The Royal Canadian Mounted Police arrested Hydro-Québec employee Yuesheng Wang after several months of investigation.
RCMP believes that Yuesheng Wang was sending trade secrets to China. He's been charged with obtaining trade secrets, the unauthorized use of a computer, fraud for obtaining trade secrets and breach of trust by a public officer.
Hydro-Québec is the fourth-largest hydropower producer in the world. The publicly-owned company oversees energy distribution in Québec. Wang worked in a research unit of the company and specialized in battery materials. Company representatives stressed that the researcher didn`t have any access to information connected with Hydro-Québec's core mission.
The RCMP initiated an investigation this August, after the security branch of Hydro-Québec filed a complaint against Wang.
“Our detection and intervention mechanisms allowed our investigators to bring this matter to the attention of the RCMP, with whom we have worked closely ever since,” Dominic Roy, Hydro-Québec senior director responsible for corporate security, said.
This arrest comes as Canadian politicians continue to fuel a "Chinese meddling" narrative. For instance, China is being blamed for allegedly interfering in Canadian elections in 2019 by funding 11 federal elections candidates. Also, claims have emerged that Chinese authorities established a network of secret “police stations” in Canada in order to monitor the Chinese diaspora.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stated that China was playing “aggressive games” with the country’s democratic institutions.
“Unfortunately, we’re seeing countries, state actors from around the world, whether it’s China or others, are continuing to play aggressive games with our institutions, with our democracies,” Trudeau said.
The Canadian Prime Minister's statement comes shortly after US President Joe Biden alleged that China is planning to interfere in American midterms. However, in his speech after the election day, Biden noted that Washington saw no interference in the electoral process.