A former aide to ex-German MEP Maximilian Krah, known as “Jian G”, has been charged by the German Federal Prosecutor’s Office over alleged spying for Chinese intelligence services.
Jian G was suspected of allegedly working with Chinese intelligence since 2002, including while he was an aide to Alternative for Germany (AfD) party European Parliament member Maximilian Krah between 2019 and 2024.
In March, Krah was elected as an MP to the German Bundestag, or parliament.
He told news outlet The Pioneer on April 29 he was “a victim” in this case, claiming he had been exploited by an alleged Chinese spy.
“Maybe I was too generous and too naïve. I shouldn’t have trusted this person,” he said.
He emphasised that the presumption of innocence still applied, adding: “I have learned my lessons from the matter, also with regard to compliance in my office.”
His former assistant allegedly got his hands on more than 500 documents, including some the European Parliament reportedly classified as “particularly sensitive”.
Jian G was alleged to have passed on that information to Chinese intelligence. He is also alleged to have spied on Chinese dissidents and prominent AfD politicians.
According to the investigations, Jian G allegedly used his position to obtain information on deliberations and decisions of the European Parliament for the Chinese intelligence service.
German MEP Maximilian Krah’s Brussels offices have been searched by the police at the behest of the German Federal Attorney General. https://t.co/OH1GXcYnnb
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) May 7, 2024
In addition, he collected internal information about the AfD party leadership, the allegations stated. News outlet Der Spiegel reported on April 29 that the investigators allegedly discovered three “explosive Word documents” in his possession.
The dossiers, written in Chinese, were apparently prepared at the end of 2023 and early 2024, and contained detailed assessments of the role, status and position of top functionaries within the AfD – including party leaders Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla,, it was reported.
According to the investigations, Der Spiegel reported, the information about the top AfD politicians came partly from confidential conversations that Jian G had apparently had with Krah.
A spokesman for the AfD said the party had no information or comment on the case.
Krah told Der Spiegel that he had “never shared information with my employees in the expectation that it would be passed on. If that happened, I was siphoned off.”
He also told the German Press Agency (DPA) on April 29 that his former employee had no access to restricted information through his MEP office in the European Parliament.
“No sensitive documents went out through my office,” Krah said, adding he hoped that a court case would now “bring the necessary clarity”.
According to the Federal Prosecutor’s Office, Jian G was also alleged to have spied on Chinese opposition members in Germany by posing as a critic of the regime in Beijing, trying to obtain the names and data of dissidents.
According to the investigations, he was also alleged to have listed a Chinese woman as a “source” who worked for a logistics company at Leipzig/Halle Airport. She was suspected of having allegedly passed on information about the transport of armaments to Jian G among other things.
German media reported she allegedly targeted arms giant Rheinmetall, which is involved in the production of Leopard tanks and which uses Leipzig airport for cargo flights.
Krah, who led the AfD in last year’s European Parliament elections, was excluded from the party’s delegation after controversially stating in an interview that he did not consider all SS members to automatically be “criminals.”
He was later reinstated by the AfD and performed strongly in Germany’s February snap elections, earning his seat in the Bundestag.
Maximilian Krah MEP, the German Alternative für Deutschland party’s list leader in June’s elections, will take a back seat in the campaign amid a controversial case of alleged espionage, following a crisis meeting with AfD bigwigs. https://t.co/hpHEPB5aSw
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) April 25, 2024
