The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) have arrested a former Canadian Space Agency engineer residing in Brossard, who allegedly used his post to help a Chinese company set up satellite communications relay stations in Iceland. The police consider this to be a case of Chinese interference in the federal apparatus.
“Yes, we can categorize it as foreign interference,” confirmed Inspector David Beaudoin, of the Integrated National Security Team (INSET), in an interview with Press Wednesday.
Wanping Zheng, who until 2019 worked at the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) offices in Saint-Hubert, on the South Shore of Montreal, has been arrested in recent weeks and released with a promise to appear in court on December 15. The 61-year-old man is accused of breach of trust by an official.
IMAGE FROM A PRESENTATION ON YOUTUBE
Wanping Zheng
Anomalies
According to the indictment filed in court, the events took place between 1er July 2018 and May 30, 2019, in Saint-Hubert, Brossard, elsewhere in Quebec as well as in Ottawa, Toronto and elsewhere in Ontario.
The authorities’ claims have not been tested by the courts, but investigators say they have evidence that shows the engineer was carrying out “illegal activities alongside his duties.” He allegedly used his post to help a Chinese company set up satellite relay stations in Iceland.
The RCMP do not want to explain how he would have done it, but Inspector Beaudoin says the suspect’s position within the Canadian space program was “central to his ability” to help the Chinese firm.
Several companies in the Chinese aerospace sector have close ties to the Chinese Communist Party regime.
The Integrated National Security Team says it began an investigation into Wanping Zheng in October 2019, after being alerted by the Space Agency to anomalies involving the employee.
“When doubts were raised about the subject’s activities outside of working hours, the CSA took various measures, including conducting an internal investigation and restricting access to the information. Other measures have [suivi] and the person involved stopped working at ASC in 2019, ”the space exploration organization said in a statement.
Manager of a company specializing in small satellites
Wanping Zheng has been seen for a few years as a leader of Spacety, a space exploration company founded in China in 2016 and having since 2019 an international head office in Luxembourg.
The company says it specializes in small satellites and satellite-related services. It says it has developed, launched and operated around twenty satellites for missions related to science and technology.
Last February, Wanping Zheng gave a lecture on Zoom in front of a group of space exploration enthusiasts in Iceland. In his presentation, he said he had worked for 26 years in the Canadian space program.
Wanping Zheng claimed to have worked on several Canadian satellite projects, the International Space Station program and several communications technologies developed in Canada.
Last January, in an interview with the magazine MIT Technology Review, he said he believed China was the country best positioned to take advantage of private sector demand to build large-scale satellites and launch rockets.
“What is the best country to trust for manufacturing needs?” It’s China. It is the manufacturing center of the world, ”he said.
Press tried to reach Mr. Zheng to get his views on the filing of the charges on Wednesday, but no one answered the door of his Brossard residence.
A “very present” threat
The RCMP said on Wednesday that it is putting a lot of effort into combating foreign power interference in Canada.
“It is a threat that is very present in Canada at the moment and it is a threat that we take very seriously,” said Inspector David Beaudoin. According to him, it would be wrong to point to a single country as being the author of this kind of activity. “There isn’t just one foreign player,” he says.
The inspector says businesses and government agencies, or anyone in the general public, who notice suspicious activity that may be related to foreign interference can contact the federal police force. This public support is crucial, he says.
The scope of the activities is so large, it would be difficult for the RCMP to do it alone.
Inspector David Beaudoin, Integrated National Security Team, on public assistance
Mr. Beaudoin adds that the police are responsible for detecting and disrupting attempts at foreign interference. Sometimes these succeed in defeating foreign powers and disrupting their plans without anyone finding themselves accused in court and without the case being made public.
“It is even a regular phenomenon in the RCMP’s activities related to national security. The judicialization of cases is not an end in itself, ”he says.
With the collaboration of Florence Morin-Martel, Press
356 million
Budget of the Canadian Space Agency in 2020-2021
670
Number of employees of the Canadian Space Agency
Source: Canadian Space Agency
Another case that makes people talk
In 2020, Press first revealed the results of an FBI investigation according to which a McGill professor who participated in the Canadian space program had recruited several graduates of his university for the benefit of a spy ring that stole trade secrets on two continents to to fuel the development of missiles in China. The professor in question, Ishiang Shih, denies the charges against him in this regard in the United States and has not yet been tried.