German federal prosecutors said on Wednesday they arrested two Munich residents on suspicion of spying for a Chinese intelligence service.
The suspects, a married couple who hold German citizenship and have been named as Xuejun C. and Hua S., were detained under a warrant issued last week, the Office of the Federal Prosecutor (Generalbundesanwaltschaft) said.
Prosecutors allege the pair worked for a Chinese secret intelligence agency and cultivated contacts with scientists at German universities and research institutes to gain access to scientific information on high‑tech technologies with potential military applications. They reportedly targeted professors in fields including aerospace and space travel, information technology and artificial intelligence.
According to the prosecutor’s statement, the couple used cover stories to approach researchers, at times posing as translators or as employees of a German car parts supplier to win trust and access. In some cases, scientists were enticed to travel to China under the pretext of giving paid public lectures; prosecutors say those presentations were in fact held before representatives of state‑run weapons companies.
Authorities in Bavaria worked with federal prosecutors on Wednesday’s operation. The couple were taken to the Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof) in Karlsruhe later the same day for a hearing on whether they should be held in investigative detention.
Searches were carried out at the suspects’ Munich residences and workplaces. Additional actions connected to the investigation were conducted across several German states — Bavaria, Baden‑Württemberg, Berlin, Brandenburg, Lower Saxony and North Rhine‑Westphalia — aimed at identifying and contacting witnesses who are not suspected of criminal activity.
Prosecutors did not name the Chinese agency they say the couple worked for. The investigation is ongoing, and authorities provided no immediate information on any charges filed beyond the arrest and the steps toward investigative detention.