Far-right German politician’s former aide jailed for spying for China

A German man who used to work for a far-right member of the European Parliament has been jailed for spying for China.

Jian Guo was sentenced to four years and nine months on Tuesday, according to the news agency dpa.

Dresden higher regional court found the former aide to Maximilian Krah, a controversial but high-profile member of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, guilty of passing information about parliamentary negotiations and decisions to contacts in China’s intelligence services for almost five years until he was arrested in April last year.

While German media described him only as “Jian G” under domestic naming rules, international media are free to use his full name.

He had denied the charges, but prosecutors told the court he had worked for Chinese intelligence services for more than 20 years since 2002.

As well as gathering information in the European Parliament, he was accused of spying on Chinese dissidents in Germany and passing on information about leading members of the AfD.