The news on his own behalf hasn’t exactly been a political tailwind for the AfD’s top candidate for the European elections in recent weeks. The FBI questioned Maximilian Krah last December because he was suspected of receiving payments from a pro-Russian activist and because he had a lot of cash with him on a trip to the US. Since Tuesday morning, however, the career of the controversial AfD politician has taken another turn. Once again it’s about Krah’s dubious contacts. This time, however, not to Russia. On Monday, the Federal Prosecutor’s Office had the German Jian G. arrested in Dresden and his apartment searched. He is said to have worked for a Chinese secret service. And he worked for Maximilian Krah.
This is how a case begins that has political explosive power at the highest level. In recent years, G. has presumably not only been active in initiating business between China and Germany. AfD European MP Maximilian Krah’s website also lists him as an “accredited assistant” to his Brussels office. The investigators assume that G. transmitted information from his work in parliament to the Chinese Ministry of State Security (MSS). G. has been working for Krah since 2019.
Apparently the investigators had been on his trail for a long time. They had suspected him since at least the beginning of 2023. In January 2024, the accused is said to have “repeatedly passed on information about negotiations and decisions in the European Parliament” to his intelligence client. He is also said to have spied on Chinese opposition members in Germany for China’s secret service. Specifically, this was about information about the Falun Gong movement and defense policy information about critical infrastructure in Europe.
The federal prosecutor’s office spoke on Tuesday of “acting as an agent for a foreign secret service in a particularly serious case.” The investigators had been keeping an eye on G. for some time, but now felt compelled to act. The investigators may have feared that the suspect might escape.
Faeser calls the allegations “extremely serious”
The federal government toughened its tone towards Beijing on Tuesday after three Germans who were accused of spying for China were arrested on Monday. “The allegations of espionage for China are extremely serious,” said Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser. “If it is confirmed that the European Parliament was spying for Chinese intelligence services, then it would be an attack from within on European democracy.” The accusation of spying on the Chinese opposition is just as serious. Faeser called for consequences for Krah but also for the AfD: “Anyone who employs such an employee also bears responsibility for it. This case must be investigated in detail. All connections and backgrounds must be illuminated.”
Maximilan Krah explained that he found out about his employee’s arrest from the press that morning. He had no further information. The espionage activity is a serious accusation. “If the allegations prove to be true, this would result in the immediate termination of the employment relationship.” Further questions of the South German newspaper Krah didn’t answer at first.
According to investigators, the arrest has a long history. G. is said to have served as an informant to German authorities years ago. Apparently they politely declined. G. has also been active in various places in Germany for years to promote business between the People’s Republic and Germany. Friends describe him as a man with roots in China who at the time ran an import-export company for solar and LED technology. Both business areas in which the Chinese government has great hopes. G. established contacts in China for East German communities and was involved in travel.
The relationship with AfD MP Krah also has a long history. There have been contacts for several years. According to information from investigative circles, Krah and Jian G. were both involved in founding discussions for a “New Silk Road” association. The association is said to have taken care of economic and cultural relations between Germany and China and was founded in 2019. In the same year, G. starts as a new employee in Krah’s office in Brussels.
The AfD accuses the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution of wanting to harm it
The leadership of the AfD parliamentary group is skeptical about the allegations. “It surprised us too,” said Bernd Baumann, the Parliamentary Managing Director, on Tuesday morning. He spoke of an “alleged indication” of espionage; this indication had come from the Office for the Protection of the Constitution. “We have relevant experience.” The AfD leadership accuses the Office for the Protection of the Constitution of wanting to deliberately harm the party through allegations during the election campaign. “We are now hardened when it comes to allegations,” said Baumann. “But of course we’ll check it.”
Martin Sichert, the health policy spokesman for the AfD parliamentary group, also tried to turn suspicion against the security authorities. The Office for the Protection of the Constitution and public prosecutors were being “instrumentalized” against the AfD, he said. As long as there is no evidence against Krah’s employee, the ranks in the AfD would remain closed.
However, there are already gaps in these ranks. “Horror, but no surprise,” is how a senior employee in the AfD describes the mood in the group. Krah’s diverse connections to Russia and China have long been viewed with skepticism. Last week he told the SZ about his international connections that he had “worldwide contacts, a fruit of the MBA program” in which he took part. According to his resume, Krah studied at Columbia Business School and London Business School from 2010 to 2012.
One of the curiosities of the case is that Krah recently cited his employee Jian G. during an appearance before the North Rhine-Westphalia Higher Administrative Court (OVG) in Münster as evidence of his cosmopolitanism. He said in court last week that he employs an employee of Chinese origin in his parliamentary office, which contradicts the accusation that the AfD has a nationalistic understanding of the state. The AfD’s lawsuit against the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution is currently being heard in Münster; among other things, the party objects to being observed as a suspected right-wing extremist case. In order to refute the accusation that only Germans with original German roots are recognized as full citizens, the party also had several AfD members from immigrant families appear.