Chinese electrical employee charged with espionage in Canada

TRENTON, Canada

An employee and researcher of the government-owned energy company Hydro-Quebec in Canada was charged Monday with spying for China.

Yuesheng Wang, 35, who worked in the area of batteries, was arrested at his home in Candiac in the province of Quebec following an investigation by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).

Wang faces four charges - fraud for obtaining trade secrets, unauthorized computer use, breach of trust by a public officer and obtaining trade secrets. The latter is a charge under the Security of Information Act and deals with national security concerns.

The RCMP said this is the first time a charge of obtaining trade secrets has been laid under the Act.

"This investigation is very significant and sends a clear message," said Insp. David Beaudoin, who leads the RCMP's Integrated National Security Enforcement team, which conducted the investigation. "We do believe the investigation shows that the actions undertaken by Mr. Wang are criminal in nature."

The crimes were allegedly committed between February 2018 and October 2022.

Wang is said to have published secret material - academic papers and patents - with Chinese universities. Wang, who was subsequently fired, worked as a researcher in the Hydro-Quebec Center of Excellence in Transportation Electrification and Energy Storage, with his research dealing with batteries.

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation said Wang had worked at Hydro-Quebec since October 2016 and previous to that was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Arkansas and a visiting researcher at Queen Mary University in London.