Germany and UK charge nationals with spying for China
Two British men, including a parliamentary aide, will face court in London.
London: German and British authorities on Monday laid charges against several of their citizens for allegedly spying for China.
In Düsseldorf and Bad Homburg, authorities raided the homes and workplaces of three people. Prosecutors alleged a man named Thomas R. was an agent for China’s Ministry of State Security (MSS) and a married couple, identified only as Herwig F. and Ina F, were involved in supplying research into machine engine parts that can be used in warships.
They are also alleged to have bought a laser for the CCP. Prosecutors said intelligence gathering led to the arrests.
According to a statement from the Federal Public Prosecutor General: ‘The couple concluded a cooperation agreement with a German university through their company, which involved preparing a study for the MSS employee on machine parts that can be used for marine engines such as in warships.’
‘The suspects also purchased a special laser from Germany on behalf of and with payment from the MSS, and exported it to China without authorisation’.
It is unclear what the laser could be used for.
But Interior and Homeland Minister Nancy Faeser said that in this case, the issue of German technologies that could be used for military application was ‘particularly sensitive.’
Germany’s federal Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann said the arrests showed the need to be vigilant.
‘The Federal Prosecutor General today arrested three people on suspicion of scientific espionage for China and a violation of the Foreign Trade Act,’ Buschman said in a statement.
‘This shows once again that we must be vigilant.’ Experts said any custodial sentence could be for up to ten years.
In London, prosecutors laid charges relating to a long-running investigation into a parliamentary staffer who was last year accused of spying for China.
Christopher Cash, 28, ran an MPs pressure group called the China Research Group (CRG), spearheaded by the now Security Minister Tom Tugendhat.
Cash gained access to Parliament after being employed by Tugendhat’s factional ally and fellow Conservative MP Alicia Kearns who replaced him as Chair of the Commons Foreign Affairs committee.
She refused to comment.
‘As this matter is now sub judice it is essential that neither I, nor anyone else, say anything that might prejudice a criminal trial relating to a matter of national security,’ Kearns said on X.
‘I will not be commenting further.’
Cash has previously insisted that he is ‘completely innocent.’ His lawyers were contacted for comment.
A second man, Christopher Berry, aged 31, was also charged with passing information to China. They will both face Westminster Magistrates Court on Friday charged under section 1(1)(c) of the Official Secrets Act 1911 which is punishable by up to seven years in jail.
In a video promoting Hangzhou’s West Lake uploaded to YouTube in January 2022, Berry said he was from Oxford and had been teaching economics in China for about three years.
Cash and Berry taught together in Hangzhou and were featured in the same promotional material on the Chinese website Sohu.com.
Cash’s CRG was a rival group to an Inter-Parliamentary Alliance (IPAC) formed during the Covid pandemic, to align international MPs from governments around the world and from different parties to push for tougher policies in dealing with the CCP.
Chung Ching Kwong from IPAC said Chinese interference was a problem for all democracies.
‘While nobody should comment on these specific charges, we should be under no illusions regarding the techniques used by the Chinese Communist Party to interfere in the political systems of other countries,’ she said.
‘Australia has been dealing with blatant espionage for years, and it's high time we all woke up and smelled the coffee.’