Secret services: scientific espionage for China? Indictment in Düsseldorf

Federal prosecutors have charged three Germans on suspicion of spying for China. They are said to have obtained information about military technology in order to pass it on to the Chinese secret service MSS, as the authority in Karlsruhe announced. They are sufficiently suspected of having worked for a foreign secret service. The State Security Senate of the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court must decide whether and when a trial will take place.

Officials from the Federal Criminal Police Office arrested the three suspects in Düsseldorf and Bad Homburg in April last year. Their homes and workplaces were searched, it was said at the time. At the time of the arrests, the accused were in negotiations about research projects that could be particularly useful for expanding China’s maritime combat power.

Two suspects released from custody

According to the information, the main suspect is still in custody. He is said to have worked as an agent for an MSS employee in China from 2017. With the help of a company owned by the two alleged accomplices – a married couple – he obtained information on innovative technologies that could be used for military purposes on behalf of the MSS employee. The couple made contact with companies and scientific institutions through the company.

“In the period from February 2017 to April 2024, they repeatedly collected information that could be useful for expanding China’s maritime combat power in particular,” the Federal Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement. “This concerned, for example, findings on boat engines, sonar systems, aircraft protection systems, drives for armored vehicles and drones that can be used for military purposes.” The main suspect passed the information on to his contact.

According to the federal prosecutor’s office, the two couples were released in October after their arrest warrants were suspended. In one case, the two concluded a cooperation agreement for science transfer with a German university.

Unauthorized use of special lasers

A study was carried out for a Chinese contractual partner on the state of the art of machine parts that can be used for powerful ship engines – such as those found in combat ships. The secret service employee from whom one of the suspects is said to have received his orders stood behind the Chinese contract partner. According to the information, the project was financed by Chinese state authorities.

In addition, the accused are said to have purchased three special lasers from Germany on behalf of and with payment from the MSS and exported them to China without authorization. The allegations therefore also concern commercial violations of the Foreign Trade Act.

The federal government considered the arrests a success. “The area of ​​militarily usable innovative technologies from Germany affected in the current case is particularly sensitive,” explained Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) at the time. The Office for the Protection of the Constitution was involved in the investigation.