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CBC News has identified the Canadian woman accused of espionage at NATO's military headquarters in Belgium as Biwei Zhang, a systems engineer who also goes by Claire and Kina.

Jiang, who is in her 30s and fluent in English, French and Mandarin, was arrested last week in Belgium on charges of espionage and being a member of a criminal organization. She had been working as an intern at Shape, NATO's military headquarters near Mons, Belgium.

Before her arrest, Jiang built an extensive resume, including stints at the World Trade Organization in Switzerland, the European Space Agency in Italy, the Canadian Space Agency's satellite operations department, and Statistics Canada as an economist.

A CBC News investigation uncovered a 2019 Federal Court of Canada ruling showing Jiang had submitted two job applications under slightly different names to the Canada Border Services Agency, giving herself two chances to write the entrance exam. The Public Service Commission determined that constituted fraud, a finding upheld on judicial review in 2024.

Despite that fraud finding, Jiang went on to secure positions with the Canadian Space Agency and Statistics Canada, agencies that handle sensitive data and infrastructure, before landing an internship at NATO.

The case has prompted Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree to commit to investigating whether Jiang worked for any Canadian government agencies, though questions remain about how she cleared security screening given her earlier fraud finding.

A former CSIS intelligence officer told CBC that espionage most often relies on opportunity and access to conversations rather than stolen files, raising further questions about what information Jiang may have accessed during her time in government.

Jiang remains in custody in Belgium. Under Belgian law, suspects are not named publicly until their case goes to trial, though CBC identified her through her CV, academic writings and social media profiles.