A former CSA engineer was acquitted of acting for a Chinese firm

Content of the article

LONGUEUIL — A former Canadian space agency engineer was acquitted Friday of breach of trust charges over his dealings with a Chinese aerospace company while working for the federal agency.

Wangping Zheng, 63, expressed relief after the ruling by Judge Marc-Antoine Caretta of Longueuil, Quebec.

Content of the article

Zheng, of Brossard, was charged with using his position to act on behalf of the Chinese aerospace company Spacety.

Content of the article

Caretta read his decision aloud in court, saying that while Zheng's actions warranted disciplinary action, the Crown had failed to prove he had committed a crime.

“Mr. Zheng clearly made many errors of judgment, his actions clearly constituted many disciplinary errors,” Caretta said. But as to whether Zheng's behavior amounted to criminal negligence or a “clear deviation” from the standard expected of someone in his position, Carett said the court was skeptical.

The Crown alleged that Zheng acted as an intermediary for a Chinese firm to contact two Canadian space companies and do business with them. The alleged violations occurred between July 2018 and May 2019.

Notably, he contacted Evan Reed, CEO of Mission Control Space Services, to discuss the construction of a satellite ground station in Iceland on behalf of Spacety. Reed had strong ties to the North Island country.

During the discussion, it became clear to Reid that his company didn't have much work to do and that Zheng was more interested in his connection to Iceland. He told the court he had reservations about offending Zheng, a senior engineer at the space agency who is a major client of his company.

Content of the article

Content of the article

Zheng also contacted Canadian satellite firm Kepler Communications about a business opportunity to build and launch 50 satellites with Spacety.

He did not disclose his actions to the space agency, where he worked for 25 years. The court heard the federal agency demanded Zheng reveal and document all his communications.

Agency officials also noted difficulties with Zheng's understanding of conflicts of interest. They said that he had to be told several times to be careful with his interactions.

Zheng was placed on leave in December 2018 after the CSA opened an internal investigation into his conduct. He left CSA completely in September 2019. In the days following his departure, the agency contacted the RCMP and he was charged in 2021.

He did not testify at the trial, but Taji Zheng included an interview with police officers after his arrest in 2021, in which he defended his actions. He said he only wanted to help the two Canadian companies by acting as an intermediary and connecting with the Chinese firm. However, he admitted that his actions went too far.

Content of the article

The court said Zheng did not seek or receive compensation from Spacety when he approached the Canadian companies. He also did not share information with the Canadian Space Agency, a fact the judge emphasized.

A month after leaving CSA, he was looking for work and was hired by Spacety to work in Luxembourg.

Zheng did not comment after Friday's ruling, but his lawyer spoke briefly to reporters.

“I'm very happy for Mr Zheng, it's been very stressful for him, I don't think he's committed any crime and the judge said so,” defense attorney Andrew Barbecki said.

Prosecutor Mark Cigana said his office will study the decision before deciding on an appeal.

“If we thought it was an error in judgment, we wouldn't have prosecuted him,” Cigana said.

Content of the article