The Globe and Mail
· collected 2026-09-03 · by Colin Freeze, Matthew Frank
American authorities say they suspect that an Ontario university student had been spying for an unknown person in China by taking photos of aircraft and airport facilities in Toronto and Chicago.
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student → say → Toronto
On Aug. 23, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol officers arrested the student, Weiheng Zeng, a Chinese citizen born in 2004, while he attempted to cross the Ambassador Bridge and travel to Detroit, a criminal complaint filed by the FBI states.
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complaint → arrest → FBI
Mr. Zeng, an undergraduate at the University of Waterloo who lives in Cambridge, Ont., is being detained in Detroit, where he has been charged with one count of making false statements.
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he → live → statements
However, in an interview with The Globe and Mail Wednesday in Mr. Zeng’s family’s home in Cambridge, his twin sister, Meixuan Wang, disputed the allegations as far-fetched.
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sister → dispute → allegations
She described her brother as a “really nerdy, silly guy,” who is obsessed with airplanes and has autism spectrum disorder.
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who → describe → disorder
“If he’s a spy, I’m Trump’s dad,” said Ms. Wang, who also uses the name Jade.
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who → ’ → name
None of the allegations against Mr. Zeng have been tested in court.
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None → test → court
Defence lawyer Celeste Kinney, a public defender who represented Mr. Zeng in court after his arrest, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
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who → represent → comment
Ms. Wang told The Globe on Wednesday that the family is looking for a lawyer in the U.S. to represent her brother.
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family → tell → brother
An unnamed spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Ottawa said in an e-mail that it “firmly opposes hyping up the so-called ‘China spy threat’ and the baseless speculations and smears against China.”
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it → say → China
Speaking to The Globe on behalf of her family, Ms. Wang said she read the Federal Bureau of Investigation complaint and that it came as a surprise because her brother – known as “Billy” – always shared many details of his life with her.
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brother → speak → her
She said her brother’s autism spectrum disorder can cause people to regard him differently.
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people → say → him
He may not have realized the trouble he was in when he spoke to U.S. federal agents at the border, Ms. Wang said.
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Wang → realize → border
“He doesn’t look at your eyes when he’s speaking with you.
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he → look → you
He’s not really confident; he doesn’t recognize your emotions,” she said.
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she → ’ → emotions
Ms. Wang said her family came to Canada from the southwestern Chinese city of Chengdu during the pandemic, when she and her brother were high-school students.
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she → say → pandemic
Last month, they both celebrated getting their Canadian permanent residency status.
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they → celebrate → status
She said her brother was studying global business and digital arts at the University of Waterloo but wanted to be a pilot.
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brother → say → Waterloo
Ms. Wang showed The Globe a copy of her brother’s Yellow Zone pass to the London Ontario Air Show from two weeks ago, where he was among thousands of spectators watching U.S. F-22 Raptors take flight.
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Raptors → show → flight
Shortly after that air show, she said, she got in the family car with her brother, so he could drive her back to a Chicago art school, where she was studying ceramics.
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she → say → ceramics
When they tried crossing into the U.S. on Aug. 23, U.S. border guards singled them out for inspection, Ms. Wang said.
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Wang → try → inspection
He was arrested and she said she was held for a full day for questioning by U.S. Customs and the FBI before being let go.
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she → arrest → Customs
“They said: ‘Does your brother work for the Chinese government?
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brother → say → government
I said, ‘Oh no, of course not,’” she told The Globe.
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she → say → Globe
The FBI’s investigation was triggered after surveillance footage from April 21 showed Mr. Zeng taking pictures of aircraft and facilities at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, which he is alleged to have taken for a Chinese contact, according to the criminal complaint.
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he → trigger → complaint
Karen Tride, spokesperson for The Chicago Department of Aviation, which manages the airport, declined to comment on the incident.
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which → manage → incident
The footage also allegedly showed that he drove a van with Ontario licence plates into a FedEx employee parking lot near the airport.
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he → show → airport
At the time, FedEx employees spotted Mr. Zeng in the company’s parking lot taking pictures, walking the fence line and attempting to open locked trailers, the criminal complaint states.
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complaint → spot → trailers
FedEX didn’t respond to a request for comment.
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FedEX → respond → comment
Mr. Zeng was also seen climbing a parked forklift to take more pictures, and he later acknowledged doing so, the document says.
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document → see → pictures
It also says that U.S. law enforcement officials were able to tie the van to Mr. Zeng.
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officials → say → Zeng
On the day of his arrest, Mr. Zeng allegedly drove the same van to the Ambassador Bridge, with two passengers including his sister inside, and told U.S. border officials that he was travelling for a one-day trip to Chicago.
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he → drive → Chicago
Since the vehicle had been flagged after the April 21 incident, U.S. border officials and the FBI held Mr. Zeng and interviewed him multiple times, the criminal complaint states.
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complaint → flag → him
It alleges that his story changed in each interview.
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story → allege → interview
Mr. Zeng initially told investigators that he was taking photos for his hobby and for a flight-radar website, according to the complaint.
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he → tell → complaint
U.S. officials searched his phone and allegedly found pictures of multiple military aircraft.
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officials → search → aircraft
Investigators also found pictures of Mr. Zeng holding rifle-style firearms and wearing tactical clothing, the FBI alleges.
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FBI → find → clothing
Mr. Zeng told U.S. officials that the weapon was an airsoft gun, the complaint states.
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complaint → tell → officials
By the third interview, Mr. Zeng allegedly told investigators that a Chinese contact, who sent him an image of a badge with a picture of Tiananmen Square and a Chinese five-star symbol, had communicated with him online since November, 2024, and offered to pay Mr. Zeng money for the photos of specific planes and tail numbers at the Chicago airport.
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who → tell → airport
Mr. Zeng also allegedly said in a sworn statement that he believed that the contact was a member of the Chinese Communist Party and wanted the photos for “research,” the complaint states.
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complaint → say → research
…and 14 more, not listed.
