In accordance with German prosecutors, the suspect repeatedly handed on details about negotiations and selections within the European Parliament to his intelligence shopper in January this yr.
“He additionally spied on Chinese language opposition figures in Germany for the intelligence service,” the assertion mentioned.
Maximilian Krah, a member of the European Parliament for the German far-right Different for Germany (AfD) get together since 2019, later confirmed media stories that the suspect was his worker.
“I discovered concerning the arrest of the member of my workers, Jian Guo, from the press this morning,” Krah mentioned in a press release. “I don’t have any extra info. Spying for a international state is a severe accusation. If the allegations show true, it is going to end result within the rapid termination of Mr. Guo’s employment with me.”
A spokesperson for the AfD described stories of the arrest as very disturbing.
German Inside Minister Nancy Faeser referred to as for the “extraordinarily severe” allegations to be “rigorously cleared up.”
“Whether it is confirmed that spying for Chinese language intelligence companies occurred from within the European Parliament, then that’s an assault on European democracy from inside,” she mentioned.
The accusation of spying on members of the Chinese language opposition in Germany is simply as severe, Faeser mentioned, including that “anybody who employs such a workers member additionally bears the accountability for them.”
The Chinese language Overseas Ministry on Tuesday described the “so-called Chinese language espionage actions” reported in Germany and the UK as “hype.”
“We urge related events to cease spreading faux information about this so-called ‘Chinese language espionage risk’ and cease this anti-China political manipulation and slander,” mentioned spokesman Wang Wenbin.
In Germany, the arrest sparked renewed criticism of Krah — even from his personal get together ranks.
“He has been an issue for the delegation for the final 5 years together with his offbeat angle towards China, Russia, the USA, Israel, girls and way more,” tweeted Sylvia Limmer, Krah’s AfD colleague within the E.U. Parliament.
Konstantin von Notz, a German Greens get together lawmaker, mentioned the arrest of Krah’s worker is additional proof of the far-right AfD’s authoritarian tendencies.
“[The AfD] makes no secret of its contempt for our democracy and our constitutional state. And that clearly makes their politicians very susceptible to affect and management from China and Russia,” von Notz advised German media outlet RND.
Earlier this month, the AfD was accused in Parliament of boosting Russian propaganda and undermining German safety following stories of a Russian disinformation marketing campaign through the pro-Russian platform Voice of Europe. Interviews with Krah and fellow AfD politicians Petr Bystron had been revealed on the positioning.
German media additionally reported final week that Krah was grilled by the FBI in December over potential funds from pro-Russian patrons — accusations that Krah characterised as “absurd and fabricated.”
Beatriz Rios in Brussels and Lily Kuo in Taipei contributed to this report.
