An American defense contractor who worked with U.S. military forces in Germany was arrested Thursday on suspicion of offering military secrets to China, authorities in Germany said.
The Federal Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement that a U.S. national, identified only as “Martin D.” under privacy laws, was arrested by police Thursday and his Frankfurt apartment was searched.
“The accused is strongly suspected of having declared his willingness to act as an intelligence agent for a foreign secret service,” the statement said.
An arrest warrant charged the suspect, who had worked with U.S. military forces in Germany, with contacting Chinese government agencies this year and offering “to provide them with sensitive U.S. military information for forwarding to a Chinese intelligence service.”The information was said to have been obtained by the 37-year-old Martin D. during his work as a military contractor.
An investigation into the alleged spying was jointly conducted by the German Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) and the BfV, the German domestic intelligence service.
The prosecutor’s office said Friday that an arrest warrant for secret service agent activities was executed and Martin D was brought before a federal judge. No other details of the appearance were provided.
If convicted of the charges, Martin D could face a lengthy prison term under German laws regarding espionage and spying activities.
The arrest was the latest in an apparent crackdown on Chinese espionage in Germany.
Authorities arrested a Chinese woman last month who worked for a logistics services firm at Leipzig/Halle international airport.
The suspect was charged with providing information obtained from the firm to another Chinese national, identified as Jian G., a former employee of right-wing Alternative for Germany Party and European Parliament member Maximilian Krah.
Mr. Krah is suspected by authorities of leaking EU Parliament data and surveilling Chinese dissidents in Germany. He was ejected from the AfG party in June.
Jian G. was said to have sent information obtained from the European Parliament to China.
The information from the Chinese woman included information about flights, cargo and passengers, including military goods and people tied to a German defense firm, CBS News reported.
In April, three Germans were arrested in Duesseldorf and Bad Homburg on charges of sending military technology information to China that could bolster the People’s Liberation Army navy. The three were identified by prosecutors as Herwig F. and Ina F, a married couple who own a company in Duesseldorf, and Thomas R., who prosecutors say worked for an unidentified operative of China’s Ministry of State Security, the civilian spy agency.
German counterintelligence officials have said China is stepping up spying operations in Germany, news reports from the country said.
German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said in April authorities are monitoring significant threats posed by Chinese espionage targeting business, industry and science.
“We look very closely at these risks and threats and have clearly warned and raised awareness about them so that protective measures are increased everywhere,” she said in a statement.
In the case of the three arrested in April, Ms. Faeser said the issue of German advanced technologies with military applications was “particularly sensitive,” she said.
A Chinese Embassy official in Berlin told reporters that accusations of spying in the country were false.
• Bill Gertz can be reached at bgertz@washingtontimes.com.
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