Ontario student accused of working for Chinese official pleads not guilty in U.S.

An Ontario student accused of working for someone he believed to be a Chinese government official has pleaded not guilty in the United States to making false statements.

Documents from a Michigan court show Weiheng Zeng entered his plea at his arraignment on Monday.

Zeng, a Chinese citizen who was studying at the University of Waterloo, was arrested after allegedly taking photos of Toronto’s Pearson airport and Chicago’s O’Hare airport at the request of a mysterious Chinese contact he’d met on an online forum.

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In an affidavit filed earlier this year, an FBI agent said Zeng was first flagged by authorities in connection with an incident at O’Hare in April, when a man was seen taking photos, climbing a forklift and trying to open locked trailers at a FedEx facility.

The affidavit said Zeng, who had driven into the United States about 10 days before the incident, was later linked to a minivan seen at the site.

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It said that when Zeng tried to drive into the country with the same vehicle in August, he was pulled aside for several interviews, during which he allegedly gave conflicting statements. The allegations have not yet been tested in court.