German who ran think tank arrested for spying for China

BERLIN (AP) - A German man who ran a think tank has been arrested on suspicion of being an informant for Chinese intelligence for years, German prosecutors said Tuesday.

Federal prosecutors said the suspect, identified only as Dr. Klaus L. in line with German privacy rules, was arrested on suspicion of espionage Monday following an indictment that they filed at a Munich court in May.

They said he is a political scientist and had run a think tank, which they didn't identify, since 2001. According to prosecutors, employees of a Chinese intelligence service contacted him when he went on a lecture trip to Shanghai in June 2010.

He is accused of regularly passing information to Chinese intelligence ahead of or after state visits or multinational conferences until November 2019. That information, prosecutors said, came primarily from 'œhigh-ranking political interlocutors'ť he was in contact with thanks to the think tank.

They said that his trips to meetings with Chinese intelligence employees were paid for and that he also received a fee.

Prosecutors said judges in Munich later Tuesday ordered the man released while the case against him continues.