Belgium's federal prosecutor has launched an espionage investigation after detaining a Canadian citizen of Chinese origin working as an intern inside NATO's command centre. NATO security services tipped off Belgian military intelligence, which raided the suspect's home and workplace before making the arrest.

The intern is accused of spying on behalf of a third country and being a member of a criminal organization.

Reacting to the concerning story on Monday's Rebel Roundup livestream, Sheila Gunn Reid and David Menzies noted that CTV News' headline about the story left out that crucial part about China.

"If you read this, you're like, 'Oh, could be from Red Deer,'" Sheila said. "But no — this is a Chinese — sounds like dual citizen — spying on behalf of China. That didn't make it into the headline."

David called it “burying the lede.” In the news business, Sheila said, "that's exactly what it's called."

The arrest landed alongside a Pew Research poll showing that 44% of Canadians now hold a favourable view of China, compared to just one in three who said the same about the United States. A year ago it was a 50-50 split.

"These are Carney voters right here," Sheila said.

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Both hosts found the number staggering, given China's record of detaining more than a million religious and ethnic minorities in concentration camps and its use of slave labour. 

And that's without mentioning the four Canadian citizens executed not long ago, while another has sat on death row since 2019 or the saga that saw Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig kidnapped by Chinese authorities.

China is also the most likely origin point of COVID-19. "China gets a pass," Sheila said. "Really?"

David attributed the poll result to a media and academic environment that has systematically suppressed inconvenient facts about China while amplifying anti-American narratives.

"The right-of-centre professors have, for the most part, been drummed out," he said. "It's just an echo chamber of Marxism on campus."

Sheila also pushed back on Kevin O'Leary's suggestion that fear of China's rise would drive North American powers together.

"I don't believe the Canadian government is scared of China's rise," she said. "I think they've hitched their cart to the China wagon and they think that as China rises, it will take us with them."

Rebel Roundup airs Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday at 11 a.m. MT / 1 p.m. ET.