Germany’s spy agency says China and Russia are after its secrets

BERLIN - Foreign intelligence services are increasingly targeting Germany, its domestic intelligence agency said on Tuesday, warning that espionage, cyber attacks and disinformation campaigns, particularly from China and Russia, “pose a serious threat” to the country.

Although such assessments are issued annually, this year’s report was exceptional both for the strength of the warnings and as a measure of just how much Germany’s security environment had changed in a year.

Earlier in June, the government issued a comprehensive national security strategy for the first time, part of an expanding effort to confront Germany’s vulnerability to new military, economic and geopolitical threats.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

and rising global tensions with China served as a backdrop to the country’s increased exposure to foreign interference, given its position both in Nato and as one of the most powerful countries in the European Union, the agency said.

“Russia’s war against Ukraine also means a turning point for internal security,” Germany’s Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said at the news conference, presenting the report from the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, as the agency is known.

Yet,

the report’s strongest warning was reserved for China,

which the agency described as “the greatest threat in terms of economic and scientific espionage”.

The report noted that Germany in 2022 was one of China’s most important targets in Europe for legal investment.

“Direct investments not only offer China the opportunity to make up for innovation deficits and achieve a technological lead, but also open the door to political influence, espionage and sabotage,” the report said, warning that it could also pose risks for national security.

“The extent of these activities can also jeopardise Germany’s competitiveness as an industrial and technology location and undermine the laws of the market economy,” the report added.

“Ultimately, this threatens to result in a loss of prosperity and, as a consequence, risks to democracy, social cohesion and Germany’s independence.” NYTIMES