Chinese Spy Games on EU Members

Written by Connor Foster | May 1, 2024

A wave of suspicion regarding Chinese espionage is sweeping through the European Union. The aid of a prominent member of the European Parliament was arrested this past week under suspicion of passing intelligence to Chinese counterparts. The suspect who is also a German citizen has been immersed in his work as an aid since 2019 and was recently found to be an employee of the Chinese secret service. This is the latest of five other arrests for similar crimes: two in the United Kingdom and three others in Germany. These incidents are accompanied by an overall increase in suspicion regarding Chinese economic activity that could potentially lead to a trade war. Furthering this tension can have drastic economic impacts for the EU because China is the largest trading partner of major states like Germany. The arrests have triggered suspicion and outrage from even the most China-friendly EU countries. States that could previously overlook the economic tension cannot turn a blind eye to such overt political meddling. 

This change in attitudes towards China appears quite dramatic since many European countries, especially Germany, have come to China’s defense in the past against the loud cries of American complaints. Therefore, it seems that this espionage has been a pervasive problem in the EU economy and its politics for many years but has not been identified until recently. Other states across the EU have cracked down on potential areas for espionage out of fear that they have overlooked such intelligence lapses. For example, a Chinese-owned security equipment business was raided by Dutch and Polish authorities after the arrests were made. In addition, a Chinese journalist living in Sweden was deported after living there for almost 20 years. One worrisome consequence that could arise from this spike in suspicion is that anti-Chinese sentiment could turn into xenophobic reactions to Chinese citizens living in Europe. The EU will have to walk a fine line moving forward on how to take precautions while not further endangering Chinese-European relations.