BERLIN — German prosecutors have accused a far-right politician’s former aide of spying for the Chinese secret service.
The man, identified as Jian G., was employed as an assistant to Alternative for Germany (AfD) politician Maximilian Krah, a former member of the European Parliament and current member of the Bundestag, from 2019 until his arrest in 2024. The aide is said to have obtained more than 500 documents, including some classified as particularly sensitive, according to the German federal prosecutor’s office.
Jian G. is also suspected of having collected information about leading AfD politicians, and to have spied on Chinese opposition members and dissidents in Germany, by posing as a critic of Chinese leadership on social media. He has been employed by the Chinese secret service since 2002, according to the prosecutor’s office.
Krah, who was elected to the incoming German parliament this year, denied he had any knowledge about the secret service activities of his former aide. “I was obviously deceived,” he told POLITICO, adding he should be “more careful” about who he hires in future.
The AfD currently has no information about what kind of intel the former aide collected on the party or its leadership, a spokesperson told POLITICO.
According to a Spiegel report, investigators discovered documents in Chinese in Jian. G’s office containing detailed assessments of the role, status and position of top functionaries within the AfD, including its party leaders.
German prosecutors also charged an alleged accomplice of Jian G., who worked for a logistics company at the Leipzig/Halle airport in Germany and was arrested in October 2024. The woman, identified as Yaqi X., is suspected of providing Jian G. with information on the transportation of military equipment and people linked to a German arms company, according to the prosecutors.
Both of the accused are currently in custody. AfD politician Krah is not listed as a defendant in the espionage proceedings.
The public prosecutor’s office in Dresden had, however, launched preliminary investigations into Krah in 2024 over alleged payments from Russia and China. Krah, who left his post as European Union parliamentarian this spring for the Bundestag, denies the allegations.
The post Former aide to far-right German lawmaker charged with spying for China appeared first on Politico.
