[4] In July 2019, Qiu and her biologist husband Keding Cheng who worked with her at the NML, had their security clearances revoked and were evicted from the facilities by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), leading also to the University of Manitoba severing ties.
[5][6][7] In a statement to the CBC, a PHAC spokesperson said that the scientists were no longer employed there as of January 2021, declining to disclose additional information or comment further, leaving open speculation about espionage.
[8][9] Four months prior to this incident, Qiu was found to have made a shipment of Ebola and Henipavirus samples from the NML to the Wuhan Institute of Virology, though this was reported to be unconnected to her removal.
[11] On 16 September 2021, The Globe and Mail reported that cooperation between the NML scientists and the Chinese military went much higher than was previously known and that Qiu had collaborated with Major-General Chen Wei on two papers.
[18][19] According to FactCheck.org, viral misinformation has been published in western social media falsely claiming that Qiu was "removed" from the Canadian lab due to having sent pathogens to the Wuhan facility.