Wanping Zheng, this former Canadian Space Agency (CSA) scientist accused of breach of trust for having worked in parallel for the benefit of a Chinese satellite company, assured the police that he remained loyal to Canada and that he never wanted to harm his host country, according to a recording of his interrogation played at his trial.
Mr. Zheng, whose trial is currently taking place at the Longueuil courthouse, has chosen not to testify in his defense, as is his right. The Crown, however, released a video recording of the statements he made to Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officers after his arrest in 2021.
“I have done nothing to harm the country. I’m trying to help the country,” he tells an investigator on the video.
When the police officer points out to him that he has talked with Canadian space exploration companies to get them to work with Spacety, a Chinese satellite company, Mr. Zheng replies that he saw nothing wrong with this collaboration. .
“I wasn’t sure I wasn’t supposed to do that. Because I believe that it does no harm to Canada. And I am loyal to Canada. I think it’s a good thing,” he insists.
The scientist also explains to the police officer that international collaboration, including with China, was part of his mandate within the government agency.
“It’s part of my job!” I was even asked to contact the Chinese space agency for CSA. OK ? To arrange a meeting of the president of the ASC with the Chinese. For what ? Because I am a Chinese from the ASC,” he said.
“I went to China twice, with an ASC delegation,” continues the scientist.
Not talking about your work
During his interrogation by the police, he also deplores the suspicions that weigh on him because he was born in China. He says he was questioned by agents of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), the agency responsible for counter-espionage in Canada, simply because of his origins.
“They interviewed me several times. Because I’m Chinese. Because I have to go to China. Because I have ties to China. But all the Chinese here today, they have ties to China. My mother still lives in China, I have to go back to see her. I have two sisters. You grow up there so of course you have several friends,” he explains.
“The only thing is that when I go there, I don’t talk about my work. What we do here. I know, because I have a level of security, that I must not talk about that,” he continues.
In his statements to the police, Mr. Zheng also criticizes the meager funding of the Canadian space program and denigrates its leaders. “They don’t run the CSA like a space agency, they run it like a sort of Canada Post office. »
A partner that businesses needed
The prosecution’s thesis is that Wanping Zheng used his key position at the Canadian Space Agency to further Spacety’s interests, contacting Canadian companies and enticing them to work for the Chinese company. These partners were in a position of dependence on the Canadian Space Agency and one of them came to tell the court that he felt bad refusing, because he did not want to offend Mr. Zheng, whom he needed to its projects with the Canadian government.
Following the end of his career at the Canadian Space Agency, Mr. Zheng became Vice-President at Spacety.
The evidence is closed in the trial and Judge Marc-Antoine Carette is expected to deliberate the case next week. The prosecution was represented by Me Marc Cigana and Me Samuel Monfette-Tessier, of the Public Prosecution Service of Canada. The defense was provided by M.e Andrew Barbacki and M.e Jordan Trevick.