Ex-aide to AfD politician goes on trial in Germany over Chinese espionage charges

A former aide to a lawmaker for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) went on trial on Tuesday accused of spying for China.

Jian G worked for years as an assistant in the European Parliament to Maximilian Krah — a former MEP who now represents the AfD in Germany's parliament.

The defendant, whose full name has not been disclosed in line with Germany's privacy laws, is accused of working for China's intelligence agency and repeatedly passing on information on negotiations and decisions in the EU Parliament between September 2019 and April 2024, when he was arrested.

Federal prosecutors allege that Jian G obtained more than 500 documents, including some that the European Parliament had classified as particularly sensitive, for the Chinese intelligence service, his employer since 2002.

They say that Jian G also collected personal information on the leadership of the AfD — including Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla — and snooped on Chinese opposition members and dissidents in Germany.

A second defendant, a Chinese national identified only as Yaqi X, is accused of assisting Jian G by provided him with information regarding flights, cargo and passengers at Leipzig Airport.

She passed along information about military equipment transport as well as details about people with connections to a German arms company, the federal prosecutors said.

If found guilty, Jian G faces a jail term of up to 10 years while Yaqi X could be imprisoned for up to five years, according to the prosecutors.

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

At the time of Jian G's arrest, Krah had been AfD’s top candidate in the European Parliament elections, which occurred last June. The party banned him from the elections weeks later 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, Krah 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.

Krah is also being investigated by prosecutors in Dresden on suspicion of money laundering and bribery during his time as an MEP. He has denied any wrongdoing.