Two suspected spies for China, including a former assistant to far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) lawmaker Maximilian Krah, went on trial in the eastern city of Dresden on Tuesday.
The German national Jian Guo allegedly worked for Chinese intelligence from 2002, including while working in the office of then-MEP Krah between 2019 and 2024.
He is accused of using that position to pass on more than 500 documents, some deemed highly sensitive, to Beijing as well as information about decisions and debates at the European Parliament.
Guo is also accused of being the handler for a second alleged operative, a Chinese national partially named as Yaqi X., who is accused of spying on German arms manufacturers.
Prosecutor Stephan Morweiser told reporters that the case was "without precedent" in terms of Chinese spying activity in Germany.
He said it was "particularly serious" as it shed light on "the extensive espionage interests that China has in relation to political, military and economic matters in Germany and the EU".
Guo is also suspected of gathering intelligence on leading AfD politicians and spying on Chinese dissidents in Germany.
This included posing as an opponent of the Chinese government on social media in order to gain contacts in the opposition scene.
Guo's lawyer denied the charges on his behalf as the trial opened.
The second defendant, Yaqi X., worked at a company which provided Leipzig airport with logistics services and is accused of helping Guo access information on flights and passengers.
The information she passed on focused on flights transporting defence equipment and "people with links to a German arms company".
According to German media reports, she particularly targeted arms giant Rheinmetall, which is involved in making Leopard tanks and which uses Leipzig airport for cargo flights.
Morweiser, the prosecutor, said that, if found guilty, Guo faces a jail term of up to 10 years while Yaqi X. could be imprisoned for up to five years.
In recent months, several cases of alleged espionage for Moscow and Beijing have been made public in Germany.
The trial of three German-Russians suspected of passing information to Russia and planning acts of sabotage targeting aid to Kyiv is also underway in Munich.
- AfD 'power struggle' -
Both defendants in the Dresden trial have been in detention since they were arrested last year.
The trial could be particularly embarrassing for the AfD if it leads to the information Guo collected on the anti-immigration party becoming public.
According to news weekly Der Spiegel, investigators have seized records that Guo kept of conversations with Krah and other AfD politicians in which they discussed the private life of party co-leader Alice Weidel and alleged power struggles with her colleague Tino Chrupalla.
Krah denied to the magazine ever having discussed such matters with Guo.
Krah was the AfD's top candidate in last year's European elections, but was excluded from its delegation after comments in which he minimised the crimes of the Nazis' notorious SS.
However, he was welcomed back into the AfD fold for this year's German general election and now sits as one of the party's MPs in the Bundestag.
The trial is expected to last until the end of September and Krah himself has been called to appear as a witness.
Krah is also being investigated by prosecutors in Dresden on suspicion of money laundering and corruption during his time as a member of the European Parliament.
According to Der Spiegel, between 2019 and 2023 he received more than 50,000 euros ($57,900) in payments from firms linked to Guo.
Krah denies all wrongdoing and says the accusations against him are "politically motivated".
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