At least 30 agents operating on Beijing’s behalf have been uncovered in the European area over the past two years.
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.
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The Italian government expelled eight Chinese nationals in March on charges of surveilling and intimidating members of the diaspora. This pattern of harassment, known as China’s “clandestine police stations,” came to light in 2022 when the Dutch government acted against two covert offices in Amsterdam and Rotterdam. The NGO that exposed the case, Safeguards Defenders, reported that Beijing had set up 102 unauthorized security offices in 53 countries, including Spain.
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The MEP Engin Eroglu [chair of the Delegation for Relations with the People’s Republic of China in the European Parliament] provides several figures to illustrate Europe’s “structural vulnerability” to Beijing’s influence and espionage operations: “China’s security and intelligence workforce is estimated at between 100,000 and 800,000 personnel, according to various estimates. By comparison, the United States has about 30,000 intelligence officers, and EU member states collectively have approximately 35,000 to 40,000.”
The MEP believes Beijing is interested in future-facing sectors such as semiconductor technology and artificial intelligence. “And Germany, with its strong industrial and research base, remains a key target.”
It was precisely in the EU’s largest economy that, in April 2024, Jiang G., an assistant to far-right MEP Maximilian Krah of Alternative for Germany (AfD), was arrested for spying for China. Around that time, three German citizens identified as Thomas R., Ina R. (a married couple) and Herwig were accused of illegally transferring military and scientific technological know-how to Beijing. They used publicly funded research projects to gather information useful to China’s maritime combat capabilities.
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Cutting-edge technology is fertile ground for bribery. About 100 Belgian police officers raided the Brussels offices of Chinese tech giant Huawei in March 2025 and more than 20 lobbyists’ homes. At least eight people were charged in Belgium, including a senior European Huawei executive. All are alleged to have been involved in a scheme designed to prevent a ban on Chinese 5G technology in Europe. In addition, the Belgian public prosecutor asked the European Parliament to lift the immunity of five MEPs.
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Belgium already knew how far Beijing could influence local and European politics. In December 2023, an investigation by Le Monde, the Financial Times and Der Spiegel revealed that Frank Creyelman, a veteran politician from the far-right Flemish party Vlaams Belang (VB), had received payments for at least three years (between 2019 and 2022) from China to influence both Belgium and the EU on issues such as the situation of the Uyghur minority and pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong. Creyelman was expelled from the party.
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Traditional espionage that targets scientists and military personnel continues to yield results in the age of artificial intelligence. In Greece, on February 5, Air Force Colonel Christos Flessas, 54, was arrested on accusations of passing information of high strategic interest to China. The officer held a top-level NATO security clearance that allowed him access to highly valuable information.
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On the same day Colonel Flessas was arrested in Greece, France uncovered another case. Two technicians, aged 27 and 29, who entered France to perform legal work as engineers, were detained. Two other men of Chinese origin with residency in France provided the logistics: a house rented via Airbnb in the Gironde department (southwest France, near Bordeaux). The Paris prosecutor’s office said the aim was to intercept Starlink satellite communications and military data to transmit to China. The agents made the mistake of installing a two-meter satellite dish in the rented property’s garden, which caused interference and knocked out internet service in the area. Neighbors alerted the authorities and the two engineers face up to 15 years in prison.
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After Russia’s invasion of neighboring Ukraine, Poland stepped up its counterespionage efforts. And they are paying off. In February, police arrested a 32-year-old Montenegrin citizen at Warsaw’s Chopin Airport who was the subject of a European arrest warrant. The suspect was accused of passing intelligence to China from neighboring Lithuania. That same February, Poland approved restrictions to prevent vehicles made in China from entering protected military facilities.
Henrietta Levin, senior fellow at Spain’s Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, says by videoconference that the EU’s priority should be to secure NATO-critical infrastructure such as ports, water systems, power grids, and communications. Beijing acquired 67% of the Piraeus port’s shares in 2016 — the main Greek port and one of eastern Europe’s largest distribution hubs.
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Meanwhile, Beijing has not neglected countries close to the European Union. In Norway, a Chinese woman was arrested on May 8 on the island of Andøya, where a space-launch base is located, on suspicion of complicity in a serious espionage attempt related to state secrets, Efe reported. And on May 17, a Chinese national was detained in the same country on the same charge.
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One of the most decisive and explicit counterespionage battles Beijing is fighting is in the United Kingdom, known for its powerful intelligence services. One of the most recent cases resurfaced this month with a jury verdict finding a former immigration officer and his contact guilty of working for Chinese intelligence. They were accused of using access to immigration databases to track dissidents and pro-democracy activists from Hong Kong who had sought refuge in the U.K. And in March, David Taylor, the husband of Labour MP Joani Reid, was arrested, also accused of spying for China.
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In that complex balance between security and economic benefit, the EU’s major challenge is no longer merely detecting spies but forging a common shield without weakening its considerable commercial muscle.