Aide to German MEP arrested for spying for China

FRANKFURT: An aide to a German far-right member of the European Parliament has been arrested on suspicion of spying for China, German prosecutors said on Tuesday, deepening concerns about foreign interference ahead of June’s European elections. The allegations, coming a day after three other people suspected of spying for China were detained in Germany, sparked an angry reaction from Beijing, which said the arrest was designed to “smear and suppress” China.

It was also a new blow for Germany’s far-right AfD party, which has been battling a series of scandals, including allegations that some of its members have links to Russia. The suspect, identified only as Jian G., stands accused of sharing European Parliament information with a Chinese intelligence service and of spying on Chinese opposition figures in Germany, federal prosecutors said in a statement.

The European Parliament lists Jian Guo as an accredited assistant to MEP Maximilian Krah, the AfD party’s lead candidate in the forthcoming European Union-wide elections. Guo is a German national who has reportedly worked as an aide to Krah in Brussels since 2019. Prosecutors said the suspect “is an employee of a Chinese secret service”.

“In January 2024, the accused repeatedly passed on information about negotiations and decisions in the European Parliament,” they said. “He also spied on Chinese opposition members in Germany for the intelligence service.” The European Parliament said it had suspended the aide “with immediate effect” in the wake of the revelations. German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser called the allegations against Guo “very serious” and demanded a thorough investigation. “If it is confirmed that spying for China is happening from the European Parliament, then that is an attack on European democracy from within,” she said.