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 — t

See Full Page