Employees of AfD politician Krah under suspicion of espionage

An employee of the AfD’s top candidate Krah is said to have spied for the Chinese secret service. Federal prosecutors accuse him of spying on Chinese opposition members and transmitting information from the EU Parliament to Beijing.

Late in the evening the police arrived and arrested Jian G. in Dresden. According to information from the Federal Prosecutor General, the 43-year-old is accused of ARD capital studio, rbb and SWR presents a particularly serious case of secret service agent activity for a foreign power – G. is said to have worked for the Chinese Ministry of State Security (MSS). In addition, G. is said to have transmitted information from the European Parliament to the MSS.

Jian G. works as an assistant for the AfD’s top candidate for the European elections, Maximilian Krah. If the allegations are true, G. could face up to ten years in prison. But the accusation against his employee is also a problem for Krah.

Years of business relationships

G. came to Dresden in 2002 as a Chinese citizen, where he initially studied at the Technical University. He now has German citizenship. After his studies, G. was managing director of an import-export company for products from China in Dresden. When founding the company, he is said to have been advised by Krah, who worked as a lawyer and management consultant in Dresden.

In 2019, Krah entered the European Parliament as a member of the AfD and hired G. as an assistant. In this role he had access to information that was undoubtedly of interest to Chinese intelligence.

There appears to have been concrete evidence of this at least at the beginning of this year: Federal prosecutors accuse him of having “repeatedly passed on information about negotiations and decisions in the European Parliament to his intelligence client” in January. The case was initially processed by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution before the Federal Criminal Police Office took over the investigation.

Spying on dissidents

But the federal prosecutor’s allegations go beyond that: G. is also said to have spied on dissidents in Germany for the Chinese secret service. Here, too, he apparently had special access: G. is said to have been involved in Chinese dissident organizations for many years. In one of them even as Secretary General.

He therefore has very good insights and contacts into Chinese dissident circles and therefore information that would undoubtedly be of value to the Ministry of State Security in China.

Offered as an informant

G. has been known to the German security authorities for a long time. In fact, he is said to be looking for information from them ARD capital studio, rbb and SWR offered as an informant at least ten years ago.

However, there is said to be no collaboration because G. had already given the impression back then that he might be playing a double game, it is said. His involvement in Chinese dissident organizations did not fit with the pro-regime positions he represented.

In Germany, G. was apparently a member of the SPD for a while. He is currently said to be in the AfD. The AfD mentioned the allegations against G. in an initial reaction to the arrest and the reporting tagesschau.de “very worrying” and emphasized that the first thing to do is to wait for further investigations by the Federal Prosecutor General.

Keep your distance

Krah himself announced that he would end G.’s employment if the allegations were true. But the case is also a problem for Krah himself. The news portal t online Last year was the first to report on Krah’s questionable trips to China, as well as on his assistant G. and his role in a China-friendly network.

And also about the fact that Krah is known in the European Parliament for representing conspicuously pro-China positions, sometimes even deviating from the AfD’s line. The current allegations against his employee are likely to be a burden for Krah’s European election campaign, which is already burdened by questionable contacts with Russia.

Second case of suspected espionage

G’s arrest is the second in 24 hours involving suspected secret service agent activity for China. On Monday, the federal prosecutor’s office arrested two men and a woman who are suspected of being in contact with the Chinese secret service and spying for China. According to reports, the two cases have nothing to do with each other. The proximity seems to be pure coincidence.