Jul 2026: CAN Citizen Accused of Spying @ NATO (split from CHN Superthread)

[The Bread Guy]

LinkedIn is about as accurate as Mad Magazine, except the humour is unintentional.

What I learned from searching NATO SHAPE Intern on LinkedIn......

NATO, much like the UN, is full of bullshit jobs .

Still, not without its uses to some

Safeguarding our secrets - Canada.ca

www.canada.ca

Five Eyes warn of Chinese spies posing as job recruiters

Chinese military intelligence officers are posing as recruiters on sites such as LinkedIn, Indeed and Upwork to lure people with access to sensitive information into writing paid reports, the Five Eyes agencies have warned in a joint bulletin setting out how the approach works.

ukdefencejournal.org.uk

 

[The Bread Guy]

BEL media update (according to Google translate): she stays in jail for the moment ...

La stagiaire canadienne du SHAPE maintenue en détention préventive pour espionnage - RTBF Actus

La ressortissante canadienne d’origine chinoise, stagiaire au SHAPE (le quartier général stratégique des puissances...

www.rtbf.be

... with this multi-media-outlet investigation into who the woman in question might be.

Espionage at NATO: This is the suspect who was arrested last week

After allegations of a spy at NATO’s offices emerged over the weekend, FTM and media partners can reveal details on the identity of the suspect.

www.ftm.eu

Also archived here and text attached. Interesting back-story - key takeaways (as always, assumed innocent until proven guilty via due process, and usual caveats re: unnamed sources):

• Interning @ SHAPE IT since 2025
• "... fluent Chinese and English, specialises in artificial intelligence, the media consortium’s investigation shows. In 2022, she obtained a Master’s degree in computer science from a Canadian university and subsequently wrote several academic papers, the most recent of which examined how artificial intelligence that detects patterns can be better protected against hostile attacks."
• "... Canadian authorities had given approval for her internship. “She held a security clearance issued by Canada,” a security official said ..."
• "... Z. was seen hanging around NATO’s buildings and was frequently asking hypothetical questions about breaches of security protocols ..."
• Also worked for European Space Agency, WTO and "various Canadian government organisations"

 

[Czech_pivo]

BEL media update (according to Google translate): she stays in jail for the moment ...

La stagiaire canadienne du SHAPE maintenue en détention préventive pour espionnage - RTBF Actus

La ressortissante canadienne d’origine chinoise, stagiaire au SHAPE (le quartier général stratégique des puissances...

www.rtbf.be

... with this multi-media-outlet investigation into who the woman in question might be.

Espionage at NATO: This is the suspect who was arrested last week

After allegations of a spy at NATO’s offices emerged over the weekend, FTM and media partners can reveal details on the identity of the suspect.

www.ftm.eu

Also archived here and text attached. Interesting back-story - key takeaways (as always, assumed innocent until proven guilty via due process, and usual caveats re: unnamed sources):

• Interning @ SHAPE IT since 2025
• "... fluent Chinese and English, specialises in artificial intelligence, the media consortium’s investigation shows. In 2022, she obtained a Master’s degree in computer science from a Canadian university and subsequently wrote several academic papers, the most recent of which examined how artificial intelligence that detects patterns can be better protected against hostile attacks."
• "... Canadian authorities had given approval for her internship. “She held a security clearance issued by Canada,” a security official said ..."
• "... Z. was seen hanging around NATO’s buildings and was frequently asking hypothetical questions about breaches of security protocols ..."
• Also worked for European Space Agency, WTO and "various Canadian government organisations"

Linked in account is available

• No pic (could have been removed already) (Virtually EVERYONE, especially the younger people just starting their careers, has a profile pic)
• Lists that she's a 'Research Trainee at European Space Agency, not at NATO
• Lists Mons, Belgium as her location
• Under the 'About' section it states 'Aggressively Asian' and lists the Chinese flag, then the CDN flag

No posts or activity is listed, again all of this could have already been wiped cleaned.

Under the Comments and Reactions section.

• A few pics of a Prof/class from U of Ottawa (she could possibly be in the pics, unsure)
• Comments from her congratulating a young female from 3yrs ago completing her internship as ESA (European Space Agency)

She has 1,134 Followers (a fairly large number of a young person just starting their career). Unable to access this list to see who any of them are. I'm sure that this has been locked as well.

I'm going to assume that every person on her 'followers' list will be having a comprehensive 'look at' by the appropriate 3/4 letter agencies. along with everyone that she 'liked' their post or has commented on in the past.

 

[Czech_pivo]

BEL media update (according to Google translate): she stays in jail for the moment ...

La stagiaire canadienne du SHAPE maintenue en détention préventive pour espionnage - RTBF Actus

La ressortissante canadienne d’origine chinoise, stagiaire au SHAPE (le quartier général stratégique des puissances...

www.rtbf.be

... with this multi-media-outlet investigation into who the woman in question might be.

Espionage at NATO: This is the suspect who was arrested last week

After allegations of a spy at NATO’s offices emerged over the weekend, FTM and media partners can reveal details on the identity of the suspect.

www.ftm.eu

Also archived here and text attached. Interesting back-story - key takeaways (as always, assumed innocent until proven guilty via due process, and usual caveats re: unnamed sources):

• Interning @ SHAPE IT since 2025
• "... fluent Chinese and English, specialises in artificial intelligence, the media consortium’s investigation shows. In 2022, she obtained a Master’s degree in computer science from a Canadian university and subsequently wrote several academic papers, the most recent of which examined how artificial intelligence that detects patterns can be better protected against hostile attacks."
• "... Canadian authorities had given approval for her internship. “She held a security clearance issued by Canada,” a security official said ..."
• "... Z. was seen hanging around NATO’s buildings and was frequently asking hypothetical questions about breaches of security protocols ..."
• Also worked for European Space Agency, WTO and "various Canadian government organisations"

Would be interesting to know who her lawyer is and the law firm that he/she belongs to. That sort of information can go along way in understanding the lay of the land.

 

[daftandbarmy]

LinkedIn is about as accurate as Mad Magazine, except the humour is unintentional.

China seems to be a big fan, though

Five Eyes spy agencies issue warning over LinkedIn recruitment by Chinese intelligence​

The rare joint bulletin by the UK, US, Canadian, Australian and New Zealand security services laid out efforts to obtain sensitive information through job ads.

The spy agencies of the Five Eyes international intelligence partnership warned on Wednesday that Chinese spies are attempting to recruit and compromise government and military personnel to gain a tactical advantage over the U.S. and its allies.

In a rare joint bulletin, the intelligence agencies of Britain, the U.S., Canada, Australia and New Zealand warned that China is increasingly using professional networking sites and job platforms — including LinkedIn and Indeed — to gain access to classified information.

Five Eyes spy agencies issue warning over LinkedIn recruitment by Chinese intelligence

The rare joint bulletin by the UK, US, Canadian, Australian and New Zealand security services laid out efforts to obtain sensitive information through job ads.

www.politico.eu

 

[The Bread Guy]

Linked in account is available ...

Loving the "Entrepreneurial Mindset Certificate" cert

 

[KevinB]

Would be interesting to know who her lawyer is and the law firm that he/she belongs to. That sort of information can go along way in understanding the lay of the land.

Not really. No Gov is going to make an effort for a burned asset.
Maybe a trade later - but they won’t be spending money nor anything that could link anything directly.

Countries are a lot less scrupulous than organized crime in this respect.

 

[Czech_pivo]

Not really. No Gov is going to make an effort for a burned asset.
Maybe a trade later - but they won’t be spending money nor anything that could link anything directly.

Countries are a lot less scrupulous than organized crime in this respect.

Interesting.

So you think its going to be either a 'public defender' or whatever her family/her can afford themselves?

Is the G of C required to provide any legal assistance?

 

[KevinB]

Interesting.

So you think its going to be either a 'public defender' or whatever her family/her can afford themselves?

Well that would be my guess.

Is the G of C required to provide any legal assistance?

I have no idea, it seems that while the GoC had a duty wrt to the security clearance - the position wasn’t GoC related and that she was a private citizen, so while entitled to standard consular services, but no legal assistance that I can tell.

@brihard more your forte

 

[Czech_pivo]

Well that would be my guess.

I have no idea, it seems that while the GoC had a duty wrt to the security clearance - the position wasn’t GoC related and that she was a private citizen, so while entitled to standard consular services, but no legal assistance that I can tell.

@brihard more your forte

I'd like to understand her 'tax status' within Canada and her 'residency' in terms of Ontario Healthcare coverage (assuming that she'd been an Ontario resident in the past.

Her 1yr time as an intern at NATO, her 10months as an intern in Italy at ESA and her time in Switzerland for the WTO. All that time outside of Canada as an 'intern' should be of potential interest to both the CRA and OHIP.

 

[The Bread Guy]

I'd like to understand her 'tax status' within Canada and her 'residency' in terms of Ontario Healthcare coverage (assuming that she'd been an Ontario resident in the past.

Her 1yr time as an intern at NATO, her 10months as an intern in Italy at ESA and her time in Switzerland for the WTO. All that time outside of Canada as an 'intern' should be of potential interest to both the CRA and OHIP.

All true, but methinks this isn’t the biggest fish to be fried at this point Maybe once she finishes being a guest of the Belgian court & penal system, though …