A former engineer of the Canadian Space Agency was acquitted on charges that he was working for a Chinese firm

LONGUEUIL, Que. — 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 decision by Quebec District Court Judge Marc-Antoine Caretta in Que Longueuil, south of Montreal.

Zheng, a resident of Brossard, near Montreal, was accused of using his position to act on behalf of the Chinese aerospace company Spacety.

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. “Does Mr. Zheng's conduct amount to criminal negligence? In other words, does his conduct represent a substantial departure from the standard expected of an individual in the accused's position of trust?'

Carett said the court was unsure and had reasonable doubt.

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.

Zheng did not testify at the trial, but the Crown included an interview he gave with police officers after his arrest in 2021, in which he defended his actions. He said he only wanted to help two Canadian companies by establishing a relationship with a Chinese firm.

Zheng did not disclose the deals to officials at the space agency, where he worked for 25 years.

The court heard that Zheng did not receive compensation from Spacety when he approached the Canadian companies. But after he resigned from the Canadian space agency in September 2019, he looked for work and was hired by Spacety to work in Luxembourg.

“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 told reporters after the verdict.

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.

This Canadian Press report was first published on April 12, 2024.

Siddhartha Banerjee, The Canadian Press