LoNGUEUIL, Que. — A former Canadian Space Agency engineer was
acquitted Friday on a breach of trust charge over his dealings with a
Chinese aerospace company while in the federal agency’s employ.

Wanping Zheng, 63, expressed relief after the ruling by Quebec court
Judge Marc-Antoine Carette in Longueuil, Que., south of Montreal.

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

Carette read his ruling aloud in court, saying that while Zheng’s
actions certainly warranted disciplinary measures, the Crown failed to
prove he committed a crime.

“It is clear that Mr. Zheng made many errors of judgment, his actions
clearly constitute many disciplinary faults,” Carette said. But as to
whether Zheng’s behaviour constituted criminal negligence or a “marked
departure” from the standard expected of someone in his position,
Carette said the court had reasonable doubts.

The Crown alleged that Zheng had acted as a middle man for the Chinese
firm by contacting two Canadian space companies to do business with
it. The alleged infractions took place between July 2018 and May 2019.

Notably, he contacted Ewan Reid, CEO of Mission Control Space
Services, to discuss the construction of a satellite ground station in
Iceland on behalf of Spacety. Reid had close ties to the Nordic island
country.

During the discussions, it became clear to Reid there wasn’t much work
for his company and that Zheng was more interested in his ties to
Iceland. He told the court he had reservations about offending Zheng,
a high-ranking engineer with the space agency, a key client of his
company.

https://nationalpost.com/pmn/news-pmn/canada-news-pmn/former-canadian-space-agency-engineer-acquitted-on-charge-of-acting-for-chinese-firm