A Chinese spy in the entourage of the AfD leader in the European elections, Maximilian Krah. A member of the services of the People’s Republic, but paid – like one of the three assistants to which MEP Krah is entitled – also with European money. This is what the arrest warrant says for Jian Guo, 43 years old, professional bag carrier and entrepreneur. The police went to pick him up at dawn yesterday in his house on the outskirts of Dresden: three rooms in which he lives with his Chinese wife and a young daughter. A couple who speak impeccable German (and English), and whose good manners were appreciated by the neighbors, only a little annoyed by the constant coming and going – local reporters write – of the many passing Chinese guests.
An arrest of one There has never been a “snitch” in the European Parliament. Yet, in these times it is a pattern that repeats itself. An alleged “Chinese mole” was arrested in London on Monday who worked for a Tory MP. Recently in Belgium two deputies of the Vlams Blok, the Flemish far right, were accused of passing information to Beijing. All anti-EU “patriots” in this latest Chinese fishing. Beijing’s Foreign Ministry spoke irritably with Germany yesterday (three people had already been arrested the day before for industrial espionage), claiming that it was “political denigration and manipulation”.
Maximilian Krah is not just any character. For his biography (eight children from three different wives), for his tendency to exaggerate, because he is a TikTok star and because he is the most Trumpian of the AfD deputies. He utters phrases like an arch-conservative macho expert in clicks, such as “porn is bad for you”, “a male doesn’t have to be nice, it works better with girls too”. In five years he climbed the ranks until he was chosen as the leader. And he did it — under the careless or distracted eyes of AfD leader Alice Weidel — not only from pro-Putinian and pro-Beijing positions, but by mocking the accusations of being paid by the Kremlin.
Lately from journalistic investigations we moved on to those of the FBI. During a trip to America, Krah was stopped and interrogated by the feds. What do the chats with Putin’s fixer Oleg Woloshyn mean – FBI agents wanted to know – when he promises him that “from May the fees will resume as before February”? China is Krah’s other exposed flank. He and Guo have known each other since Dresden University. It was Guo who took him to Shanghai and Beijing many times: trips paid for by Huawei, appearances in forums and on TV. For Krah, the Silk Road is obviously a “road of peace”. However, relations with the International Department of the Communist Party (Idcpc) appeared more delicate: the German Verfassungschutz advises against them for politicians, warning that it is the international long arm of Beijing’s 007s. What could Agent Guo have gone through in Beijing? In Brussels, Krah sits on the Foreign Trade Committee and on the Security, Defense and Human Rights subcommittees.
There is endless material for China’s methodical roundup. Krah defines himself as surprised, but if the accusation is confirmed “he will be fired”. However, no one says they want to oust him from the position of Spitzenkandidat of the Alternative for Germany.
