Former aide to German far-right AfD politician jailed for spying for China

An aide who worked for a prominent member of Germany's far-right AfD party was convicted on Tuesday of spying for China.

Jian Guo worked in the parliamentary office of Maximilian Krah, who was a member of the European Parliament between 2019 and March this year. Krah is currently an MP in Germany's parliament.

Guo had been charged with working for a Chinese intelligence service and of repeatedly passing on information on negotiations and decisions in the EU Parliament between September 2019 and April 2024, when he was arrested.

He was jailed for four years and nine months at the Higher Regional Court of Dresden in eastern Germany. The German national denied wrongdoing at a court hearing last week.

Guo also snooped on Chinese dissidents in Germany and gathered information on AfD lawmakers.

China's foreign ministry last year said reports in Europe about Chinese spying are all "hyping up with an aim to smear and suppress China".

An accomplice of Guo — identified only as Yaqi X. — was also jailed in Dresden on Tuesday. She was given a suspended sentence of one year and nine months.

Prosecutors said she had worked for a logistics company servicing Leipzig airport and took advantage of her position to obtain information on "the transport of military equipment and persons with connections to a German arms company"

Yaqi X then shared this information with Guo, who was accused of being her handler. She had admitted to passing on data but denied any knowledge of espionage plans.

Spotlight on Krah

Krah was a witness in Guo's trial and said he did not have any knowledge of his former aide's activities.

He testified in court that all staff in his office at the time — including Guo — had access to his personal account and therefore also to emails, appointments and documents.

Earlier this month, Germany's parliament lifted Krah's immunity in connection with allegations that he also has had ties to China and was involved in corruption and spying scandals.

Lifting his immunity as a lawmaker was a necessary step for authorities to prosecute him. Authorities searched his home and offices under a court order.

Krah denies wrongdoing, and says the allegations are politically motivated.

AfD last year banned Krah from EU elections weeks after he told an Italian newspaper that not all members of the Nazis' elite SS unit — which was involved in major war crimes during World War II — were war criminals.

Nevertheless, he won a seat in the German parliament earlier this year as part of the party’s historic gains in the Bundestag during the national election.