high costs. The Wall Street Journal wrote: “Realizing that DNA is passed down from generation to generation, they decided to simply take samples from every Family in the area, most of which have at least one child in school.”
The DNA may help police solve crimes, like fingerprints, but is the creation of the world’s largest DNA database for the purpose of solving crimes or is there something else going on?
China’s genome sequencing “cheap”
According to a 2019 report by the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC), UW Genetics “has established numerous partnerships with U.S. healthcare providers and research institutions to provide large-scale genetic sequencing and to support medical research efforts.” Like huawei, UW Genetics is partially subsidized by the Communist state and is able to provide genome sequencing, data analysis, and genetic and clinical data storage at a cheap price.
In addition to UW Genetics, the USCC report identified at least 23 China-related companies that are licensed in the United States to perform molecular diagnostics or other genetic testing, including whole genome sequencing. Any one of these companies “has access to individual patient genetic data. U.S. hospitals, clinics and even some commercial DNA testing companies now routinely send DNA samples to China for analysis.
However, while the services of Chinese companies may be inexpensive, they come at a cost.
The Value of Your DNA
The U.S. National Counterintelligence Collection and Security Center reports that your DNA is the most valuable thing you have, containing the most intimate details about your past, present and future – such as whether you are prone to future addictions or at high risk for cancer. It is your unique genetic code, and the person who holds it can tailor your medical care.
Losing your DNA is not like losing your credit card. You can order a new credit card, but you can’t replace your deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). the loss of DNA affects not only you, but also your relatives and possibly future generations.
China Prioritizes Medical Data Collection
The National Counterintelligence Collection and Security Center writes that U.S. health data may be particularly attractive and valuable to the Chinese Communist Party because of the racial diversity of the United States and the relatively lax protection of personal data in the United States.
For years, Chinese companies have exploited this environment by making investments in U.S. companies. For example, China’s Huada Genetics acquired the U.S. genome sequencing company Complete Genomics in 2013, and China’s WuXi AppTec acquired the U.S. company NextCODE Health in 2015, later forming Ming Code Biotechnology (WuXi NextCODE), which was announced the following year as the first Chinese company to receive CAP, CLIA California-certified sequencing lab, capable of handling samples from California.
The market value of this would be immeasurable. The National Counterintelligence Collection and Security Center reports that “China understands that collecting and analyzing large genomic datasets from diverse populations can help foster new medical discoveries and treatments of great commercial value and drive its artificial intelligence and precision Medicine industries.”
Outside concerns about China’s use of healthcare and genomic data are not hypothetical. The report notes that the Chinese Communist Party has a history of using DNA for genetic monitoring and social control, and that many residents of Xinjiang have been forced to provide fingerprints, blood types and other personal data.
Despite warnings from U.S. intelligence and security officials about the security risks, at least two federal agencies have worked to distribute New Crown testing products from China’s Huada Group, according to a Jan. 14 Wall Street Journal article, “Who’s Helping China’s Huada New Crown (CCP Virus) Test Break into U.S. Market.
The article cites people who were contacted and received documents about the outbreak, saying that at the beginning of the New crown outbreak, the UW Group or those trying to distribute its products contacted at least 11 U.S. states to push the products into government-run labs or to set up entire labs, sometimes in an aggressive manner. This included enlisting the help of the George W. Bush Foundation for U.S.-China Relations and enabling a company with ties to a senior UAE intelligence official. A prominent New York real estate lawyer has threatened to complain to California’s governor if state health officials do not use UW’s testing products.
The article alleges that the genetic sequencing instruments UW is trying to sell to U.S. labs could be used to classify patients’ DNA, which would raise privacy risks. The New Crown (CCP virus) virus test kit promoted by the federal agency poses no such risk.
What does the CCP collect your DNA for?
The National Counterintelligence and Security Center report comes a day after former National Security Council Director William Evanina warned that there is a 110 percent chance that the Chinese Communist Party has accessed the personal data of ordinary Americans. He noted that while some data was stolen through cyberattacks, “much of it was obtained legally through investments or partnerships with U.S. institutions that outsource genetic sequencing to China.”
He explained, “The Chinese Communist Party can use this data for all sorts of nefarious purposes and already has a significant record of using DNA for social control and surveillance of vulnerable populations in their country.”
He warned, “We must educate Americans about what the effects of evil taste, smell and look like, and when they see it, they can speak up.”
The aforementioned USCC report, in turn, states that “China [the Chinese Communist Party] can target specific individual vulnerabilities revealed by genomic data or health records. …… The individuals targeted by such attacks are likely to be strategic figures, such as diplomats, politicians, senior federal officials, or military leaders.” It may also be a group of people, or for other purposes.
Do you want your DNA or other medical data to be collected and warehoused by the Chinese Communist Party?
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