July 6 (UPI) — The owner of a German think tank, only known as Klaus L, will appear before a Munich court Tuesday on charges of spying for China.
He’s been accused of passing confidential German government documents to the Chinese secret service, according to Politico.
The accused man was allegedly an informant for the German Federal Intelligence Service, providing the agency information for 50 years and leading a “double life.”
He was a political scientist working for the Hanns Seidel Foundation since the 1980s and ran a think tank since 2001.
Klaus allegedly provided information “in the run-up to or after state visits or multinational conferences as well as on certain issues,” South Morning China Post reported.
“In return, the accused was financed to travel to the respective meetings with the Chinese intelligence staff, including a supporting programme; he also received a fee,” the article read.
He was allegedly contacted by Chinese intelligence services on a trip to Shanghai in June 2010.
“The accused helped this to gain international importance due to his scientific reputation and networks built up over many years,” German prosecutors said, according to SCMP.
After his home was searched in November 2019, the charges were brought against him on May 20 and he was arrested on July 5.
The development is the latest in a series of espionage scandals involving China and the wider European Union.
Last year, Germany launched an international investigation into a suspected Chinese spy ring involving German nationals.
The probe exposed Gerhard Sabathil, EU’s former ambassador to South Korea, as the target of the investigation. But failing to substantiate the claims, prosecutors dropped the investigation.