A Chinese student studying at a Canadian university has been arrested in the United States after US authorities accused him of taking photographs at airports and freight facilities at the request of a person he allegedly believed was connected to the Chinese government.
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he → study → government
Weiheng Zeng, an undergraduate student at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, was arrested in Michigan on August 23 after crossing the Ambassador Bridge between Canada and the US.
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Zeng → arrest → Canada
Zeng has been charged with making false statements to federal authorities.
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Zeng → charge → authorities
He has not been charged with espionage, and the allegations contained in an FBI affidavit have not been tested in court.
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allegations → charge → court
The case began with an incident at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport in April.
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case → begin → April
According to an affidavit filed in a Michigan court, a man was seen taking photographs at a FedEx cargo facility on April 21.
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man → accord → April
The man allegedly climbed onto a forklift and attempted to open locked trailers.
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man → climb → trailers
Investigators later linked the incident to a dark blue minivan with Ontario licence plates.
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Investigators → link → plates
About four months later, on August 23, Zeng attempted to enter the US again in the same vehicle.
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Zeng → attempt → vehicle
He was pulled aside by border officers and questioned before FBI agents became involved.
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agents → pull → officers
What followed were three interviews in which, according to the affidavit, Zeng gave investigators increasingly detailed and conflicting accounts of what he had been doing.
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he → follow → what
Initially, Zeng said he had travelled to Chicago to photograph aircraft.
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he → say → aircraft
He had told US customs officers that he was visiting his sister.
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he → tell → sister
Severeal photos of aircraft, military planes on phone
Agents searching his phone allegedly found photographs of aircraft, including military planes.
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Agents → search → planes
They also found photographs of Zeng and other people wearing tactical clothing and holding rifle-style firearms.
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They → find → firearms
Zeng told investigators the weapons were airsoft guns and said he had been photographing aircraft models for a flight-tracking website.
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he → tell → website
He also denied having military training.
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He → deny → training
During a later interview, he reportedly said he had photographed planes landing at O'Hare from a public parking lot.
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he → say → lot
He subsequently acknowledged going to the FedEx facility and climbing onto a forklift to take photographs.
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He → acknowledge → photographs
The affidavit also alleged that Zeng had previously trespassed at a FedEx facility at Toronto Pearson International Airport in Canada, where he was caught.
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he → allege → Canada
But investigators say the most significant details emerged during a third interview.
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details → say → interview
Chinese contact approached through a website for aviation enthusiasts
Zeng allegedly told them that a Chinese contact had approached him through a website used by aviation enthusiasts and asked him to photograph specific aircraft.
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contact → approach → aircraft
The contact supplied aircraft tail numbers and allegedly paid him between $20 and $30 for each photograph.
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contact → supply → photograph
According to the affidavit, the contact also sent Zeng SIM cards to use for communications.
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contact → accord → communications
Zeng said he would destroy the cards and delete conversations and photographs after completing assignments.
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he → say → assignments
He told investigators that he had accepted assignments at O'Hare and Pearson, but rejected requests to photograph locations in Orlando and Las Vegas.
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he → tell → Orlando
The Chinese contact initially presented the assignments as aviation “research”, with Zeng allegedly told to photograph rare aircraft.
But investigators say Zeng eventually acknowledged that the aircraft explanation was a cover.
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explanation → present → aircraft
Zeng also allegedly told the FBI that the contact had sent him a photograph of a badge and videos showing scenes that appeared accessible only to security officials.
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that → tell → officials
According to the affidavit, Zeng had been communicating with the contact for about three months beginning in late 2024.
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Zeng → accord → 2024
He said the person eventually asked him for “help”, and he agreed because he thought it was “cool.”
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it → say → help
The alleged payments were made through transfers to a Bank of China account, the affidavit says.
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affidavit → allege → account
Investigators also discovered that the online forum where Zeng said he had met the contact apparently did not exist.
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he → discover → contact
Zeng's sister denied the allegations that her brother is knowingly involved in espionage for Beijing.
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brother → deny → Beijing
"If my brother is a Chinese spy, then I'm Trump's father," Meixuan Wang wrote in a social media post on Wednesday.
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Wang → write → Wednesday
Wang told the Globe and Mail that her brother is just obsessed with airplanes and has autism spectrum disorder.
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brother → tell → disorder
The Aporia
