Another spy: Chinese student at TUM in the sight of the public prosecutor's office

Another spy: Chinese student at TUM in the sight of the public prosecutor's office

In the shadow of the Technical University of Munich (TUM), a serious spy scandal is brewed. A Chinese student is suspected of having passed on secret information that is particularly confidential. The Munich General Prosecutor's office has started the investigation that is directed against the only accused. In particular, the focus is on the violation of private secrets and service secrets-a crime that is often associated with business espionage, such as Bachhausen.de reported.

The TUM has recently been involved in reporting on spy, especially in the areas of renewable energies and battery research, which are of great importance for the future technologies. So far, the TUM has not specifically commented on the ongoing investigations, but is noticeable thoughtfully about the accusation.

china's spy ambitions

As the protection of the constitution warns, the efforts of China, technological secrets of western research institutions, are not an isolated case. Over 90 percent of all economic espionage cases in the United States between 2011 and 2018 had Chinese bodies as the main suspects, according to a report by Constitutional Protection.de . With regard to the recent incidents in Germany, it quickly becomes clear that the security situation in this country can also be assessed as serious.

The increase in Chinese students at German universities, many of them with state scholarships and monitoring connections to the Chinese regime, gives rise to concern. The strategies for business espionage are diversified and can hardly be distinguished from purely private market research. More than 40,000 Chinese students are currently inscribed in Germany, and many are deeply interwoven into the structures of state control.

political dimension of the espionage

The change in spy activities from economic to scientific nature cannot be overlooked. According to Tagesschau.de , German security authorities under the direction of Thomas Haldenwang, the head of the Federal Office for Constitutional Protection, have observed this development critically. The threat of China is classified as as challenging as that of Russia, but in a completely different context.

Behind the scenes, the Chinese secret services are increasingly aggressive, and the connection between military and civil research projects in China includes the possibility of spying. The National Secretary Service Act enables far -reaching surveillance powers in China, which make it almost impossible to distinguish between civil and military interests.

In this complex and worrying situation, companies and research institutions in Germany must remain vigilant and develop suitable strategies to protect their secret knowledge. The case of the TUM student could only be the tip of the iceberg in a changing spy field, which continues to accept new dimensions and faces challenges that go far beyond what many considered possible.