WILL SACK, WON'T RESIGN, SAYS GERMAN POLITICIAN AFTER AIDE ACCUSED OF SPYING FOR CHINA

Maximilian Krah, a member of the European Parliament for Germany's far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, on Wednesday said that he will sack his aide arrested on suspicion of spying for China but he himself will not resign.

The case has put the AfD on the back foot after it surged to become Germany's second-most popular party ahead of European and local elections this year.

Krah said he learned of the arrest from the media and denied personal wrongdoing.

"I am and will remain the top candidate," Reuters quoted Krah as saying.

"It is now a matter of focusing the election campaign on European issues again and moving away from this very unpleasant matter," he said.

"It is a very serious accusation. After the arrest warrant was confirmed today, I will sack the employee in question today," he added.

The case has also fed wider anxieties over Europe as a target for Chinese and Russian spying operations. Germany had this week also arrested three people in a separate case about funnelling sensitive technology to China for military purposes.

Reacting to the development, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said on Tuesday that reports of Chinese espionage in Europe were "hype" and "intended to discredit and suppress China".

The most recent case involves an individual identified by prosecutors as Jian G., who stands accused of divulging information regarding discussions within the European Union legislature to Chinese intelligence, as well as engaging in espionage against Chinese opposition factions.

Jian Guo is listed as one of the assistants on the website of Krah, the top candidate of the AfD for the upcoming election to the European assembly in June.

Just last week, Chancellor Olaf Scholz undertook a visit to China for discussions with the country's leadership.

Germany has been actively seeking to mitigate risks in its relationship with its largest trading partner, cognisant of the dangers of overreliance on the Chinese economy, particularly following the Ukrainian conflict's revelation of Europe's dependence on Russian energy resources, exacerbating a cost-of-living crisis.

In a separate joint statement, AfD leaders Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla said that Krah opted to abstain from attending a party campaign launch in Donaueschingen over the weekend in southwestern Germany to minimise the potential damage to the party.

"Any influence by foreign states through espionage, but also attempts to buy opinions and positions, must be investigated and firmly prevented," Reuters quoted them as saying.

A similar scandal hit Britain this week as police charged two men with spying for China, including one reported to have worked as a researcher in Britain's parliament for a prominent lawmaker in the governing Conservative Party.

Scholz is hosting British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak for talks on Wednesday.

With inputs from agencies

2024-04-24T11:58:12Z dg43tfdfdgfd