MOSCOW, July 31 (HS/RIA Novosti) - Belgian prosecutors suspect a detained intern at NATO European headquarters in Mons of espionage on behalf of China, the Sudinfo newspaper has reported, citing a Belgian national security source.

The Canadian citizen of Chinese origin was arrested in Belgium on July 25. The source identified her as Biwei Zhang, who also uses the name Claire.

The suspect was reportedly working as an intern at SHAPE, the central military headquarters of NATO's Allied Command Operations. She was posted there with the support of Canada's Foreign Ministry, which handled her vetting, according to the report.

Zhang had previously worked for several federal agencies in Ottawa, including the Canadian Space Agency and Statistics Canada. She earned a bachelor's degree in economics from York University in 2019 and a master's in computer science and systems engineering from the University of Ottawa.

On Tuesday, prosecutors extended her detention by one month. She has filed an appeal, with a ruling expected within two weeks.

China's Foreign Ministry has repeatedly stated that China has always firmly opposed espionage.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Indrani Sarkar