Former Aide to AfD Politician Charged with Espionage for China
BERLIN (Reuters) - German prosecutors have accused a former aide to a European lawmaker for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) of using his position to gather information for the Chinese intelligence service and of spying on Chinese dissidents.
The man, identified as Jian G., obtained more than 500 documents to transfer to China, including some classified by the European parliament as particularly sensitive, the federal prosecutors office said in a statement.
Jian G., who worked for former European member of parliament Maximilian Krah, collected information about leading AfD politicians, it said.
He also spied on Chinese opposition members and dissidents in Germany, for example posing on social media as a critic of the Chinese government in order to obtain information from actual dissidents, it added.
The Chinese embassy in Berlin, the AfD and Krah's office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Separately, prosecutors accused a woman they identified as Yaqi X. who worked at a logistics company at Leipzig airport of passing Jian G. information concerning the transport of military goods and individuals connected to a German defence company.
Both Jian G. and Yaqi X. were arrested last year and remain in pre-trial detention.
Krah, who had dismissed allegations two years ago that his aide was lobbying for China as slander against himself, is one of the new cohort of AfD politicians joining the German parliament this year.
Anxiety about alleged Chinese spying has mounted across Europe over the last year.
A Chinese man was arrested on the territory of a German naval base, police said in December, and a public broadcaster said prosecutors were considering spying charges.
A Swedish court in April ordered the detention of a man suspected of spying on ethnic Uyghurs for China.
(Reporting by Sarah Marsh; Editing by Aidan Lewis)
