Police have arrested a staffer working for a German far-right member of the European parliament on charges of spying for China. Jian Guo, an employee of Maximilian Krah, was accused by Germany’s federal prosecutor on Tuesday of being covertly employed by China’s Ministry of State Security (MSS).

The arrest is the latest of several cases in which alleged Chinese spies have been unmasked in high-level parliamentary positions, including in the UK and Belgium, which have put European security authorities on heightened alert over Beijing’s increasingly aggressive attempts at political subterfuge.

In recent weeks, German intelligence services have warned of a deteriorating security situation, with both China and Russia increasing their efforts as they seek to gain economic and technological advantages from, and political influence over, Europe’s largest economy.