Judge Hans Schlüeter-Staats (L) stands in the courtroom of the higher regional court in Dresden on the last day of the high-profile espionage trial of two suspected spies for China, defendants Guo Jian (2nd right), a former assistant to then-Member of the European Parliament Maximilian Krah, of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AFD) party, and Xiao Yaqi (not pictured), accused of spying on German defense companies, in Germany, on Sept. 30, 2025. Odd Andersen/Pool/AFP via Getty Images
A former Chinese assistant for a German lawmaker in the European Parliament was sentenced to four years and nine months on Sept. 30 in what German federal prosecutor Stephan Morweiser called the “most serious case of Chinese espionage” uncovered in the country to date.
Guo Jian, a German citizen, was convicted of acting as an agent for China’s intelligence service while working for Maximilian Krah, who was a member of the European Parliament at the time, a verdict announced by Dresden’s Higher Regional Court on Sept. 30. Guo became a member of Krah’s staff in 2019.
