Former aide of far-right German EU lawmaker charged with espionage
Prosecutors in the south-western city of Karlsruhe said the former employee as well as an accomplice repeatedly passed on information on negotiations and decisions made in the European Parliament to a Chinese intelligence agency, while also spying on Chinese dissidents in Germany.
Krah was the top candidate of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) in last year's European Parliament elections, but his campaign was plagued by scandal.
The AfD was kicked out of the right-wing Identity and Democracy (ID) group in the European Parliament after Krah made highly controversial comments defending members of the Nazi SS paramilitary in an interview with an Italian newspaper.
The party subsequently expelled him from its delegation to the European Parliament.
His former aide, identified as Jian G, a German citizen, has been working for a Chinese secret service since 2002, according to the federal prosecutor's office.
He was arrested in the eastern city of Dresden in April 2024 on accusations of particularly serious espionage. He is said to have obtained more than 500 documents, "including some that the European Parliament had categorized as particularly sensitive."
Shortly after the arrest, German authorities searched Jian G's and Krah's offices in the European Parliament in Brussels.
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CNN
29 minutes ago
- CNN
Indian and Chinese travelers hail end of visa freeze between world's two most populous nations as diplomatic tensions thaw
They are the two most populous countries in the world and neighbors clamoring for more tourists, but for much of the last five years it has been difficult for Indian and Chinese nationals to vacation in each other's nations. Now that looks set to finally change as previous fractious relations between the two Asian giants finally begin to thaw. India will issue tourist visas for Chinese citizens for the first time in five years, allowing nationals from its neighboring country to freely visit each other, marking a significant reset in relations after a deadly border clash sent ties into a deep freeze. From Thursday, July 24, Chinese citizens can apply for tourist visas to India, the Indian embassy in Beijing said Wednesday. This 'positive news' is in the 'common interests of all parties,' China's foreign spokesperson Guo Jiakun said. 'China is willing to maintain communication and consultation with India to continuously improve the level of facilitation of personnel exchanges between the two countries.' There has been a gradual normalization of ties between India and China in recent months after relations were deeply strained in June 2020, when a brutal hand-to-hand battle in the Galwan Valley left at least 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers dead. Both nations maintain a heavy military presence along their 2,100-mile (3,379-kilometer) de facto border, known as the Line of Actual Control (LAC) – a boundary that remains undefined and has been a persistent source of friction since their bloody 1962 war. The 2020 clash in the disputed region between Indian Ladakh and Chinese-controlled Aksai Chin marked the first deadly confrontation along India and China's disputed border in more than 40 years. Tensions escalated in the aftermath. India banned multiple Chinese apps, heightened scrutiny of Chinese investments and direct air routes between the two neighbors were canceled. Both countries had shut their borders to foreign tourists due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but visa restrictions continued even as global travel began to resume. China lifted tourist visa restrictions for Indian nationals in March after Beijing and New Delhi announced they would work to resume direct air travel, according to Reuters. Now India's reciprocal move is seen as a welcome move by many. 'Inbound tourism is going through tough period post Covid, so it is good for us that another market has opened,' according to Sarvjeet Sankrit, founder of the Delhi-based travel agency Ghum India Ghum (Roam India Roam), who said he saw 'lots of Chinese tourists' visit the capital before the visa ban. India lifting restrictions is 'a good thing for vehicle owners, guides, and hotel owners,' he said. 'Everyone will get more business.' Chinese national Kate Hu, whose boyfriend is from India, said she is excited at the prospect of finally being able to visit his family. The Hong Kong-based comedian had already booked tickets to visit India for his sister's wedding in April when she found out she couldn't get the visa. 'I lost a bit of money there,' Hu said. 'We had talked about getting married just to have the visa, so now I'm happy to hear I won't have to get married just for a visa,' she joked. Her boyfriend is currently in India to take care of his sick mother. 'If this (news) had come out sooner, then I could have gone with him,' she said. Pradeep K, a consultant in Delhi called India's latest move is 'a good thing,' adding 'people of India and China will get to interact more.' He said he is excited at the prospect of traveling to China to see pandas. 'Will a diplomatic move on paper change mindsets and bring people closer? Your guess is as good as mine.' India's decision to remove visa restrictions is the latest in a string of steps taken by New Delhi and Beijing to reset ties after Chinese leader Xi Jinping met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Russia last October. In January, India and China agreed to resume direct commercial flights and Beijing recently agreed to reopen Mount Kailash and Lash Manasarovar in western Tibet to Indian pilgrims for the first time in five years. Earlier this month, India's foreign minister S. Jaishankar met with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Beijing, where the two 'took note of the recent progress made by the two sides to stabilize and rebuild ties, with priority on people-centric engagements,' according to a statement from the Indian foreign ministry. There has been a 'gradual normalization of the India-China relationship,' said Harsh V. Pant, foreign policy head at the New Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation think tank. 'There is a certain recalibration happening from both ends. But this is also a reflection that India faces a unique challenge in managing China,' he added. Despite the ongoing tensions, India is still economically dependent on China and sees 'a possibility of building an economic partnership' while making its red lines clear, Pant said. Delhi-based teacher Saurabhi Singh said while India and China have fought wars in the past, 'relations can and should change.' She added: 'We have labor, markets, manufacturing abilities and a fondness for food, tea, electronics that connect people of both countries.'
CNN
29 minutes ago
- CNN
Indian and Chinese travelers hail end of visa freeze between world's two most populous nations as diplomatic tensions thaw
They are the two most populous countries in the world and neighbors clamoring for more tourists, but for much of the last five years it has been difficult for Indian and Chinese nationals to vacation in each other's nations. Now that looks set to finally change as previous fractious relations between the two Asian giants finally begin to thaw. India will issue tourist visas for Chinese citizens for the first time in five years, allowing nationals from its neighboring country to freely visit each other, marking a significant reset in relations after a deadly border clash sent ties into a deep freeze. From Thursday, July 24, Chinese citizens can apply for tourist visas to India, the Indian embassy in Beijing said Wednesday. This 'positive news' is in the 'common interests of all parties,' China's foreign spokesperson Guo Jiakun said. 'China is willing to maintain communication and consultation with India to continuously improve the level of facilitation of personnel exchanges between the two countries.' There has been a gradual normalization of ties between India and China in recent months after relations were deeply strained in June 2020, when a brutal hand-to-hand battle in the Galwan Valley left at least 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers dead. Both nations maintain a heavy military presence along their 2,100-mile (3,379-kilometer) de facto border, known as the Line of Actual Control (LAC) – a boundary that remains undefined and has been a persistent source of friction since their bloody 1962 war. The 2020 clash in the disputed region between Indian Ladakh and Chinese-controlled Aksai Chin marked the first deadly confrontation along India and China's disputed border in more than 40 years. Tensions escalated in the aftermath. India banned multiple Chinese apps, heightened scrutiny of Chinese investments and direct air routes between the two neighbors were canceled. Both countries had shut their borders to foreign tourists due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but visa restrictions continued even as global travel began to resume. China lifted tourist visa restrictions for Indian nationals in March after Beijing and New Delhi announced they would work to resume direct air travel, according to Reuters. Now India's reciprocal move is seen as a welcome move by many. 'Inbound tourism is going through tough period post Covid, so it is good for us that another market has opened,' according to Sarvjeet Sankrit, founder of the Delhi-based travel agency Ghum India Ghum (Roam India Roam), who said he saw 'lots of Chinese tourists' visit the capital before the visa ban. India lifting restrictions is 'a good thing for vehicle owners, guides, and hotel owners,' he said. 'Everyone will get more business.' Chinese national Kate Hu, whose boyfriend is from India, said she is excited at the prospect of finally being able to visit his family. The Hong Kong-based comedian had already booked tickets to visit India for his sister's wedding in April when she found out she couldn't get the visa. 'I lost a bit of money there,' Hu said. 'We had talked about getting married just to have the visa, so now I'm happy to hear I won't have to get married just for a visa,' she joked. Her boyfriend is currently in India to take care of his sick mother. 'If this (news) had come out sooner, then I could have gone with him,' she said. Pradeep K, a consultant in Delhi called India's latest move is 'a good thing,' adding 'people of India and China will get to interact more.' He said he is excited at the prospect of traveling to China to see pandas. 'Will a diplomatic move on paper change mindsets and bring people closer? Your guess is as good as mine.' India's decision to remove visa restrictions is the latest in a string of steps taken by New Delhi and Beijing to reset ties after Chinese leader Xi Jinping met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Russia last October. In January, India and China agreed to resume direct commercial flights and Beijing recently agreed to reopen Mount Kailash and Lash Manasarovar in western Tibet to Indian pilgrims for the first time in five years. Earlier this month, India's foreign minister S. Jaishankar met with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Beijing, where the two 'took note of the recent progress made by the two sides to stabilize and rebuild ties, with priority on people-centric engagements,' according to a statement from the Indian foreign ministry. There has been a 'gradual normalization of the India-China relationship,' said Harsh V. Pant, foreign policy head at the New Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation think tank. 'There is a certain recalibration happening from both ends. But this is also a reflection that India faces a unique challenge in managing China,' he added. Despite the ongoing tensions, India is still economically dependent on China and sees 'a possibility of building an economic partnership' while making its red lines clear, Pant said. Delhi-based teacher Saurabhi Singh said while India and China have fought wars in the past, 'relations can and should change.' She added: 'We have labor, markets, manufacturing abilities and a fondness for food, tea, electronics that connect people of both countries.'
40 minutes ago
European leaders press demands on trade at scaled-back summit in Beijing
BEIJING -- European leaders demanded a more balanced relationship with China at a summit with President Xi Jinping in the Chinese capital on Thursday. Focusing their opening remarks on trade, they called for concrete progress to address Europe's yawning trade deficit with China. 'As our cooperation has deepened, so have the imbalances,' European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said. 'We have reached an inflection point. Rebalancing our bilateral relation is essential. Because to be sustainable, relations need to be mutually beneficial.' Expectations were low for the talks, initially supposed to last two days but scaled back to one. They come amid financial uncertainty around the world, wars in the Middle East and Ukraine, and the threat of U.S. tariffs. Neither the EU nor China is likely to budge on key issues dividing the two economic juggernauts. European Council President António Costa called on China to use its influence over Russia to bring an end to the war in Ukraine — a long-running plea from European leaders that is likely to fall on deaf ears. He signaled a possible agreement on climate, saying he looks forward to 'a strong joint political message' from the summit ahead of annual U.N. climate talks in November in Brazil. That could follow their talks with China's Premier Li Qiang later Thursday. Xi called on China and Europe to deepen cooperation and mutual trust to provide stability in an increasingly complex international environment, China's state broadcaster CCTV reported online. They should set aside differences and seek common ground, he said, a phrase he often uses in relationships like the one with the EU. Besides the trade imbalance and the Ukraine war, Von der Leyen and Costa were expected to raise concerns about Chinese cyberattacks and espionage, its restrictions on the export of rare earth minerals and its human rights record in Tibet, Hong Kong and Xinjiang. The EU, meanwhile, has concerns about a looming trade battle with the United States. 'Europe is being very careful not to antagonize President Trump even further by looking maybe too close to China, so all of that doesn't make this summit easier,' said Fabian Zuleeg, chief economist of the European Policy Center. "It will be very hard to achieve something concrete.' China's stance has hardened on the EU, despite a few olive branches, like the suspension of sanctions on European lawmakers who criticized Beijing's human rights record in Xinjiang, a region in northwestern China home to the Uyghurs. China believes it has successfully weathered the U.S. tariffs storm because of its aggressive posture, said Noah Barkin, an analyst at the Rhodium Group think tank. Barkin said that Beijing's bold tactics that worked with Washington should work with other Western powers. "China has come away emboldened from its trade confrontation with Trump. That has reduced its appetite for making concessions to the EU," he said. 'Now that Trump has backed down, China sees less of a need to woo Europe.' China is the EU's second-largest trading partner in goods, after the United States, with about 30% of global trade flowing between them. Both China and the EU want to use their economies ties to stabilize the global economy, and they share some climate goals. But deep disagreements run through those overlapping interests. China and the EU have multiple trade disputes across a range of industries, but no disagreement is as sharp as their enormous trade imbalance. Like the U.S., the 27-nation bloc runs a massive trade deficit with China — around 300 billion euros ($350 million) last year. It relies heavily on China for critical minerals, which are also used to make magnets for cars and appliances. When China curtailed the export of those minerals in the wake of U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs, European automakers cried foul. The EU has tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles in order to support its own carmakers by balancing out Beijing's own heavy auto subsidies. China would like those tariffs to be revoked. The rapid growth in China's market share in Europe has sparked concern that Chinese cars will eventually threaten the EU's ability to produce its own green technology to combat climate change. Business groups and unions also fear that the jobs of 2.5 million auto industry workers could be put in jeopardy, as well those of 10.3 million more people whose employment depends indirectly on EV production. China has also launched investigations into European pork and dairy products, and placed tariffs on French cognac and armagnac. They have criticized new EU regulations of medical equipment sales, and fear upcoming legislation that could further target Chinese industries, said Alicia García-Herrero, a China analyst at the Bruegel think tank. In June, the EU announced that Chinese medical equipment companies were to be excluded from any government purchases of more than 5 million euros (nearly $6 million). The measure seeks to incentivize China to cease its discrimination against EU firms, the bloc said, accusing China of erecting 'significant and recurring legal and administrative barriers to its procurement market.' European companies are largely seeing declining profitability in China. But the EU has leverage because China still needs to sell goods to the bloc, García-Herrero said. 'The EU remains China's largest export market, so China has every intention to keep it this way, especially given the pressure coming from the U.S.,' she said. It was unclear why the initial plan for the summit of two days was curtailed to just one in Beijing. The clear majority of Europeans favor increasing aid to Ukraine and more sanctions on Russia. The latest sanctions package on Russia also listed Chinese firms, including two large banks that the EU accused of being linked to Russia's war industry. China's commerce ministry said that it was 'strongly dissatisfied with and firmly opposed to" the listing and vowed to respond with 'necessary measures to resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises and financial institutions.' Xi and Putin have had a close relationship, which is also reflected in the countries' ties. China has become a major customer for Russian oil and gas, and a source of key technologies following sweeping Western sanctions on Moscow. In May, Xi attended a Victor Day celebration alongside Putin in Moscow, but didn't attend a similar EU event in Brussels celebrating the end of World War II. Von der Leyen and Costa will press Xi and Li to slash their support of Russia, but with likely little effect. Buffeted between a combative Washington and a hard-line Beijing, the EU has more publicly sought new alliances elsewhere, inking a trade pact with Indonesia, heaping praise on Japan and drafting trade deals with South America and Mexico. 'We also know that 87% of global trade is with other countries — many of them looking for stability and opportunity. That is why I am here for this visit to Japan to deepen our ties,' Von der Leyen said in Tokyo during an EU-Japan summit on her way to Beijing. 'Both Europe and Japan see a world around us where protectionist instincts grow, weaknesses get weaponized, and every dependency exploited. So it is normal that two like-minded partners come together to make each other stronger." Promoting ties with Europe is one third of Japan's new 2025 military doctrine, after sustaining defense links with the U.S. and investing in capabilities at home like missiles, satellites, warships, and drones.
