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Reuters
Reuters
Business

China cranking up political espionage, German official tells newspaper

FILE PHOTO: German and Chinese national flags fly in Tiananmen Square ahead of the visit of German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Beijing, China, May 23, 2018. REUTERS/Thomas Peter

The head of Germany's domestic intelligence agency fears that China is expanding its spy activities against Berlin, he said in a newspaper interview published on Saturday, adding that Beijing was focusing increasingly on political espionage.

"China is developing wide-ranging spying and influence activities. We must be prepared for these to increase in the coming years," Verfassungsschutz agency chief Thomas Haldenwang told the Welt am Sonntag newspaper.

He warned that economic dependence on China could be exploited for political influence.

FILE PHOTO: President of the German Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Thomas Haldenwang, presents the 'Constitution Protection Report 2021' together with German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, in Berlin, Germany June 7, 2022. REUTERS/Annegret Hilse

"China is pursuing a long-term strategy to achieve its goals," Haldenwang said. "The political leadership is already using its economic power, which also results from intensive relations with the German and European economies, to implement political goals."

The German government has been reassessing its economic relations with authoritarian countries after the Ukraine war laid bare the vulnerabilities of Berlin's years-long energy dependence on Russia.

In a strategy paper seen by Reuters, the Economy Ministry recommended imposing stricter requirements for firms dealing with China, for example by undergoing regular stress tests.

(Writing by Rachel More; editing by Jonathan Oatis)

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