Germany’s ambassador to China says she was summoned by Chinese authorities after four Germans were arrested on suspicion of spying for Beijing.
The German ambassador to China said on Thursday that she had been summoned by Chinese authorities to answer questions about the arrests of four Germans this week who are suspected of spying for Beijing.
“After four Germans were arrested this week for allegedly spying for Chinese secret services, I was summoned to the MFA [ministry of foreign affairs] today,” Patricia Flor wrote on X, formerly Twitter, adding that it was “a quite telling move.”
Using the summons as “a good opportunity to explain a few things,” she insisted that “We do not tolerate espionage in Germany, regardless of which country it comes from [and] we protect our democracy and our constitutional state by constitutional means.”
She concluded: “The Federal Public Prosecutor General conducts the investigations. In the end, an independent court will decide on the accusations.”
A spokesperson for the German foreign ministry confirmed the summons to the Reuters news agency, adding that the Chinese envoy to Berlin had been summoned earlier in the week to be briefed on the German government’s “clear position on the ongoing investigations into suspected Chinese espionage activities”.
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This is the best summary I could come up with:
“After four Germans were arrested this week for allegedly spying for Chinese secret services, I was summoned to the MFA [ministry of foreign affairs] today,” Patricia Flor wrote on X, formerly Twitter, adding that it was “a quite telling move.”
Four German citizens were arrested earlier this week, including an aide to nationalist politician Maximilian Krah, the top candidate for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party in the upcoming European elections.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who visited the Chinese capital and held talks with President Xi Jinping just a week ago, said the spying allegations concerning the far-right MEP were “very worrying” and would be investigated.
Germany’s parliament, the Bundestag, discussed the recent spate of spying scandals on Thursday, with DW’s chief political editor Michaela Küfner reporting that the “gloves were off” as the far-right AfD “essentially stood accused of being traitors.”
Interior minister Nancy Faeser of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats (SPD) warned of attempts by Russia and China to influence Germany and “split us as a society.”
Konstantin Kuhle of the pro-business coalition FDP party said: “The AfD willingly flings itself at the feet of dictators and autocrats, it rewards corrupt and criminal characters with top positions.”
The original article contains 760 words, the summary contains 199 words. Saved 74%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
Did Germany call the Chinese Ambassador to Germany in for a chat too? Seems fucked for the perpetrator to dog whistle her over to explain why SPYING IS NOT TOLERATED. 🤦♂️
