Former aide to German far-right lawmaker in the European Parliament is convicted of spying for China

BERLIN (AP) — A man who worked for a prominent German far-right lawmaker in the European Parliament was convicted Tuesday of spying for China for more than four years, according to German news agency dpa.

Jian Guo, a German citizen, was accused of working for a Chinese intelligence service and of repeatedly passing on information on negotiations and decisions in the EU Parliament between September 2019 and April 2024, when he was arrested.

He was sentenced Tuesday to four years and nine months in prison, dpa reported. He denied wrongdoing during a court hearing last week.

China’s foreign ministry last year said reports in Europe about Chinese spying are all “hyping up with an aim to smear and suppress China.”

Guo also snooped on Chinese dissidents in Germany and gathered information on prominent politicians with the far-right Alternative for Germany, or AfD.

The federal prosecutor has named him as Jian G., in line with the country’s privacy rules. His former boss, far-right lawmaker Maximilian Krah, previously identified him.

Krah was a witness in Guo’s trial and said he did not have any knowledge of his former aide’s activities, dpa reported.

Earlier this month, Germany’s parliament lifted Krah’s immunity in connection with allegations that he also has had ties to China and was involved in corruption and spying scandals. Lifting his immunity as a lawmaker was a necessary step for authorities to prosecute him. Authorities searched his home and offices under a court order.

Krah denies wrongdoing, and says the allegations are politically motivated.

AfD last year banned Krah from EU elections weeks after he told an Italian newspaper that not all members of the Nazis’ elite SS unit, which was involved in major war crimes during World War II, were war criminals.

Still, he won a seat in the German parliament earlier this year as part of the party’s historic gains in the Bundestag during the national election.

AfD’s second-place finish cemented the party’s status as a factor that other politicians can’t ignore, but mainstream German parties have upheld the so-called “firewall” by refusing to work with it.