Former Chinese Aide to German Lawmaker Sentenced for Spying for China

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A former Chinese assistant for a German lawmaker in the European Parliament was sentenced to four years and nine months on Sept. 30 in what German federal prosecutor Stephan Morweiser called the “most serious case of Chinese espionage” uncovered in the country to date.

Guo Jian, a German citizen, was convicted of acting as an agent for China’s intelligence service while working for Maximilian Krah, who was a member of the European Parliament at the time, a verdict announced by Dresden’s Higher Regional Court on Tuesday. Guo became a member of Krah’s staff in 2019.

His accomplice, a Chinese woman named Xiao Yaqi, was given a suspended sentence of one year and nine months.

The sentences are not final, and the two defendants can file an appeal with the Federal Court of Justice within a week.

The court, headed by Presiding Judge Hans Schlüter-Staats, considered the case to be of “exceptional gravity of guilt,” saying that Guo had been spying for Chinese intelligence since at least 2007.

Guo’s activities included collecting information on leading politicians of the Alternative for Germany party, spying on Chinese opposition figures, and gathering and analyzing information about the European Parliament’s work.

Guo, with the help of Xiao, who worked at Leipzig/Halle airport, also collected information on flights, cargo, passengers, and military transports, and passed it on to the Chinese intelligence.

Schlüter-Staats said it was “easy” for Guo to obtain documents on the European Parliament through his position at Krah’s office. Information was “handed to him on a silver platter by Krah,” the judge said.

During the trial, Krah admitted that he had shared his personal password with all his employees, thereby granting them free access to the internal system of the European Parliament. This system is intended for personal use only by members of the European Parliament.

Krah said he didn’t know anything about Guo’s activities as an agent for China and had not received any warning.

The court’s prison term for Guo took into account his lack of a prior criminal record, according to court spokeswoman Meike Schaaf.

Additionally, the defendants’ activities at the airport did not result in the leak of any specific classified information, and many of the documents taken from the European Parliament’s system were publicly available, according to Schlüter-Staats.

For at least two and a half years before his arrest in April 2024, Guo was under close surveillance by Germany’s domestic intelligence agency, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution. Investigators monitored his phone calls and laptops, tracked his email communications, and bugged his car.

Fabian Schellhaas of the prosecutor’s office had described Guo as a “multipurpose agent” who took pride in being an active spy for many years.

Xiao came to Germany in 2015 to study and was contacted by Guo through the Chinese messaging app WeChat. The two had a brief romantic relationship but remained in contact after it ended.

After finishing her studies, Xiao began working for a logistics company at the airport. Guo then instructed her to use her job to gather information.

Krah is being investigated by the Dresden public prosecutor’s office for alleged money laundering and bribery linked to China when he was a member of the European Parliament.

In September, Germany’s parliament lifted Krah’s immunity, a step that allows authorities to prosecute him; his home and office were subsequently searched under a court order.

He expressed hope that the court decision would help clear his name.

“My main concern now is to gain clarity about the espionage activities of which I was a victim. I am confident that the verdict will provide me with this clarity. Regardless of any foreseeable appeal proceedings, this brings this distressing affair to a close,” Krah stated, according to a translation.