Espionage trial: Hydro-Québec says it learned of unauthorized publications in 2022
MONTREAL — Quebec’s hydro utility says it became aware in March 2022 of academic papers published without its knowledge by a former employee on trial for allegedly spying for China.
Patrick Phan, a manager at Hydro-Québec, testified today that a colleague showed him one unauthorized publication and asked if the utility’s intellectual property committee had been made aware.
Yuesheng Wang was fired in 2022 from a research institute at Hydro-Québec that looked into advanced battery technologies and energy storage systems.
Wang, 38, is the first person to be charged with economic espionage under Canada’s Security of Information Act.
He is also charged with fraudulently using a computer, breach of trust, committing preparatory acts on behalf of a foreign entity and informing that entity — the People’s Republic of China — of his intentions.
Phan told the trial in Superior Court that further searches uncovered several other unauthorized publications with Wang’s name on them.
The witness noted that some publications listed only Wang’s name, while others included his associations with Hydro-Québec and other researchers employed by the research facility.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 15, 2025.
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