BERLIN, Germany
Police have raided homes and offices in Brussels and across
Germany in a case involving three people suspected of spying for China,
prosecutors said on Wednesday.
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| File: German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Chinese President Xi Jinping speak to the media |
Der Spiegel
magazine, which first reported the raids, said one of the three suspects was a
German national who until 2017 had worked as a senior diplomat for the European
Union’s Foreign Service, including multiple stints as an EU ambassador.
The case is
the first in recent years involving concrete allegations of spying by China
against Germany and the EU. It comes amid growing concern across Europe and the
broader West at China’s ramping up of its worldwide spying activity as it
builds political influence to match its economic weight.
Germany and
other European countries are under pressure from Washington to exclude China’s
state-owned telecoms equipment maker Huawei from tenders to build fifth
generation mobile telephony networks.
“I can confirm that we are carrying out an
investigation into intelligence agent activity,” said Markus Schmitt, spokesman
for German federal prosecutors.
None of the suspects had been arrested, he
said.Raids were conducted in
Brussels, Berlin and the two southern states of Baden-Wuerttemberg and Bavaria,
the main centers for Germany’s advanced manufacturing industries.
Der Spiegel
reported that the former diplomat had held a string of senior posts in the EU’s
foreign service. On leaving the EU civil service he had set up as a lobbyist,
the magazine reported.
He is also
believed to have visited China in the company of his handling officer.
Prosecutors declined to confirm the identity or professions of the three
suspects. - Reuters
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