BERLIN (Reuters) – A Chinese man was arrested on the territory of a German naval base, police said on Wednesday, and a public broadcaster said prosecutors were considering spying charges.
Public broadcaster WDR reported that the man was found carrying a camera at the naval base in Kiel on Dec. 9, and that prosecutors were considering charges of taking security-endangering pictures of military installations.
“We have an open investigation into a Chinese man who was found on the territory of the marine port,” said Carola Jeschke, spokesperson for Schlesweig-Holstein’s criminal investigation department.
Prosecutors did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The investigation comes amid a greatly heightened focus on the security threat posed by China, whose booming car industry is an increasingly formidable competitor to Germany’s economic mainstay, and which continues to cooperate with Russia even as the West seeks to isolate Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine.
Kiel, on the Baltic Sea, is home to one of the German navy’s three flotillas and the dry dock where ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems builds submarines.
In October, Germany took over command of NATO’s task force in the Baltic Sea, which is criss-crossed by fuel pipelines and data cables that have repeatedly been severed since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Germany’s security agencies have frequently warned of an increased threat from Chinese intelligence services.
In 2023, Kiel scrapped plans to establish a twin-city partnership with the Chinese military port of Qingdao after researchers warned that it could serve as a cover for espionage.
(Reporting by Thomas Escritt; Editing by Gareth Jones)
