German EU lawmaker detained as suspected China spy

Employee of a German member of the European Parliament, lawmaker Maximilian Krah, has been detained in Dresden on suspicion of spying for China, according to security sources.

Federal prosecutors reported the arrest in Dresden on Tuesday, without naming Krah. The suspect is said to have passed on information from the European Parliament to China, prosecutors said.

They said the suspect was detained by police in the eastern state of Saxony on Monday.

The accused's flats were searched.

According to the statement, he is accused of acting as an agent for a foreign secret service.

Several German media outlets also reported that the suspect is an employee of Krah, who is the leading candidate for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) in the upcoming European Parliament elections in June.

Krah was initially unavailable for comment.

The announcement comes a day after three Germans were arrested on suspicion of spying for the Chinese secret service.

"The reports about the arrest of an employee of Mr Krah on suspicion of espionage are very worrying. As we currently have no further information on the case, we must await further investigations by the Federal Public Prosecutor General," said the AfD's federal office on Tuesday.

Interior Minister Nancy Faeser has described the new espionage allegations as "extremely serious."

"If it is confirmed that the European Parliament was spying for Chinese intelligence services, then this is an attack from within on European democracy," Faeser said in Berlin on Tuesday.

The accusation of spying on members of the Chinese opposition in Germany is just as serious, she said.

"Anyone who employs such an employee also bears responsibility for this," Faeser emphasized.

The case must be thoroughly investigated, she added, saying it is a matter for the investigating authorities and the judiciary. "All connections and backgrounds must be investigated. Our security authorities, above all the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, have massively strengthened their counter-espionage measures."

They are protecting themselves against hybrid threats from Russia, but also against espionage from China. "The current investigative successes show that."

On Monday, two men and a woman were arrested in the western German cities of Dusseldorf and Bad Homburg for alleged spying for the Chinese secret service.

At the time of their arrest, the suspects were in negotiations about research projects that could be useful for the expansion of China's maritime combat power in particular, according to the prosecutors.

By Christiane Raatz