German far-right AfD staffer arrested on China spy charges

German prosecutors on Tuesday said police had arrested an employee of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) political party on suspicion of espionage. 

In January, the accused is said to have repeatedly passed on information about negotiations and decisions in the European Parliament to his intelligence client.

He also allegedly spied on Chinese opposition figures in Germany for the intelligence service.

The arrest comes about a week after German Chancellor Olaf Scholz traveled to China to push Beijing to take a harder line against its neighbor Russia on the issue of the Ukraine war.

What we know so far

The worker, Jian G., is an assistant to the AfD's top candidate for the European Parliament elections, Maximilian Krah.

Investigators think the suspect may have passed information on parliamentary operations to China's Ministry of State Security.

The individual, who has been accused of acting as an agent for a foreign secret service in a particularly serious case, was arrested by officials from the Saxony State Criminal Police Office in Dresden.

Prosecutors said police searched apartments linked to the suspect.

"He is accused of an especially severe case of working for a foreign secret service," said a prosecution statement.

It is alleged that the individual has been working for Krah, a serving German member of the European Parliament, since 2019. The accused lives in both Brussels and Dresden, German broadcasters said.

The accused was due to be brought before an investigating judge at Germany's Federal Court of Justice later on Tuesday.

The court will decide whether to allow pre-trial detention.

Several hours after the arrest was announced, the European Parliament said the aide had been suspended from duty. 

How are officials responding?

Responding to the news, Krah said that spying for a foreign state was a "serious accusation." 

"I learned about the arrest of the member of my staff [...] from the press this morning," said Krah.

"I don't have any additional information. If the allegations prove true, it will result in the immediate termination of [the suspect's] employment with me."

Krah traveled to China in the early 2000s after studying law and completing a doctorate in Dresden, spending periods abroad in Hong Kong and Shanghai.

He has adopted a China-friendly stance, describing reports of human rights violations such as internment camps for Uyghurs and other minorities in Xinjiang as "anti-China propaganda."

He has also insisted that Taiwan belongs to Beijing under international law and that Tibet is also China's rightful territory.

Green Party lawmaker Konstantin von Notz told the RND news network that he sees the latest arrest as further evidence of the AfD's authoritarian tendencies.

"The AfD is a party that supports dictatorship," he told RND.

"In the end, this is what it [AfD] has in mind for Germany. It makes no secret of its contempt for our democracy and our constitutional state. And that, obviously, makes its politicians very susceptible to influence and control from China and Russia. We are not talking about individual cases, all of this has a structure and affects the entire party," he added. 

German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said the spying allegations were "extremely serious."

"If it is confirmed that there was spying for Chinese intelligence from inside the European Parliament, then that is an attack from inside on European democracy," Faeser said in a statement.

"Anyone who employs such a staff member also carries responsibility," she added. "This case must be cleared up precisely. All the connections and background must be illuminated."

German Justice Minister Marco Buschmann said the news was worrying and, if the allegations prove to be true, there must be "harsh consequences."

"If the accusation is confirmed, it will strike at the heart of our democracy," Buschmann said. 

"Members of parliament and their employees serve our democracy in a special way: there are allegations here that are diametrically opposed to this. We cannot tolerate that," he added. 

The AfD party has said the arrest was "very disturbing."

"As we have no further information on the case, we must wait for further investigations by federal prosecutors," said party spokesman Michael Pfalzgraf. 

Is there a link to earlier spy arrests?

Police arrested the suspect on Monday night, hours after three German nationals were detained on suspicion of working with China's Ministry of State Security to hand over technology that could have military uses.

DW's security correspondent Thomas Sparrow said the detentions "might not be directly related to each other, at least from what we know so far, but they are certainly putting a focus on alleged Chinese spying operations in Germany."

"The head of Germany’s domestic intelligence agency was clear when he spoke to DW this week that China is active in Germany."

Sparrow added that security officials in Germany have warned of an increase in Chinese operations, describing them as wide ranging and focused on the long-term.

"The focus appears to not only be political espionage, but also gathering sensitive information that could be used for economic or military purposes."

rc/wmr (Reuters, dpa, AFP)

Editor's note: DW follows the German press code, which stresses the importance of protecting the privacy of suspected criminals or victims and obliges us to refrain from revealing full names in such cases. 

While you're here: Every Tuesday, DW editors round up what is happening in German politics and society. You can sign up here for the weekly email newsletter Berlin Briefing.