Far-right German lawmaker's ex-aide on trial for spying for China
The German national, partially identified as Jian G., allegedly worked for Chinese intelligence from 2002, including while he was an aide to the Alternative for Germany (AfD) MEP Krah between 2019 and 2024.
Jian G. is accused by prosecutors in Dresden of using that position to pass on information about debates and decisions at the European Parliament, as well as some documents deemed highly sensitive.
He is also suspected of being the handler for a second alleged operative, Chinese national Yaqi X., who is accused of spying on elements of the German arms industry.
Jian G. is also suspected of gathering intelligence on leading AfD politicians and spying on Chinese dissidents in Germany.
This included posing as an opponent of the Chinese government on social media in order to gain contacts in the opposition scene.
The second defendant, Yaqi X., worked at a company which provided Leipzig airport with logistics services and is accused of helping Jian G. access information on flights and passengers.
The information she passed on focused on flights transporting defence equipment and 'people with links to a German arms company'.
According to German media reports, she particularly targeted arms giant Rheinmetall, which is involved in making Leopard tanks and which uses Leipzig airport for cargo flights.
AfD 'power struggle'
Both defendants have been in detention since they were arrested last year.
The trial could be particularly embarrassing for the AfD if it leads to the information Jian G. collected on the party becoming public.
According to news weekly Der Spiegel, investigators have seized records that Jian G. kept of conversations with Krah and other AfD politicians in which they discussed the private life of party co-leader Alice Weidel and alleged power struggles with her colleague Tino Chrupalla.
Krah denied to the magazine ever having discussed such matters with Jian G.
Krah was the AfD's top candidate in last year's European elections, but was excluded from its delegation after comments in which he minimised the crimes of the Nazis' notorious SS.
However, he was welcomed back into the AfD fold for this year's German general election and now sits as one of the party's MPs in the Bundestag.
The trial is expected to last until the end of September and Krah himself has been called to appear as a witness.
Krah is also being investigated by prosecutors in Dresden on suspicion of money laundering and corruption during his time as a member of the European Parliament.
According to Der Spiegel, between 2019 and 2023 he received more than 50,000 euros (US$57,900) in payments from firms linked to Jian G.
Krah denies all wrongdoing and says the accusations against him are 'politically motivated'.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
AllAfrica
11 hours ago
- AllAfrica
Anti-Chinese 'Ali Baba' legacy still divides Indonesia
The Dutch presence in the Indonesian archipelago—first brought about by the decision of the Dutch East India Company in the 17th century to establish a spice monopoly in the region—has now influenced many of the institutions, norms, and educational practices within the modern Republic of Indonesia. The colony of the 'Dutch East Indies' that makes up modern-day Indonesia was also marked by racial violence and discrimination that lasted even shortly after Indonesia gained independence from the Dutch. In a few extreme cases, native Indonesians were brutally killed and had their villages destroyed by Dutch colonizers, such as in the 1621 Banda massacre. But more subtly, discrimination mainly came in the form of a system the Dutch had implemented: one of racial stratification that continues to shape Indonesian politics through present-day ethnic hostilities. During Indonesia's colonial period, which ended at the conclusion of World War II, the Dutch frequently employed the strategy of divide et impera ('divide-and-conquer') in order to assert their dominance and prevent the possibility of organized resistance or joining of forces between ethnic groups against them. The white Dutch settlers became the ruling class, while ethnic Chinese and Arab-Indonesian minorities were positioned above native Indonesians as 'Foreign Orientals,' with native Indonesians, or the pribumi , occupying the lowest position. The Dutch maintained that the Arab- and Chinese-Indonesians, who had descended from merchant classes, were more adept at trade and economic matters. While Arab-Indonesians were able to more easily assimilate with native Indonesians after the formation of an independent Indonesia, due to shared religious ties in Islam, Chinese-Indonesians remained more socially separated. Furthermore, zoning and pass systems carried out by the Dutch in the mid-1800s prevented Chinese-Indonesians from living among the native population, as they were forced to live in restricted areas and were only allowed to leave with a pass, once again to prevent the two groups from uniting against the Dutch colonizers. University of Malaya professor Chong Wu Ling writes that Chinese-Indonesians during the colonial period were 'indispensable' to the functioning of the colonial economy. She asserts that the Chinese-Indonesian minority was favored by the colonial government in the distribution of licenses to all sorts of businesses like pawnshops and gambling establishments. When Indonesia finally gained independence, 'Ali Baba' policies (officially, the 'Benteng program') were introduced by the then-newly established Sukarno government. These affirmative-action policies, intended to encourage native Indonesians to participate in the economy, led native Indonesians, referred to as 'Ali,' to serve as the 'frontmen' for businesses, with Chinese-Indonesians, 'Baba,' operating in the background. The end result of these discriminatory 'Ali Baba' policies, however, was not a post-colonial transformation; rather, it was the continuation and perpetuation of old colonial ethnic divisions. The Dutch succeeded in entrenching a heightened racial and ethnic consciousness between native Indonesians ('Ali') and the Chinese minority ('Baba') that persisted long after colonialism. While Sukarno-era 'Ali Baba' policies ended in the latter half of the 1950s, their legacy persists in present-day Indonesia, where native Indonesians continue to occupy more public-facing roles, and Chinese-Indonesian contributions tend to be more concentrated in commercial sectors. This has thus formed a sharp divide in Indonesia between those who wield economic power and those who command political authority. While Chinese-Indonesians largely dominate the private economy—holding '70–75% of medium and large-scale private companies' in Indonesia, a figure that has unfortunately often been exploited for demagogic purposes, they continue to remain underrepresented in public-facing roles in politics and the civil service. The underrepresentation of Chinese-Indonesians in contemporary Indonesian politics reflects the legacy of the Ali Baba policies from the Sukarno era, which were themselves influenced by the racial and ethnic divisions established during Dutch colonial rule—despite the strong anti-colonial sentiments of that time. A 2017 study from the ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute even reported that the majority of native Indonesians (from a sample taken from 34 provinces) were 'uncomfortable' with the notion of a Chinese-Indonesian being in a position of political leadership. However, Al Jazeera found that Chinese-Indonesians are participating in politics today at a higher rate than during Indonesia's New Order era, with candidates emerging from various political parties. Indonesia needs to rise above the ethnic divisions inherited from Dutch colonization. It is important to understand that many of the ethnic tensions seen today can be traced back to the divide et impera strategies employed by the Dutch to ensure control over what was then the Dutch East Indies. The 'othering' of Chinese-Indonesians is a product of this division, and it is hoped that a more united Indonesia will soon emerge once the colonial attitudes that were ingrained are finally overcome. Rinzen Widjaja is an Australia-based Indonesian writer and cultural critic with bylines in the The Hill , Merion West, Modern Age periodical, and RealClearEducation .
The Standard
11 hours ago
- The Standard
S&P affirms China's sovereign credit rating at A+ with stable outlook
A Chinese flag flutters outside the Chinese foreign ministry in Beijing, China February 24, 2022. (Reuters/File)
AllAfrica
12 hours ago
- AllAfrica
China's weapons exports shifting global balance of power
Chinese weapons are starting to show up in the world's biggest conflict zones, underscoring Beijing's technological advancement and investment in this area. In the 1990s and 2000s, Chinese weapons systems and military equipment were seen as being little more than imitations of old Russian or even Soviet systems. China was largely reliant on exports from Moscow and lacked the capacity to create its own systems. However, with China's recent economic development and technological growth, state-run Chinese firms are now increasingly significant military players. Reports suggest that China now has significantly more advanced weapons systems. An example of this is a J-20 fighter flying seemingly undetected through Tsushima Strait in June 2025, in range of US, Japanese and South Korean radar systems. As conflicts, including the war in Ukraine, are increasingly dominated by drone warfare, China's drone technology has become more sophisticated. It has also made advances in developing hypersonic missiles and stealth technology. China's recent moves in the Pacific show off its military power, most recently its unannounced naval exercises off the coast of Australia. The exercise caused significant disruption to flights in the Tasman Sea. And China's fleet sailed close to sensitive military sites in Australia, including the Amberley airbase, which hosts the US's B-2 stealth bomber fleet. This also shows how bold China has become, as well as illustrating how sensitive assets are in striking range of China's forces. Chinese weapons systems were in action in the Indo-Pakistani conflict in June. Pakistan used several Chinese-made J-10C fighters to shoot down several Indian jets, most notably the French-made Rafale fighter. The Asian conflict sparked interest in the Chinese jet, with Egypt and Nigeria now showing interest in buying the J-10. A year earlier at the Zhuhai airshow in China, several Middle Eastern nations, including the UAE, made significant purchases of Chinese systems, following up earlier purchases of Chinese drones and fighter jets. China's J-20 jets in action. Chinese military companies now may have also found another potential client – Iran. Several Iranian military officials were recently photographed in the cockpit of a J-10 at the Zhuhai airshow. The history of why China has invested significantly in military hardware is significant. Chinese military weaknesses were highlighted during the Gulf War and the third Taiwan Strait crisis in 1996. This saw China conduct missile tests in the Taiwan Strait as a signal to Taipei, which was seen as moving towards independence. Washington deployed two carrier groups in response, consisting of two aircraft carriers and a large number of escorts. These significantly outclassed China's ships, with more firepower and more advanced technology. At that time, Beijing was dependent on Soviet-made equipment. Its limitations were highlighted by the Chinese navy's inability to detect US submarines in the Taiwan Strait. The need to upgrade its military led to a continuous 10% increase in the Chinese defence budget, as well as widespread military reforms. These occurred under Jiang Zemin, chairman of the Central Military Commission (the supreme military body for the Chinese Communist Party) from 1989 to 2004, and president of China from 1993 to 2003. These changes laid the foundations for China's modernised military systems today. China's military modernisation has also been representative of its wider investment in technology. With some Chinese technology, such as AI chatbot DeepSeek, now challenging Western domination. Scholars have long argued that economic power leads to greater military power and a greater global role. With the conflicts in Ukraine, South Asia, and the Middle East showing the limitations of more established European and Russian hardware, there are growing opportunities for Chinese weapons technology. It's also likely that Chinese military systems will find customers among countries that are not on Donald Trump's list of favored nations, such as Iran. Should Iran be able to equip itself with Chinese systems, it will be better placed to go head-to-head with Israel. All of these military advancements have given Beijing greater confidence while making the strategic position of the US and its allies in Asia more precarious. While the J-20 demonstrated the vulnerability of the First Island Chain, (a string of strategically important islands in east Asia) the latest innovation, the J-36, could reshape aerial warfare in the region. Integrated with AI and linked with drone swarms, the system has the potential to serve as a flying server, creating an integrated system not unlike the one recently used by Pakistan, but with even more advanced technologies. All of these military maneuvers show how China is becoming a significant player in global conflicts, and how this may give it more strength to challenge the current world order. Tom Harper is lecturer in international relations, University of East London This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
