A new prestigious business club in Brussels has caught the attention of the intelligence services, as the Chinese woman running the club is suspected of having links to the Chinese government.
The French investigative journal La Lettre revealed that the activities of the woman, who they only identify as "Ms Y,” were causing concern at the top of several European institutions, as she reportedly managed to infiltrate the small circle of NATO cybersecurity contractors.
Ms Y is described as a charming personality who makes contacts with ease. On LinkedIn, there is a photo of her posing with Europe’s richest man, Bernard Arnault of the luxury empire LVMH.
As Belgium is home to the headquarters of the European Commission and NATO, Western intelligence services have been on high alert in recent weeks and months, following two high-profile cases of Chinese espionage this summer.
In July, Belgian courts indicted and jailed a Canadian woman of Chinese origin interning at NATO, on charges of spying at Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE), the Alliance's military command.
A few weeks ago, authorities in Brussels also announced they had arrested a Chinese-Belgian CEO of the bankrupt chip manufacturer BelGaN, on suspicion of passing on trade secrets to China.
Importantly, there is currently no evidence of such criminal offences taking place at Ms Y’s new business club.
Strategic semiconductors
In June, the club hosted an event at the high-end Hotel Amigo in the centre of Brussels, called ‘Exploring the future of AI and semiconductors.’ Two of the speakers were Flemish Minister-President Matthias Diependaele (N-VA) and Luc Van den hove, former CEO and current chair of Imec.
Imec, a research centre based in Leuven, has pioneered techniques to produce some of the world's smallest and most sophisticated chips, and the centre is also considered to be a world leader in nanoelectronics research. The centre has also been assigned a crucial role by the EU in the development of chip technology.
As the strategic importance of semiconductors has increased significantly in recent years, this is precisely why European intelligence services are said to be looking into the founder of the business club, a reliable source confirmed to De Morgen.
Ms Y told the Belgian newspaper that she regretted the way her business club is being portrayed. She stressed that everything is funded by membership fees and admission tickets, and that there are no links with the Chinese authorities or any other government.
“I have nothing to prove. It’s a shame to see that people are sometimes judged on their nationality rather than on what they do,” she said.
