Status: 02/11/2023 08:53 a.m
There have probably not been any overflights of suspected espionage balloons in Germany. The President of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Haldenwang, nevertheless warns of Chinese espionage. In addition to the economy, politics is increasingly becoming the target of spying attempts.
The President of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Thomas Haldenwang, fears an increase in Chinese espionage attempts in Germany. “China is developing a wide range of spying and influence activities,” Haldenwang told the “Welt am Sonntag”. “We have to be prepared for the fact that these will increase in the coming years.”
According to Haldenwang, spying on politics has also been in the spotlight for a number of years. The focus used to be on industrial espionage. Political influence can also arise from economic dependencies.
China’s strategy is long-term: “The political leadership is already using its economic power – which also results from intensive relations with the German and European economy – to implement political goals,” said Haldenwang.
No findings on spy balloons
With regard to possible Chinese spy balloons, a spokeswoman for the Federal Ministry of the Interior said to the same newspaper that the ministry currently had no information that overflights – as allegedly happened recently in the USA – had ever taken place in Germany. However, it is assumed that Germany is one of China’s most important intelligence and influence targets.
German trade with China at record level
Regardless of all the political warnings against becoming too dependent, China remained Germany’s most important trading partner last year. Trade between the German economy and China rose to a record level last year: goods worth around 298 billion euros were traded between the two countries. This is growth of around 21 percent compared to 2021, according to data from the Federal Statistical Office.
Within the federal government, China is increasingly seen as a rival. The Ministry of Economics is planning extensive requirements for German companies doing business in China and the exclusion of providers from authoritarian states from the critical infrastructure.
The “Internal China Policy Guidelines”, which became known at the end of 2022, call for a significant reduction in dependency on China, but reject a complete decoupling from Germany’s largest trading partner.