MUNICH — German authorities said Thursday that a U.S. citizen suspected of providing U.S. military intelligence to China has been arrested in Frankfurt.
The federal prosecutor’s office said in a statement that the suspect, identified only as Martin D. under German privacy laws, had until recently “worked with the U.S. armed forces in Germany.”
Prosecutors added that sometime this year, the suspect “contacted Chinese government agencies and offered to provide them with sensitive U.S. military information for forwarding to Chinese intelligence services.” They did not say when the offer occurred.
The suspect “obtained relevant information while cooperating with U.S. armed forces,” prosecutors said, adding that investigators searched his apartment.
Later on Thursday, “the defendant will be brought before the investigating judge of the Federal Court,” prosecutors said, adding that the judge “will issue a warrant for his arrest and decide on pretrial detention.”
Germany has warned of an increased risk of espionage from Beijing and has arrested a number of people on espionage charges this year.
The latest arrest came more than a month ago, when a Chinese woman was detained in the eastern city of Leipzig on suspicion of foreign agent activity and passing information about weapons deliveries.
The prosecutor’s statement identified the suspect as Yaqi X., who is accused of passing information obtained while working for a logistics company at Leipzig/Halle Airport to a Chinese secret service agent.
The statement said the information passed by Yaqi
The statement added that she provided this information to another Chinese citizen named Jian G., who is being prosecuted separately.
The prosecutor general said Jian G., then a member of the European Parliament’s far-right Alternative for Germany party, Maximilian Krah, was arrested this year on suspicion of “particularly serious” espionage on behalf of Beijing. assistant.
