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China expands its spy networks across the European Union and beyond

Chinese espionage in the European Union and neighboring countries reveals its full scope when certain pieces are connected. The May 20 arrest in Germany of a German couple of Chinese origin who were taking military-technology information from universities is a particularly notable case. But it is only one of many. The episode exposes a strategy of large-scale, coordinated infiltration when placed alongside other arrests in EU member states and neighboring countries. In total, around 30 agents and collaborators have been uncovered in Europe and its vicinity in just the past two years; some were arrested, several expelled, and others are awaiting trial. China typically denies all espionage allegations and describes them as slander.

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Β© Pool (Getty Images)

Jian G., a German citizen and assistant to far-right MEP Maximilian Krah (of AfD), last September at the Dresden court where he was sentenced to four years and nine months in prison for spying for China.
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Angelique Geray, journalist infiltrated among German neo-Nazis: β€˜What surprised me most is that these young people are serious’

They are teenagers, or young adults barely over the age of 20, but above all, far-right radicals who dream of β€œDay X,” the day it all begins, the day they will massacre immigrants. Germans who go to school, attend training programs, or work β€” far removed from the neo-Nazi stereotype of skinheads in bomber jackets β€” and who then immerse themselves in far-right extremist movements that speak of a β€œpure people,” downplay the Holocaust, and hate migrants, but now also direct their anger at feminists and the LGBTQ+ community. German investigative journalist Angelique Geray, 33, decided to infiltrate these groups between 2024 and 2025 to understand how they become radicalized. β€œI wanted to find out why right-wing extremism is once again presenting itself as a kind of cult or youth trend,” she explained earlier this month in a cafe in southern Berlin after publishing her experience in a book titled Undercover unter Nazis (Undercover Among Nazis).

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Β© RTL

Angelique Geray, a journalist who infiltrated German neo-Nazi youth, in an image provided by her.
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Steven Seagal and a β€˜phantom’ Trump delegation: Putin showcases his soft power in St. Petersburg

Many years ago, the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum hosted world leaders such as Angela Merkel, Xi Jinping, Emmanuel Macron, and JosΓ© Luis RodrΓ­guez Zapatero. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 changed everything. The Kremlin’s flagship business event is now a pale imitation of what it once was. This year, its main attractions have been a philosopher of Russian ultranationalism, Donald Trump’s chair of the Commission of Fine Arts, and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

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Β© ANATOLY MALTSEV (EFE)

An image of Vladimir Putin during the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.
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