Police said on Sunday that a Canadian man has been arrested for allegedly trying to sell classified information to the Chinese government about Canada’s warship building procurement strategy.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said that Qing Quentin Huang, 53, of Burlington, Ontario, was arrested on Saturday and appeared in court on Sunday.
Chief Superintendent Jennifer Strachan said the suspect is charged with communicating with a foreign entity under the Security of Information Act.
Police said the suspect works for Lloyd Register, a ship design sub-contractor to Irving Shipbuilding.
Authorities said the classified information relates to Canada’s strategy on building patrol ships, frigates, naval auxiliary vessels, science research vessels and ice breakers.
Police said the suspect acted alone in trying to pass information to the Chinese government.
“In these types of cases, sharing of information may give a foreign entity a tactical, military or competitive advantage by knowing the specification of vessels responsible for defending Canadian waters and Canadian sovereignty,” Strachan said.
Strachan called it valuable research and development information. She said it could also provide an unfair competitive and economic advantage.
Police first learned of the situation on Thursday and were able to act swiftly to safeguard the information involved, Strachan said.
“We are confident our prompt and firm intervention has limited the damage to our collective safety and security,” Strachan said.
Stephen Lecce, a spokesman for Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, praised police for their good work.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police Superintedent Larry Tremblay said Canada’s foreign affairs department has been in contact with their Chinese counterparts.
The suspect is due back in court tomorrow for a bail hearing. He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted.
Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Hong Lei (洪磊) rejected the allegations.
“The relevant reports about a Canadian man suspected of providing information to the Chinese government are completely baseless,” Hong told a daily news briefing in Beijing yesterday.
A Canadian navy intelligence officer was sentenced to 20 years in prison in February last year after pleading guilty to selling military secrets to Russia.
Sub-lieutenant Jeffrey Paul Delisle worked at a naval intelligence center and had access to information shared by Canada, the US, Britain, Australia and New Zealand.
Delisle admitted that he walked into the Russian embassy in Ottawa in 2007 and offered his services for money.
Additional reporting by Reuters
The military is to begin conscripting civilians next year, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet said yesterday, citing rising tensions with Thailand as the reason for activating a long-dormant mandatory enlistment law. The Cambodian parliament in 2006 approved a law that would require all Cambodians aged 18 to 30 to serve in the military for 18 months, although it has never been enforced. Relations with Thailand have been tense since May, when a long-standing territorial dispute boiled over into cross-border clashes, killing one Cambodian soldier. “This episode of confrontation is a lesson for us and is an opportunity for us to review, assess and
The Russian minister of foreign affairs warned the US, South Korea and Japan against forming a security partnership targeting North Korea as he visited the ally country for talks on further solidifying their booming military and other cooperation. Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov spoke on Saturday in Wonsan City, North Korea, where he met North Korean Leader Kim Jong-un and conveyed greetings from Russian President Vladimir Putin. Kim during the meeting reaffirmed his government’s commitment to “unconditionally support and encourage all measures” taken by Russia in its conflict with Ukraine. Pyongyang and Moscow share identical views on “all strategic issues in
IDENTITY: A sex extortion scandal involving Thai monks has deeply shaken public trust in the clergy, with 11 monks implicated in financial misconduct Reverence for the saffron-robed Buddhist monkhood is deeply woven into Thai society, but a sex extortion scandal has besmirched the clergy and left the devout questioning their faith. Thai police this week arrested a woman accused of bedding at least 11 monks in breach of their vows of celibacy, before blackmailing them with thousands of secretly taken photos of their trysts. The monks are said to have paid nearly US$12 million, funneled out of their monasteries, funded by donations from laypeople hoping to increase their merit and prospects for reincarnation. The scandal provoked outrage over hypocrisy in the monkhood, concern that their status
‘FALSE NARRATIVE’: China and the Solomon Islands inked a secretive security pact in 2022, which is believed to be a prelude to building a Chinese base, which Beijing denied The Australian government yesterday said it expects China to spy on major military drills it is conducting with the US and other allies. It also renewed a charge — denounced by Beijing as a “false narrative” — that China wants to establish a military base in the South Pacific. The comments by a government minister came as Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese made a six-day visit to China to bolster recently repaired trade ties. More than 30,000 military personnel from 19 nations are set to join in the annual Talisman Sabre exercises from yesterday across Australia and Papua New Guinea. “The Chinese military have
RSS