Content uploaded by Vivek Verma
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by Vivek Verma on May 13, 2020
Content may be subject to copyright.
5/13/2020
AN ASSESSMENT OF CHINA’S BIOLOGICAL WARFARE CAPABILITIES AND NEED FOR GLOBAL APPROACH TO BIO-SECUR…
https://usiofindia.org/publication/cs3-strategic-perspectives/an-assessment-of-chinas-biological-warfare-capabilities-and-need-for-global-approach…
1/7
USI > CS3 Strategic Perspectives > AN ASSESSMENT OF CHINA’S BIOLOGICAL WARFARE CAPABILITIES AND NEED FOR GLOBAL APPROACH TO BIO-SECURITY
A A A
Strategic Perspectives
AN ASSESSMENT OF CHINA’S BIOLOGICAL
WARFARE CAPABILITIES AND NEED FOR GLOBAL
APPROACH TO BIO-SECURITY
Author: Brig Vivek Verma
Period: Apr - Jun 2020
This paper is being published in two parts, Part -I will deal
with China’s capabilities, while Part – II will deal with the
Global approach for security
PART – I
AN ASSESSMENT OF CHINA’S BIOLOGICAL WARFARE
CAPABILITIES
Contextualising the Incidents of 30 December 2019
On 30 December 2019, two incidents happened. First was reprimanding of Dr Li Wenliang,
the whistle blower of the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), by the Public Security Bureau on
his alleged sharing of details about the deadly virus to his colleagues. He was accused of
making false comments and disturbing the social order. On 07 February 2020 he died of
COVID-19 infection. The public outcry over his death compelled CPC to restore his honour
and compensate the family with 800,000 Yuan. The second instance which was not noticed
in the din of happening was the three years imprisonment and ne of three million Chinese
yuan awarded to He Jiankui, a Chinese biophysics researcher and an associate professor in
the Department of Biology of the Southern University of Science and Technology in
Shenzhen. His charges were “forged ethical review documents” and “misled doctors into
unknowingly implanting gene-edited embryos into two women”.[1] Arrested in November
2018, it took more than one year to nish the trials which were not made public due to
privacy related issues. However, it has brought to centre stage the growing threat from the
biotech heroes like Jiankui and the need for biosecurity and bio-surveillance.
China and Biological Weapons
Quick Links
Aim & Objectives
Management
Research Faculty
Chairs of Excellence
Visiting Faculty
MOUs & Tie-Up
Scholars Projects
Sponsored Projects
Strategic Gaming
Exercise
Strategic Perspectives
USI Occcasional Papers
Books / Monographs
Events
Internship Programmes-
Guidelines
Guidelines for
Contribution in
Publications
Archives
23
5
Home About Us USI Events CS3 CAFHR Courses Facilities Library
Publications Blog Contact
MEMBERSHIP
5/13/2020
AN ASSESSMENT OF CHINA’S BIOLOGICAL WARFARE CAPABILITIES AND NEED FOR GLOBAL APPROACH TO BIO-SECUR…
https://usiofindia.org/publication/cs3-strategic-perspectives/an-assessment-of-chinas-biological-warfare-capabilities-and-need-for-global-approach…
2/7
Biological weapons are made of microorganisms or natural toxins to produce disease in
humans, animals or plants. To act as a weapon, pathogens need a means for transmission.
China has conducted considerable amount of defensive research in tularaemia, Q fever,
plague, anthrax etc. After the 2003 SARS epidemic, the government of China initiated a plan
to construct Bio Safety Level 4 (BSL-4) laboratory system to prepare for and respond to
future infectious disease outbreaks. Within the framework of the Sino-French Cooperation
Agreement on Emerging Infectious Diseases Prevention and Control, the Wuhan Institute of
Virology, a BSL-4 laboratory, was constructed in 2015 under the aegis of Chinese People’s
Liberation Army (PLA) Academy of Sciences.[2] The reported leakage of COVID-19 is from
this BSL-4 laboratory in Wuhan. Apart from China the other countries having BSL-4
laboratory are the USA, UK, France, Canada, Germany, Australia, Sweden and South Africa.[3]
In 1952 China acceded to the 1925 Geneva Protocol that called for the prohibition of the use
in war of asphyxiating, poisonous, or other gases, and of bacteriological methods of
warfare. The April 1972 Biological Weapon Convention (BWC) on the prohibition of the
development, production, and stockpiling of bacteriological (biological) and toxin weapons
and their destruction were ratied by China after twelve years in 1984. China has been
circumspect about signing protocols and is secretive about its biological programme.
Hence, one is compelled to glean through the western source whose complete credibility
cannot be guaranteed. Nonetheless, it provides the issues that concerns the West and the
rest and can be used to confront China.
China’s Biological Warfare Development
Analysis of Publications and Projects. Advances in biotechnology and genetic engineering
have exciting applications in medicine — yet, also alarming implications, including for
military affairs. China’s national strategy of military-civil fusion has highlighted biology as a
priority, and the PLA could be at the forefront of expanding and exploiting this knowledge. A
review of Chinese publications points to the growing case of use of biological warfare as
part of Chinese national strategy:
Guo Jiwei, professor with the Third Military Medical University, in his 2010 book
‘War of Biological Dominance’ indicated the importance of biological warfare in
future warfare.
In 2015, Major General He Fuchu, former President of Academy of Military Medical
Science (AMMS) and currently Vice President of the Academy of Military Sciences
looking after China’s military scienceenterprise, talked about bio-technology to be
the new ‘strategic high ground’ of national defence driven by the biomaterials and
brain control weapons.[4]
In 2016, AMMS doctoral research on “The Evaluation of Human Enhancement
Technology” indicated three methods of improving the troops combat eciency –
rstly through use of Modanil drug for cognitive enhancement. Secondly through
use of transcranial magnetic stimulation – a type of brain stimulation. Thirdly, the
research pointed out at the use of a revolutionary gene editing technology that can
edit Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) with remarkable precision – Clustered Regularly
Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeat(CRISPR) or CRISPR/Cas9. The research
indicated that this technology could be also used as military deterrence.[5]
In 2017, the PLA National Defence University “Science of Military Strategy” added
a new chapter on biology as a domain of military struggle.
MEMBERSHIP
5/13/2020
AN ASSESSMENT OF CHINA’S BIOLOGICAL WARFARE CAPABILITIES AND NEED FOR GLOBAL APPROACH TO BIO-SECUR…
https://usiofindia.org/publication/cs3-strategic-perspectives/an-assessment-of-chinas-biological-warfare-capabilities-and-need-for-global-approach…
3/7
Zhang Shibo, retired general from the PLA National Defence University, in his 2017
book “New Domains of Warfare” talked about offensive capabilities brought about
by the modern biotechnological developments.
In 2016, CMC funded projects on military brain science, advanced biomimetic
systems and materials, human performance enhancement and new concept of
biotechnology.
Biological Warfare Infrastructure. Biotech is an expansive frontier and PLA is aware of the
emergence of the bio-informatics as a treasure trove to be protected. The vastness of
genome data requires AI and supercomputers to make it happen. The measures and
infrastructure involved in biological weapon development and biosecurity is of immense
strategic importance to China. The key developments which have happened are: –
PLA’s AMMS, touted as the cradle of medical talent in China, has been credited
with developing of Ebola vaccine in 2014[6] and has again been tasked to work on
COVID-19 vaccine. Xi Jinping’s visit to the Institute on 03 March 2020 conrms the
faith the Chinese leadership poses on this Institute. Chinese biotechnology rm
Cansino Biologics Inc is in collaboration with AMMS to develop the vaccine for
COVID-19 and as per reports it has entered stage 2.[7] AMMS has been placed
directly under the purview of the Academy of Military Science recently, and this
could indicate a closer integration of medical science with military research. On 07
February 2020, Major General Chen Wei, China’s chief biochemical weapon
defence expert and director of the Institute of Bioengineering, AMMS was rushed
to take over the alleged Wuhan Institute of Virology,[8] which is at the centre of the
COVID-19 storm. Thus, PLA is seamlessly integrated in all biological weapon
development and management.
In 2016, the potential strategic value of genetic information led the Chinese
government to launch the ‘National Gene Bank’ to boost the genetics industry and
safeguard China’s genetic information.[9] BGI Genomics with outreach to over 66
countries and oces in Denmark and the US is the leading provider of genomic
sequencing. There also appear to be links between BGI’s research and military
research activities, particularly with the PLA’s National University of Defence
Technology. BGI’s bioinformatics research has used Tianhe supercomputers to
process genetic information for biomedical applications, while BGI and NUDT
researchers have collaborated on several publications, including the design of
tools for the use of CRISPR.[10]
Chinese biological weapons facility existing in the Xinjiang province, not very far
from the nuclear testing site at Lop Nur, have emerged frequently in the news. In
fact, an outbreak of haemorrhagic fever in the late 1980s at this facility could
possibly have been the result of China’s offensive biological weapons research
which has been captured by Ken Alibek in his book “Biohazard: The Chilling True
Story of the Largest Covert Biological Weapons Program in the World–Told from
Inside by the Man Who Ran It”.[11]
The 2005 US Department of State report also identies two facilities that have
links to an offensive biological weapons programme – the AMMS linked Institute
of Microbiology and Epidemiology (IME) in Beijing, and the Lanzhou Institute of
Biological Produces (LIBP).
The list of some of the biological production and research institutes are given in the Table
below[12] [13]:-
Table: List of PLA ‘s Biological Warfare Research and Production Facility
MEMBERSHIP
5/13/2020
AN ASSESSMENT OF CHINA’S BIOLOGICAL WARFARE CAPABILITIES AND NEED FOR GLOBAL APPROACH TO BIO-SECUR…
https://usiofindia.org/publication/cs3-strategic-perspectives/an-assessment-of-chinas-biological-warfare-capabilities-and-need-for-global-approach…
4/7
Factory Location Production Details Remarks
Yan’an
Bacteriological
Factory
Yan’an,
Xishan
Four types of
bacteriological bombs
· Smoke or aerosol
· Paper canister
· Malignant bacteria
grenade
· Tetanus bacteria
bomb
Large scale
biological
research and
production site
Dalian Biological
Products Factory Dalian
· Tetanus/cholera mix
vaccine
· Diphtheria vaccine
· Rabies virus vaccine
· Typhus vaccine
· ABC Vaccine
Large scale
biological
research and
production site
Changchun
Biological
Products Factory
Changchun
Cultivation and
experimentation of
various biological agents
Wuhan Biological
Products Factory Wuchang Cultivation of various
biological agents
Chongqing
Biological
Products Factory
Chongqing
Research and cultivation
of various biological
agents
Kunming
Biological
Products Factory
Kunming
Research and cultivation
of various biological
agents
Beijing Biological
Products Factory Beijing Cultivation and research
in various bacteria
Central Biological
Products Testing
Laboratory
Beijing Liquid vaccines, testing of
antimicrobial products
Biological warfare
production facility
Shenyang,
Shanghai,
Lanzhou and
Guangzhou
Assessment
China while signatory to the BWC convention has not lost sight of the enormous deterrence
capability the biological weapons provide. Scanning of literature and laboratory construction
reveal how China has used every disaster as an opportunity to improve its capability. The
2003 SARS epidemic was used as an excuse to scout for and establish a BSL-4 laboratory.
In the absence of any verication procedure for peaceful development of biotechnology, the
MEMBERSHIP
5/13/2020
AN ASSESSMENT OF CHINA’S BIOLOGICAL WARFARE CAPABILITIES AND NEED FOR GLOBAL APPROACH TO BIO-SECUR…
https://usiofindia.org/publication/cs3-strategic-perspectives/an-assessment-of-chinas-biological-warfare-capabilities-and-need-for-global-approach…
5/7
BSL-4 laboratory provided an excellent platform for China to undertake dual-research –
vaccine generation and generation of biomaterials. Collaboration of PLA and the civil
agencies within China on production of vaccine or handling of genomic information
indicates that PLA is totally wedded with the various enterprises. The aliation of AMMS
with the Academy of Sciences and appointing one of the former President of AMMS with
the Academy of Military Sciences, is a pointer that PLA in working secretly into the non-
nuclear deterrent domain.
It can be seen by PLA as a guarantor of defence in depth. It may be working on the premise
of preparing for known and unknown threats by pursuing vigorous scientic research so
that it can respond rapidly to defend the society. CMC funded research and publications
from PLA National Defence University talking about the offensive possibilities of the
biological warfare only cements the belief that biological warfare is very much on the menu
of PLA. Punishing of He Jiankui is only to put course correction within Chinese research
community so that individual researchers refrain from treading the path on which the CPC
wants to have the full control. China is aware of the enormity of threat and wanted to bring
in draft legislation in October 2019 on biosecurity. However, COVID-19 has blown the lid.
Conclusion
According to the NTI, it is clear that China possesses the required technology and resources
to mass-produce biological agents. Today, it is likely that China’s current dual-use
infrastructure acts as the basis for its offensive biological capability. The enormity of
research being conducted in China in garb of civil-military fusion strategy aided by AI opens
up a new threat era. It raises the question of need for global bio-security mechanism and
measures. World cannot afford another pandemic.
End Notes
[1] Global Times. 2019. He Jiankui gets 3-year imprisonment for illegal gene editing. 30
December. Accessed April 30, 2020. https://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1175208.shtml.
[2] Pharma Industry Review. (2020, March 13). Biosafety Level 4 Laboratory, Wuhan Institute
of Virology, China. Retrieved from https://pharma-industry-review.com/biosafety-level-4-
laboratory-wuhan-institute-of-virology-china.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Vorndick, Elsa B. Kania and Wilson. 2019. Weaponizing Biotech: How China’s Military Is
Preparing for a ‘New Domain of Warfare’. 14 August. Accessed April 30, 2020.
https://www.defenseone.com/ideas/2019/08/chinas-military-pursuing-biotech/159167/.
[5] Ibid.
[6] Reuters . 2014. China approves experimental Ebola vaccine for clinical trials. 18
December. Accessed April 30, 2020. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-ebola-
china/china-approves-experimental-ebola-vaccine-for-clinical-trials-
idUSKBN0JW14020141218.
[7] Liu, Angus. 2020. China’s CanSino Bio advances COVID-19 vaccine into phase 2 on
preliminary safety data. 10 April. Accessed April 30, 2020.
MEMBERSHIP
5/13/2020
AN ASSESSMENT OF CHINA’S BIOLOGICAL WARFARE CAPABILITIES AND NEED FOR GLOBAL APPROACH TO BIO-SECUR…
https://usiofindia.org/publication/cs3-strategic-perspectives/an-assessment-of-chinas-biological-warfare-capabilities-and-need-for-global-approach…
6/7
https://www.ercepharma.com/vaccines/china-s-cansino-bio-advances-covid-19-vaccine-
into-phase-2-preliminary-safety-data.
[8] Thompson, Bellie. 2020. China ‘appoints its top military bio-warfare expert to take over
secretive virus lab in Wuhan’,. 20 February. Accessed April 30, 2020.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8003713/China-appoints-military-bio-weapon-
expert-secretive-virus-lab-Wuhan.html.
[9] People’s Daily Online. 2016. China’s rst gene bank to open in Shenzhen. 21 September.
Accessed April 30, 2020. http://www.china.org.cn/china/2016-
09/21/content_39339851.htm.
[10] Vorndick, Elsa B. Kania and Wilson. 2019. Weaponizing Biotech: How China’s Military Is
Preparing for a ‘New Domain of Warfare’. 14 August. Accessed April 30, 2020.
https://www.defenseone.com/ideas/2019/08/chinas-military-pursuing-biotech/159167/.
[11] Chansoria, Monika. 2020. Is China Producing Biological Weapons? Look At Its
Capabilities and International Compliance. 05 March. Accessed Apeil 29, 2020. https://japan-
forward.com/is-china-producing-biological-weapons-look-at-its-capabilities-and-
international-compliance/.
[12] Croddy, Eric. Spring 2003. “China’s Role in the Chemical and Biological Disarmament
Regime.” The Nonproliferation Review 13.,p.13.
[13] Pinko, Eyal. 2020. On Chinese biological warfare. 30 April. Accessed April 30, 2020.
https://www.israeldefense.co.il/he/node/42583.
Brig Vivek Verma is a Senior Research Scholar with the USI of India
Article uploaded on 03-05-2020
Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily represent
the views of the organisation that he belongs to or of the USI of India.
About Us
History
Charter
Management
Membership
Vacancies
Contact USI
President's Report
USI LINKS
USI Events
Forthcoming Events
Recent Events
Past Events
Gold Medal Essay
Competition
Lt Gen SL Menezes
Memorial Essay
Competition
MacGregor Medal
Publications
USI Books
Journals
USI Digests
Strategic Perspectives
USI Papers
USI CENTRES
Centre for Strategic
Studies and Simulation
(CS3)
Centre For Armed
Forces Historical
Research (CAFHR)
FACILITIES
Auditorium
Restaurant
Residency
MEMBERSHIP
5/13/2020
AN ASSESSMENT OF CHINA’S BIOLOGICAL WARFARE CAPABILITIES AND NEED FOR GLOBAL APPROACH TO BIO-SECUR…
https://usiofindia.org/publication/cs3-strategic-perspectives/an-assessment-of-chinas-biological-warfare-capabilities-and-need-for-global-approach…
7/7
Designed by- FlyingsaintsTerms & Conditions Privacy policy Contact us
MEMBERSHIP