Man suspected of spying for China arrested in Belgium

Belgian authorities have arrested a man suspected of selling the commercial secrets of a local chipmaker to a Chinese competitor. Prosecutors say the suspect, who holds Chinese and Belgian citizenship, was detained at Brussels Airport in May as he prepared to fly to Beijing.

The man had worked as a senior researcher at Belgan, a Belgian manufacturer of gallium nitride semiconductors that has since gone bankrupt. Federal prosecutors said there were indications that he simultaneously served as a director of a Chinese company involved in similar manufacturing.

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There are indications that the person in question, who held a senior researcher position at the Belgian company, at the same time also served as a director of a Chinese company engaged in similar manufacturing activities.

“There are indications that the person in question, who held a senior researcher position at the Belgian company, at the same time also served as a director of a Chinese company engaged in similar manufacturing activities,” the federal prosecutor’s office said.

Prosecutors said the Chinese company was established only a few months after the 52-year-old began working for Belgan and was financed by a Chinese investment fund. The investigation could reveal the unlawful transfer abroad of specialized intellectual property and trade secrets connected with gallium nitride chip production. The technology is used in electric vehicles, aviation and the military industry.

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The investigation could reveal the unlawful transfer abroad of specialized intellectual property and trade secrets connected with the production of gallium nitride chips.

The suspect has been held pending trial and faces charges of espionage, participation in a criminal organization, unlawful use of company assets and disclosure of secrets. Prosecutors are also searching for a second suspect, another Chinese national who local media say was Belgan’s last chief executive. The case followed the company’s bankruptcy in 2024, which affected more than 400 employees.

It is the second China-linked espionage case uncovered in Belgium within several months. In July, authorities announced the arrest of a Canadian citizen of Chinese origin suspected of spying for a third party while interning at NATO. Belgium’s security agency has also described methods it says China uses to obtain strategically important Western knowledge, including establishing companies designed to replicate technology in China.

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Chinese companies invest in Belgian companies, research centers or subsidiaries, preferably small ones developing promising technologies but facing financing difficulties, in order to gain access to specific technologies.