Germany says arrested Chinese are accused of spying on the defense industry

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Germany announced on Tuesday the arrest of a Chinese woman accused of spying on the country's defense industry while working at a logistics company.

The suspect identified only as Yaqi

Yaqi X. worked for a company that offers logistics services, including at Leipzig/Halle Airport in eastern Germany, it was said.

She is said to have used her position to collect information about “the transport of military equipment and people with connections to a German arms company.”

Between mid-2023 and February of this year, she “repeatedly sent information about flights, cargo and passengers at the airport to an employee of a Chinese secret service – namely Jian G. – against whom separate charges are being brought.”

Jian G. was arrested in April on suspicion of espionage while working in the Brussels office of German MEP Maximilian Krah of the far-right Alternative for Germany party.

The woman who was arrested on Monday was brought before an investigating judge at the Federal Court of Justice, who served her with the arrest warrant and ordered her to be in custody.

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