A former researcher at Quebec’s electrical utility charged with financial espionage for the advantage of China set off an inner probe after the publication of an instructional paper in March 2022 that included his identify, a witness instructed his trial Wednesday.
Patrick Phan, head of strategic initiatives and partnerships on the Hydro-Québec analysis institute, testified a colleague confirmed him an unauthorized publication that included Yuesheng Wang’s identify and requested if the utility’s mental property committee was conscious.
“This publication hadn’t gone via the committee or acquired committee approval,” Phan mentioned Wednesday.
The invention triggered an inner probe and that may end in Wang, 38, ending up on trial this yr on a number of costs, notably as the primary particular person to be charged with financial espionage below Canada’s Safety of Data Act.
Wang was fired in 2022 from the Heart of Excellence in Transportation Electrification and Power Storage, often known as CETEES, a analysis institute at Hydro-Québec situated in Varennes, Que., that appears into superior battery applied sciences and power storage methods.
Wang can also be charged below the Prison Code with fraudulently utilizing a pc, breach of belief, committing preparatory acts on behalf of a international entity and informing that entity — the Individuals’s Republic of China — of his intentions.
Wang, a Chinese language nationwide and a resident of Candiac, Que., south of Montreal, has pleaded not responsible.
The Crown alleges Wang submitted functions to Chinese language universities below the framework of the Thousand Abilities program, a recruitment instrument utilized by the Chinese language authorities to draw foreign-trained scientists to return to work in China as a part of its expertise acquisition coverage.
Wang allegedly dedicated to aiding Chinese language entities in commercializing battery applied sciences associated to confidential analysis domains at Hydro-Québec.
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Phan instructed the trial that additional searches uncovered a number of different unauthorized publications with Wang’s identify on them. The witness famous that some publications listed solely Wang’s identify, whereas others included his associations with Hydro-Québec and different researchers employed by the analysis facility.
The matter was rapidly escalated to company safety on the utility and in the end ended up within the palms of the RCMP in August 2022 and the federal Crown, which laid costs that November. Phan mentioned he didn’t personally ask Wang for explanations concerning the problematic publication.
The courtroom additionally heard Wednesday that Wang had not made his collaborations with Chinese language establishments a secret, having supplied an inventory when looking for a reclassification of his job in 2019. That checklist of publications and patents led a supervisor to warn him he couldn’t publish with exterior establishments with out informing Hydro-Québec.
Phan mentioned Wang wasn’t conscious of any points however dedicated to creating positive it might not occur once more.
The analysis institute is considered one of two operated by the utility. The ability in Varennes engages in so-called open innovation, which permits for publications. A second facility situated in Shawinigan, Que., is devoted to closed innovation, the place developments are too delicate to be printed.
“There are initiatives deemed as delicate at each (centres), provided that mental property is being developed for commercialization in each locations,” Phan mentioned. Phan famous that since publication can result in points stopping future patenting, all publications should undergo a two-phase approval course of.
Earlier Wednesday, Karim Zaghib, a retired Hydro-Québec official who based CETEES, described how Wang got here to Quebec. Wang had mentioned he met Zaghib in March 2015 whereas he was giving a convention in China. Whereas Zaghib didn’t bear in mind the encounter, Wang ended up in Quebec a yr later.
Wang’s curiosity in sodium-ion batteries caught Zaghib’s consideration because it was seen as a mandatory, long-term strategic focus on the facility.
When it comes to safety, Zaghib mentioned utilizing private electronic mail addresses for delicate data, particularly publications, was prohibited. However when Wang was first employed in 2016, he famous the power was in a transition part, and the rule was not strictly enforced for non-sensitive communications.
Zaghib additionally famous that utilizing USB keys had been forbidden for safety causes round 2018 or 2019. Among the many objects Wang returned upon his dismissal was a key that included 518 paperwork that had been deleted and two retained by the RCMP as a part of the Crown’s case.
Whereas Wang had sturdy educational potential as a result of his experience in principle and basic analysis, Zaghib mentioned the accused had not talked about making use of for different work. Zaghib, now a chemical and supplies engineering professor at Concordia College, mentioned Wang was a superb researcher.
The case is being heard by Quebec courtroom Decide Jean-Philippe Marcoux on the Longueuil courthouse.
This report by The Canadian Press was first printed Oct. 15, 2025.
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