Germany arrests AfD staffer on suspicion of spying for China
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STORY: German police have arrested an aide to a member of the European Parliament for the far-right Alternative for Germany on suspicion of spying for China.
Prosecutors named him as Jian G. in a statement on Tuesday (April 23) and accused him of passing information about discussions in the European Union legislature to Chinese intelligence.
The website of Maximilian Krah, the AfD's top candidate in June's election to the assembly, lists Jian Guo as one of his assistants.
Krah said he learned of Guo's arrest from the media.
In a social media post he said that, if the allegations are true, it would lead to Guo's immediate dismissal.
The aide also spied on Chinese opposition figures in Germany, prosecutors said. He was arrested in Dresden on Monday.
Germany’s interior minister called the case “very serious” and said if the charges were proven, “it would be an attack on the internal constitution of democracy in Europe.”
A spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry told a briefing that reports of Chinese espionage in Europe were "hype" and "intended to discredit and suppress China."
Anxiety about alleged Chinese spying has mounted across Western Europe in recent months.
On Monday three German nationals were arrested on suspicion of handing over technology with military applications... the same day two men were charged in Britain with spying for China.
One was reported to have worked for a prominent lawmaker in the governing Conservative Party.
