BEIJING: Beijing said Tuesday (Apr 23) that the arrests and charges in Germany and Britain of people accused of spying for China were designed to “smear and suppress” the country.
Investigators in Germany arrested three German nationals in the west of the country on Monday suspected of sharing information on maritime technology, prosecutors said in a statement.
The trio, identified only as Herwig F, Ina F and Thomas R, are accused of taking part in an information-gathering project funded by Chinese state agencies, as well as illegally exporting a laser to China.
In Britain, two men were charged the same day with handing over “articles, notes, documents or information” to China between 2021 and last year.
Police identified the men as Christopher Berry, 32, and Christoper Cash, 29, who previously worked at the UK parliament as a researcher.
German prosecutors said on Tuesday another individual, an aide to a German far-right politician standing in June’s European Union elections, had been arrested on suspicion of spying for China.
China’s foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin was asked several questions by journalists on Tuesday about the allegations.
“Recent reports on China’s so-called espionage activities in Europe are all hyped up and aimed at smearing and suppressing China,” Wang said.
“Not only there have been reports from Germany but we have also noted similar reports from the UK in the past two days.
“We firmly oppose such hype and urge relevant parties to stop spreading false information about the so-called China spy threat, stop political manipulation and malicious defamation against China,” he said.
