A former aide to a German member of the European Parliament has been sentenced to nearly five years in prison for spying on behalf of China, in what prosecutors described as the most serious espionage case of its kind in Germany.
On Sept. 30, Dresden’s Higher Regional Court convicted Guo Jian, a German citizen of Chinese origin, of working for Beijing’s intelligence services while employed by Maximilian Krah, who served as a European lawmaker from 2019 to 2024. The court imposed a sentence of four years and nine months, ruling that Guo had acted as a Chinese agent since at least 2007.
Krah is a politician for Germany’s right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.
Presiding Judge Hans Schlüter-Staats said the case involved “exceptional gravity of guilt,” adding that Guo exploited his access to Krah’s office. “It was easy for Guo to obtain documents on the European Parliament. Information was handed to him on a silver platter by Krah,” he said.
Guo’s activities included spying on Chinese dissidents in Europe, such as practitioners of the persecuted faith group Falun Gong, monitoring AfD politicians, and analyzing the European Parliament’s work. Together with accomplice Xiao Yaqi, who worked at Leipzig/Halle airport, he also gathered information on flights, passengers, and military transports, passing the data to Chinese intelligence.
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Xiao, who was breifly romantically involved with Guo, first came to Germany in 2015 as a student and later worked in airport logistics. She received a suspended sentence of one year and nine months, while prosecutors had sought two years and nine months.
Security breach, neglect
During the trial, Krah admitted that he had given his employees, including Guo, his personal password for the European Parliament’s internal IT system, which is meant to be accessed only by elected members. He insisted, however, that he was unaware of Guo’s espionage and “had not received any warning.”
In court, prosecutors argued that Guo’s position allowed him unparalleled access to sensitive information. But many of the documents Guo accessed were later found to be publicly available, and no classified information was leaked through Xiao’s work at the airport, factors that reduced their sentences.
Court spokeswoman Meike Schaaf noted that Guo’s lack of prior criminal record also influenced the ruling. The prosecution had asked for seven and a half years in prison.
Guo had been under surveillance by Germany’s domestic intelligence agency, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, for more than two years before his arrest in April 2024. Investigators tapped his phone calls, monitored his email accounts, bugged his car, and tracked his laptop use.
Prosecutor Fabian Schellhaas described Guo as a “multipurpose agent” who “took pride in being an active spy for many years.”
Fallout for Krah
The case has intensified scrutiny on Krah himself, who is under investigation by Dresden prosecutors for alleged bribery and money laundering tied to China. In September, Germany’s Bundestag lifted his parliamentary immunity, allowing searches of his home and office.
In a Sept. 30 post on X, Krah said he was “not surprised” by the verdict against Guo and stressed that he had tightened office security after the aide’s arrest. “My main concern now is to gain clarity about the espionage activities of which I was a victim,” he wrote. “I am confident that the verdict will provide me with this clarity. Regardless of any foreseeable appeal proceedings, this brings this distressing affair to a close.”
Both Guo and Xiao may appeal their convictions to the Federal Court of Justice within a week.
