China offered multiple countries help with COVID-19 testing during the pandemic. The payoff for Beijing included access to the DNA of millions of people.
A health worker from mainland China record thousands of samples from Hong Kong residents to be tested for the coronavirus at the Huo-Yan Laboratory, an inflatable mobile testing lab in Hong Kong, Friday, March 4, 2022.
Amid the pandemic, Fire-Eye labs would proliferate quickly, spreading to four continents and more than 20 countries, from Canada and Latvia to Saudi Arabia, and from Ethiopia and South Africa to Australia. Several, like the one in Belgrade, now function as permanent genetic-testing centers. “None of BGI Group is state-owned or state controlled, and all of BGI Group’s services and research are provided for civilian and scientific purposes,” the company said.
China has announced plans to become the world’s leader in biotechnology by 2035, and it regards genetic information - sometimes called “the new gold” - as a crucial ingredient in a scientific revolution that could produce thousands of new drugs and cures. If it wins the technology race, China stands to gain significant economic and strategic leverage against its chief rival, the United States, said Anna Puglisi, formerly the U.S.
At the time, the discovery of gene-editing tools such as CRISPR was raising hopes for novel cancer cures and possible treatments for hereditary diseases long considered incurable. With hefty investments in the field, China signaled that it intended to compete and win in the international competition to bring new gene-based medicines and therapeutics to the market.
BGI, in a statement to The Post, said its corporate family is engaged in “globally recognized scientific research” in adherence to “all required laws and regulations,” and it has provided crucial help to countries fighting COVID-19 and other health crises. Fears about China’s misuse of DNA data has triggered a backlash in North America and Europe in recent years. BGI, whose products include a popular neonatal genetic screening kit called NIFTY, sold in more than 50 countries, has come under scrutiny amid concerns that China might exploit the private health information of millions of pregnant women.
BGI said the sophisticated gear was in keeping with the company’s belief in the “open sharing of scientific tools and discoveries” to provide “the greatest benefits for all of humanity.” But a 2020 report by the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission offered a harsher assessment of the Fire-Eye labs’ purpose:“These labs,” the report said, “are providing Chinese researchers with heterogeneous genetic data to serve Chinese ambitions to dominate the biotech market.
As measured in euros, the European Union’s aid to Serbia during the pandemic far exceeded China’s, but no pro-E.U. billboards sprouted up in a city that still harbors deep resentments over NATO’s bombing of the capital during the war over Kosovo two decades ago. BGI, in a statement to The Post, said the lab is “owned and managed by Serbia, not BGI,” and while the company provides equipment, know-how and training, it has “no access to data.” Yet a BGI press release last year appeared to suggest at least a limited data-sharing arrangement during the Belgrade lab’s start-up phase. To ensure quality control, “the local [Belgade] team is benchmarked against the sequencing results that a more established team at another location is churning out,” it said.
Some of the labs provided by BGI and its charitable subsidiary, the Mammoth Foundation, were temporary: In 2022, Saudi Arabia set up testing sites in Mecca before the Hajj pilgrimage, and Ethiopian officials installed a Fire-Eye laboratory in a terminal of the Addis Ababa airport. Other agreements seemed more permanent, as the labs became attached to research centers in Latvia, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates and Serbia.
In Latvia, where a BGI subsidiary has opened a local branch to sell genetic sequencing services, officials with the country’s domestic security agency warned customers to exercise caution and not be swayed by the company’s assurances about the data-privacy safeguards.
The singling out of ethnic minorities is intentional, human rights groups say. In the hands of Chinese police officers, biometric data is a powerful tool for identifying people regarded as potential troublemakers. DNA samples can link suspects to protests or help police locate family members who might be subjected to pressure over a relative’s behavior.
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