Chinese woman arrested in Germany on suspicion of espionage

Germany on Tuesday announced the arrest of a Chinese woman accused of spying on the country's defence industry while working in a logistics company.

Named only as Yaqi X., she allegedly reported to another suspected Beijing agent now under arrest, Jian G., who was working in the office of a German far-right member of the European Parliament, Maximilian Krah.

The woman arrested on Monday is "strongly suspected of acting as an intelligence agent for a Chinese secret service", federal prosecutors said in a statement.

Yaqi X. worked for a company that provides logistics services, including at Leipzig/Halle Airport in eastern Germany, they said.

She allegedly used her position to gather information on "the transport of military equipment and persons with connections to a German arms company".

Between mid-2023 and February, she "repeatedly sent information on flights, cargo and passengers at the airport to an employee of a Chinese secret service -- namely Jian G., who is being prosecuted separately", prosecutors said.

Jian G., a German national, was arrested in April on suspicion of spying while working in the Brussels office of German MEP Krah of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.

Yaqi X. was brought before an investigating judge of the Federal Court of Justice who served her with the arrest warrant and ordered her to be remanded in custody.

Her Leipzig home and workplace were also searched.

Justice Minister Marco Buschmann told Bild daily that "the arrest of a suspected Chinese spy in Leipzig shows us once again that foreign intelligence services have long had Germany in their sights.

"This is especially true for intelligence services from countries with which we are in a systemic rivalry."

  EU parliament staffer  

Citing unnamed security sources, news site Der Spiegel reported that Yaqi X., a 38-year-old, in particular had targeted the arms giant Rheinmetall, which is involved in making Leopard tanks and which uses Leipzig airport for cargo flights.

Her alleged handler Jian G. was arrested on suspicion of sharing European Parliament information with a Chinese intelligence service and of spying on Chinese opposition figures in Germany.

The European Union assembly, which had listed Jian Guo as an accredited assistant to Krah, moved to suspend him earlier this year.

Krah wrote on X at the time that prosecutors had confirmed to his lawyer that he was "not a suspect in the investigation".

The allegations involving China were among a series of controversies to hit Germany's AfD, including claims that some of its members have links to Russia.

German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser called the allegations against Guo "very serious" and said that, if confirmed, it was "an attack on European democracy from within".

According to German broadcasters ARD, RBB and SWR, Guo was no stranger to German intelligence.

He had reportedly offered his services as an informer at least a decade ago but was turned away on suspicion he might be a Chinese double agent.