In Belgium, Claire Biwei Zhang, the Canadian woman allegedly spying on NATO has launched an appeal to be released from pre-trial detention, while the Canadian government is scrambling to investigate its screening protocols to find out how it may have been infiltrated by a foreign power.
Global Affairs has acknowledged that Zhang’s security clearance for her NATO internship was approved by the Government of Canada after she was vetted by CSIS. According to its 2025 annual report, CSIS completed 129,740 screenings for the federal government last year.

