NATO intern arrested in Belgium on suspicion of spying for China, source says

Open this photo in gallery:A NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey on July 7. NATO’s 2022 Strategic Concept document notes that China poses 'systemic challenges' to Euro-Atlantic security.Hussein Malla/The Associated PressA Canadian NATO intern arrested in Belgium is accused by prosecutors in that country of spying for China, a national security source told The Globe and Mail.Since announcing the arrest of the intern on Saturday, Belgian authorities have not released the name of the woman, but the source identified her to The Globe as Biwei Zhang, who also goes by the name Claire Zhang. The source said Ms. Zhang’s North Atlantic Treaty Organization posting was sponsored by Global Affairs Canada and that the department was responsible for her security check. Global Affairs did not immediately respond to a request for comment.A second national-security source also confirmed that the allegations involve China. The Globe is not identifying the sources, who were not authorized to speak publicly about the case.Public records and Ms. Zhang’s social media profiles indicate that she has a history of working at federal agencies in Ottawa, including at the national space agency and Statistics Canada. Carter Mann, head of media relations at Statistics Canada, said the agency takes “this matter very seriously,” but declined to comment further. “We will continue to collaborate domestically and with our international partners to protect national security and preserve the integrity of the investigative process,” he said in a statement.A federal court decision shows that, in 2023, the Public Service Commission of Canada found that Ms. Zhang committed fraud when she applied for the same job twice at the Canada Border Services Agency and didn’t alert anyone that both applications were from the same person. Ms. Zhang submitted applications from two e-mail addresses, one from York University and the other from the University of Montreal, and twice wrote the same standardized exams in an effort, the commission found, “to increase her chances of being appointed.”She sought judicial review of the commission’s ruling, but a federal court judge dismissed her appeal in 2024, records show. Ms. Zhang has not made any public comment on the allegations against her since her detention, nor has ‌any lawyer ⁠acting on her behalf.Ottawa vetted NATO intern arrested on suspicion of espionageA spokesperson for York University told The Globe that security officials recently contacted the school to inquire about Ms. Zhang, who received an undergraduate degree from the school in economics in 2019.An individual named Biwei Zhang, born in 1993, co-owns a property in North York, just south of the York University campus. A neighbour told The Globe that they believed the property was being rented out. A woman listed as a co-owner of the property, but who lives in a nearby townhouse, declined to answer questions when she was approached by a Globe reporter on Thursday. Ms. Zhang also studied at the University of Ottawa, where she received a master’s degree in computer science and systems engineering, according to her online résumé on LinkedIn. In ‌announcing Ms. Zhang’s arrest, Belgian prosecutors said the woman worked at NATO’s military headquarters in the city of Mons and was a “Canadian national of Chinese origin” suspected of spying for a third country and belonging to a criminal organization.Beijing has yet to comment publicly on the case. China’s embassies in Canada and Belgium did not respond to requests for comment from The Globe.NATO’s 2022 Strategic Concept document, ​the foundation of the military alliance’s policies, says China poses “systemic challenges” to Euro-Atlantic security. In response, China’s foreign ministry accused NATO ​of groundless accusations, smears and attacks.Jody Thomas, a former national security adviser to Justin Trudeau when he was prime minister, told The Globe that it was unusual that someone with Ms. Zhang’s background in computer science – and not defence or security – would apply for and be approved to work at NATO. She said senior Canadian federal officials should be reviewing how the intern was vetted and received clearance to work for NATO. “I think the concern level would be very high in government. Everybody wants to know what happened,” Ms. Thomas said. “There are a lot of questions to be asked.”She said Canadian officials would want to review the woman’s entire screening process to understand if there were any flaws in the security-clearance programs run by the RCMP and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS). “Somebody was monitoring her activity and discovered something that they were concerned about. So that’s really positive. But how she got there, there’s more to learn,” Ms. Thomas said. It’s also possible that there were no red flags in her background that would have raised suspicions prior to her working at NATO, she added. A spokesperson for Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe, or SHAPE, in Belgium said Thursday that while it “cannot go into specifics regarding the criminal investigation, we can say that it concerns alleged unauthorized activities with potential security implications.”CSIS also said Thursday that it could not comment on specifics of the case.But it said, “Canadians can be assured that our law enforcement and intelligence agencies maintain strong relationships with partner agencies, at home and abroad, that assist in addressing threats like those described in relation to the arrest made in Belgium last week,” said CSIS spokesperson Magali Hébert.Simon LaFortune, a spokesperson for Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree, declined to comment on whether a probe has been launched into the NATO intern’s previous roles in Canadian government departments and agencies.The Canadian Space Agency did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Ms. Zhang has also said on LinkedIn that she played a role in artificial intelligence decisions at the Standards Council of Canada, but the organization declined to comment. On Tuesday, prosecutors said Ms. Zhang’s pretrial detention had been extended by one month. A spokesperson said on Thursday that she had appealed the decision, with a ​ruling on the appeal expected within the next two weeks.NATO reported the suspect ⁠to Belgian ​intelligence after observing her behaviour, according to Belgium’s federal prosecutor’s office. A NATO spokesperson ​has said that there was no indication the incident had affected the alliance’s operational readiness, command and control, or continuing missions.With reports from Reuters and Stephanie Chambers