Germany arrests woman who allegedly passed airport details to suspected spy for China

BERLIN (AP) — German authorities have arrested a Chinese national accused of passing information on a major air freight hub to a man who is suspected of spying for China, prosecutors said Tuesday.

The woman, identified only as Yaqi X. in line with German privacy rules, was arrested in the eastern city of Leipzig on Monday, federal prosecutors said in a statement. She is suspected of working for a Chinese intelligence service, providing information on flights, freight including military equipment and passengers.

The suspect works for a company that provides logistical services at sites including the Leipzig/Halle Airport, prosecutors said. The airport handles both passengers and freight but is known principally as a cargo hub.

They alleged that, between August 2023 and mid-February this year, she repeatedly passed information to Jian Guo — a German national who was an aide to far-right European Parliament lawmaker Maximilian Krah and was arrested in April. That, prosecutors said, included above all information on the transport of military equipment and of people with connections to a German defense company, which they didn’t identify.

A judge on Monday ordered Yaqi X. held in custody pending a possible indictment, prosecutors said. Her apartment and workplace were searched.

Prosecutors have said that Guo is accused of working for a Chinese intelligence service and of repeatedly passing on information on negotiations and decisions in the European Parliament. They allege that he also snooped on Chinese dissidents in Germany.

In a separate case in April, three Germans were arrested on suspicion of spying for China and arranging to transfer information on technology with potential military uses.