Three German citizens who are believed to have gathered sensitive naval data and obtained a high-powered laser on behalf of the Chinese security services were arrested on Monday, prosecutors said, underscoring the fragile nature of the relationship between the two countries.
A man identified as Thomas R., in keeping with German privacy rules, acted as an “agent” for the Chinese Ministry of State Security, and engaged two others — a married couple identified as Herwig and Ina F. — who ran an engineering company in Düsseldorf, the authorities said.
The arrests come at an awkward time for the German government: Chancellor Olaf Scholz recently spent three days in China as the countries signed several bilateral trade agreements, but Germany is also vigilant to the threat posed by China.
“We are aware of the considerable danger posed by Chinese espionage to business, industry and science,” said Nancy Faeser, the German minister of the interior. “We are looking very closely at these risks and threats and have issued clear warnings and raised awareness so that protective measures are increased everywhere,” she added.
Separately, the British authorities said in a statement on Monday that two men had been charged with violating the Official Secrets Act after allegedly sharing information with China that could be “useful to an enemy.”
London’s Metropolitan Police named the men as Christopher Berry, 32, from Witney, Oxfordshire, and Christopher Cash, 29, from London. Mr. Cash, a parliamentary researcher with links to the governing Conservative Party, was arrested last year on suspicion of working for the Chinese government.
“This has been an extremely complex investigation into what are very serious allegations,” the police statement said, adding that the two men had been bailed to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Friday. Officials have not indicated that the German and British cases are connected.
The threat to Germany was made clear last week, when Volkswagen confirmed that Chinese hackers in a separate incident had stolen an estimated 19,000 sensitive documents from the automaker over a period of four years, starting in 2010. Volkswagen is one of the biggest German companies
Roughly 97 billion euros, or about $103 billion, of German products were sold in China last year, making it Germany’s fourth biggest export market and one that is especially important for the powerful auto sector.
Experts are increasingly warning of China’s aggressive trade practices. Last year, the German government released a national strategy paper focusing on China, calling the trading partner a “systemic rival.”
The arrests came as the police searched the homes and workplaces of the three suspects in Düsseldorf and in Bad Homburg, in the western part of the country.
According to the authorities, Herwig and Ina F. used their company, which had previously worked on projects in China, to establish a formal research partnership with an unidentified German research university.
Under the guise of working for a legitimate business partner, which the authorities said was a front company for China’s Ministry of State Security, the couple then commissioned a study looking at the state of modern developments of certain machine parts which are crucial in developing high-powered ship motors, such as those used in navy ships.
The couple also used their company to buy a high-powered dual-use laser, which they exported to China without the required export permit.
“Anyone who works for foreign intelligence services in Germany and illegally exports potentially militarily useful material must expect a harsh response from our constitutional state,” Marco Buschmann, Germany’s minister of justice, said after the arrests.
There was no public comment from the Chinese authorities.
When the three suspects were arrested, they had been working on new research projects that would have benefited the Chinese Navy, the federal prosecutor said. The group had been working for China since at least June 2022, it added.
Source: NYT
德國當局逮捕三名涉嫌轉移機密的公民
檢察官表示，據信代表中國安全部門收集敏感海軍數據並獲得高能量雷射的三名德國公民於週一被捕，這突顯了兩國關係的脆弱性。
一名名叫托馬斯·R. (Thomas R.) 的男子，根據德國隱私規定，擔任中國國家安全部的“特工”，並聘請了另外兩人——一對名叫赫維格(Herwig) 和伊娜·F. (Ina F.) 的已婚夫婦，他們經營一家工程公司。
這次逮捕行動對德國政府來說是在一個尷尬的時刻：德國總理奧拉夫·肖爾茨最近在中國訪問了三天，兩國簽署了幾項雙邊貿易協定，但德國也對中國構成的威脅保持警惕。
德國內政部長南希·費瑟表示：“我們意識到中國間諜活動對商業、工業和科學構成了相當大的危險。” 她補充說：“我們正在密切關注這些風險和威脅，並已發出明確警告並提高意識，以便各地加強保護措施。”
另外，英國當局在周一的聲明中表示，兩名男子因涉嫌與中國分享可能「對敵人有用」的資訊而被指控違反《官方保密法》。
倫敦大都會警察局將這兩名男子命名為克里斯托弗·貝裡（Christopher Berry），32 歲，來自牛津郡威特尼；克里斯托弗·卡什（Christopher Cash），29 歲，來自倫敦。 卡什先生是一名議會研究員，與執政的保守黨有聯繫，去年因涉嫌為中國政府工作而被捕。
警方聲明稱：「這是一項極其複雜的調查，涉及非常嚴重的指控。」並補充說，這兩人已被保釋，將於週五在威斯敏斯特地方法院出庭。 官員尚未表明德國和英國的案件有關聯。
上週，大眾汽車公司證實，中國駭客在另一起事件中從該汽車製造商竊取了約19,000 份敏感文件，從2010 年開始，這對德國構成了威脅。一。
去年，德國產品在中國的銷售量約為 970 億歐元（約 1,030 億美元），使其成為德國第四大出口市場，對於強大的汽車產業尤其重要。
專家們越來越多地對中國侵略性的貿易行為發出警告。 去年，德國政府發布了一份針對中國的國家戰略文件，稱這個貿易夥伴為「系統性競爭對手」。
這次逮捕是在警方搜查三名嫌疑人在杜塞爾多夫和該國西部巴特洪堡的住所和工作場所之際進行的。
據當局稱，Herwig 和 Ina F. 利用他們之前在中國從事過計畫的公司，與一所身份不明的德國研究型大學建立了正式的研究合作夥伴關係。
當局稱該合作夥伴是中國國家安全部的幌子公司，這對夫婦打著為合法商業夥伴工作的幌子，委託開展一項研究，調查某些機器零件的現代發展狀況，這些零件對於開發高科技至關重要。
這對夫婦還利用他們的公司購買了一台高功率兩用雷射器，並在沒有所需出口許可證的情況下將其出口到中國。
德國司法部長馬爾科·布施曼 (Marco Buschmann) 在被捕後表示：“任何在德國為外國情報機構工作並非法出口可能有軍事用途的材料的人都必須期待我們的憲政國家的嚴厲回應。”
中國當局沒有公開發表評論。
聯邦檢察官表示，當三名嫌疑人被捕時，他們正在從事新的研究項目，這些項目將使中國海軍受益。 它補充說，該團隊至少從 2022 年 6 月起就一直在為中國工作。
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