Germanyʼs head of domestic intelligence, Thomas Haldenwang, has expressed concern that China is expanding its spying activities against Berlin.
This is reported by Reuters.
“China is developing large-scale espionage and influence activities. We must be prepared for the fact that they will increase in the coming years,” said Haldenwang.
According to the intelligence officer, China can use its economic dependence on it for political influence on other countries.
“The political leadership is already using its economic power, which is also the result of intensive relations with the German and European economies, to realize political goals,” Haldenwang said
Reuters writes that the German government is currently reassessing its economic relations with authoritarian countries after the war in Ukraine exposed the vulnerability of Berlinʼs long-standing energy dependence on the Russian Federation.
- American intelligence agencies recently concluded that China regularly uses balloons around the world for intelligence purposes.