In the European Parliament, the Greens have now called for an ongoing investigation into possible espionage and influence by Russia to be expanded to include this Chinese case. Earlier this month, sources within the Czech intelligence service disclosed that several unnamed EU politicians were paid mouthpieces for Moscow.
The arrest is the second case in a short time involving MEPs from the far-right AfD. Earlier this month, their candidate Petr Bystron was accused of accepting money from the Russians.
The AfD politician Krah from Dresden has been a member of the European Parliament since 2019, along with his assistant Jian G. He holds German citizenship but is of Chinese descent.
The businessman from Dresden has long been known to German security services, according to German media: over 10 years ago he reportedly offered himself as an informant. He is also said to have monitored Chinese opposition members in Germany. G. has long been active in their circles and could easily obtain information this way.
Jian G. is the fourth person to be arrested this week in Germany in connection with espionage involving China. On Monday, two men and a woman from Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia were arrested on the same suspicion. As far as is known, these cases are unrelated.
The Chinese embassy in Berlin denied the accusations and urged Germany “to stop exploiting the espionage allegation to politically manipulate China’s image and discredit China,” reported the German public broadcaster Deutschlandfunk.