"This morning I learned from the press about the arrest of my colleague Jian Guo. I have no further information. Spying for a foreign state is a serious accusation. If the accusations are true, this would result in the immediate termination of the employment relationship," said on the social network X the parliamentarian, who is the head of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party list for the next European elections.

The suspect was arrested on Monday in the city of Dresden, German federal prosecutors said in a statement today. The German Public Prosecutor's Office also said that the aide had been working for the MEP since 2019.

Jian Guo, 43, is accused of working for the Chinese intelligence services and of having repeatedly transmitted information on negotiations and decisions of the European Parliament. Prosecutors allege that the aide also spied on Chinese dissidents in Germany.

According to the German television channel ARD, the parliamentary aide offered himself as an informant to the German authorities several years ago, who from the beginning suspected that he was a double agent.

The European Parliament (EP) has meanwhile announced that Jian Guo has been suspended.

"Following the decision by the German judicial authorities to arrest an individual currently working as an accredited parliamentary assistant (APA) in the European Parliament, and in view of the seriousness of the allegations, Parliament has suspended the person concerned with immediate effect," an EP spokesperson said.

The news of Jian Guo's arrest was released a day after three Germans were arrested, in a separate case, on suspicion of spying for China and organizing the transfer of information on technology with potential military use.

Today, China asked Germany to "abandon the Cold War mentality", after these arrests in Germany.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin also urged Berlin to "stop using the so-called 'espionage risk' to engage in anti-Chinese political maneuvers".

According to Wang, such accusations have "the obvious intention of discrediting and suppressing China and undermining the atmosphere of cooperation between China and Europe".

German police on Monday arrested three people on suspicion of working with the Chinese secret service and providing them with data on military technology, the German federal prosecutor's office said.

The main defendant is a man from Bad Homburg (central Germany), identified as Thomas R. who, according to the Public Prosecutor's Office, was in contact with a Chinese spy agency and had the help of a couple who owned a company in Düsseldorf (west), through which contacts were established with German scientists and researchers.

According to the Public Prosecutor's Office, the information provided to the Chinese side would be on modern components that can be used in engines of warships.

The charges against the trio are espionage for a foreign power and violation of the export law.

Last week, Chinese President Xi Jinping received German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Beijing, whom he appealed to "observe bilateral relations from a strategic and long-term perspective".

Read Also: MEP's aide arrested on suspicion of spying for China (Portuguese version)