Belgian authorities have not identified the country they believe was the target or beneficiary of the alleged espionage, but they have noted that the suspect is of “Chinese origin.”
The unnamed woman was arrested in Mons, Belgium, on July 24. She had been working as an intern at NATO’s Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE), the alliance’s military command responsible for planning and conducting its operations.
Anandasangaree made the comment in response to a question from reporters about vetting processes by the RCMP and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) in light of the suspect’s arrest. He said that he can confirm a Canadian national interning at NATO in Belgium was arrested and said Canada will “continue to investigate the processes we have and the the security screening.”
“I think it’s important to get to the bottom of what happened, and that is a commitment that we make to you today,” Anandasangaree said, while answering questions from reporters on July 27 at an unrelated press conference in New Westminster, B.C.
“What I don’t want to do is speculate on this specific case,” he added.
The public safety minister said he’s confident that the suspect has not worked for any other Canadian government department and has “not passed on information to a hostile foreign government.”
“What I will say is that the allegations that are that have been made are quite serious. Canadian law enforcement and Canadian authorities are continuously monitoring and will monitor the impact of the work this this individual has done, if they have done any work in Canada,” Anandasangaree said, adding “ultimately we need to get to the bottom of this, and we need to ensure that these types of incidents do not occur in the future.”
NATO said its operations haven’t been impacted by the case and said that SHAPE continues to carry out its duties “without interruption.”
The 32-member alliance, which includes Canada, the U.S. and the UK, has ramped up warnings about China in recent years.
“China’s stated ambitions and assertive behaviour present systemic challenges to the rules-based international order and to areas relevant to Alliance security,” reads a 2021 NATO statement, adding that China’s cooperation with Russia and “frequent lack of transparency and use of disinformation” pose serious concerns to the alliance.
