A European parliamentary assistant linked to the far-right AfD party
Tuesday, April 23, another thunderclap with the announcement of the arrest during the night, in Dresden, of a German of Chinese origin. Aged 43, this man has worked since 2019 for the far-right German MEP, Maximilian Krah, also head of the list of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party for the European elections on June 9. According to the Karlsruhe public prosecutor’s office, Jian Guo transmitted information to the Chinese intelligence services relating to the debates, negotiations and votes within the European Parliament. He is also suspected of having spied on members of the Chinese opposition in Europe. This Tuesday, he was suspended from his functions, with immediate effect, by the European Parliament.
For Federal Minister of the Interior, Nancy Faeser (SPD), these various accusations are “extremely serious”. “If it is confirmed that Chinese intelligence services spied on the European Parliament, it is an attack from within against European democracy […]. Those who employ such employees bear responsibility.”, she added to the AfD. This party, via Maximilian Krah, also kept a low profile yesterday, describing these accusations as “very serious”. “If they prove to be founded, this would result in the immediate termination of employment relations,” reacted the MP on the social network X, explaining that he knew nothing about this affair.
For Sofia Hoffmann, from the University of Erfurt, this is a central question. “It is always surprising to learn that the assistant of an elected official works for a foreign state. If Maximilian Krah knew about it, it would be a disaster”, she judges. This affair is all the more explosive as two other members of the AfD, including number two on the European list, are suspected of having received money from Russia to relay its propaganda in Germany. “They are truly fine “patriots” who are constantly selling Germany to China and Russia,” commented yesterday the elected liberal Marie-Agnès Strack-Zimmermann.
The Ukrainian oligarch, very close to Vladimir Putin, is behind the “Voice of Europe” platform suspected of having bribed European parliamentarians.
New discoveries to expect
More broadly, these two Chinese espionage cases surprise by their timing, a few days after a three-day visit to China by Chancellor Olaf Scholz and raise the question of the importance for China of Germany, both a partner economic and strategic competitor. Political scientist Sofia Hoffmann notes a “tendency“in Chinese espionage to no longer focus on espionage alone”classic industrial aiming to gain a competitive advantage”, but to include a broader economic dimension “to understand how Germany is progressing economically and militarily”. “Germany is interesting to spy on because it is a relatively open country, whose economy is oriented towards exports and which invests a lot in China. The possibilities are therefore numerous”, she believes.
Suspicions of collusion between the Russian secret services and certain MEPs are disrupting the candidates’ campaign. At the heart of the affair: “Voice of Europe”, a portal declaring itself “uncensored” but which, in reality, propagates the Kremlin’s discourse.
The announcement of these different cases – in a country where justice is not always so quick to communicate – gives rise to divergent comments. The conservative opposition sees this as proof of “vulnerability” from the country. The Minister of the Interior sees this as a success for the German intelligence services.
A position that Sofia Hoffmann partly shares. “Germany is not particularly vulnerable. Since the war in Ukraine, it has strengthened its teams, like other European countries. It’s a bit like after September 9. International cooperation is increasing and so are arrests,” she judges. In any case, everyone agrees on one point: this type of business should multiply.
