The lawyer for the former Hydro-Quebec employee accused of economic espionage for the benefit of China asked politicians on Thursday to stay out of the case. He cited Minister Pierre Fitzgibbon’s “unfortunate” comments about “the Chinese”, which reminded him of the internment of Japanese Canadians during the Second World War, he pleaded before the court.
Yuesheng Wang, a former researcher accused of stealing industrial secrets from Hydro-Quebec for the benefit of China, assured the court on Thursday that he did not intend to flee if he was released pending his trial. He said he wanted to stay here to show he’s not the one we’ve been portraying since his arrest.
I want to clear my reputation. I want to tell my story.
Yuesheng Wang
“I have confidence in the justice of Canada,” he added, on the second day of his release investigation, at the Longueuil courthouse.
His lawyer, Mr.e Gary Martin, then denounced before the court the remarks of the Minister of Economy, Innovation and Energy, Pierre Fitzgibbon, reported by the daily The sun last week. The minister said he was “not so surprised” after Mr. Wang’s arrest. “We know the Chinese,” he said.
Me Martin saw in it “political incursions” which were “said outside the House as well”.
“It reminds us of the year 1942 in Canada, it’s very unfortunate […] It has to stay outside the judiciary, ”he pleaded. In 1942, during the Second World War, Prime Minister Mackenzie King’s government forcibly moved 22,000 Japanese Canadians from the western coastal regions of the country to camps, fearing that they would support Japan.
This comment by M.e Martin made the Crown prosecutor, Mr.e Marc Cigana. “There is no political consideration” in this file, he hammered after the fact.
An authority on batteries
The 35-year-old defendant also denied any relationship with the Chinese battery manufacturer Hina, where his former thesis supervisor now works. He assured that all the information he was able to transfer to China came from open sources. He was evasive when the Crown prosecutor told him about Hydro-Quebec’s rules on conflicts of interest or the ban on researchers using a personal email address to send documents from the state company.
Mr. Wang, who earned an annual salary of $120,000 at Hydro-Quebec, admitted that he had applied to Chinese institutions in recent years to find a job there. A completely normal thing for a scientist of his level, underlined his lawyer.
Monsieur does not work in maple syrup. It works in a global domain. That’s why we went looking for him to come here.
Me Gary Martin, attorney for Yuesheng Wang
“It is not abnormal that he can apply for positions elsewhere, being the authority on lithium batteries,” he added.
Leakage risk
On the side of the Crown, Mr.e Marc Cigana asked that the accused remain detained until his trial, arguing that he had few ties to Canada and that he could easily flee. Even if his passport is confiscated, the risk remains, according to him.
“Are you convinced that if he goes to the Chinese Consulate General, he will be refused a passport? Why believe that he would not be given a new passport? asked the prosecutor.
Me Cigana stressed that Mr. Wang is not accused of having acted “at the direction” of the Chinese government or “in association” with it, but rather “for the benefit” of the People’s Republic of China.
He added that nothing prohibits supporting the Chinese regime, but Canada is prohibited from doing so by stealing industrial secrets to the detriment of Canada’s economic interests.
He assured that the evidence would show that Mr. Wang engaged in criminal behavior that markedly deviates from what is expected of a public servant in Canada.