An aide to a German far-right European Parliament lawmaker has been arrested on suspicion of spying for China, Germany’s federal prosecutor’s office said Tuesday, the latest in a series of cases that have intensified concerns about foreign interference in European Union politics weeks before bloc-wide elections.

德国联邦检察官办公室周二称，一名德国极右翼欧洲议会议员的助手因涉嫌为中国从事间谍活动被捕。这是一系列案件中的最新一起，在欧洲议会选举前数周，加剧了人们对外国干预欧盟政治的担忧。

The arrest also comes a day after the British authorities announced they had charged two people, one of whom was a former parliamentary aide, with spying for China, although there was no indication the two cases were linked.

此前一天，英国政府宣布，他们指控两人为中国从事间谍活动，其中一人是前议会助手，不过没有迹象表明这两起案件有关联。

The German arrest took place on Monday in the eastern city of Dresden. It came just hours after the German authorities arrested three people in the west of the country on suspicion of leaking technological data used in maritime propulsion and exporting a high-powered laser to China. It was not clear whether the two cases were linked.

逮捕于周一发生在东部城市德累斯顿。在此数小时前，德国当局在该国西部逮捕了三人，他们涉嫌泄露用于海上推进系统的技术数据，以及向中国出口高功率激光器。目前尚不清楚这两起案件是否存在关联。

The episodes underscored the oftentimes fraught relationship between European countries and China, a vastly important trading partner that has long been treated with suspicion.

这些事件凸显了欧洲国家与中国之间时常出现的紧张关系，中国是一个极其重要的贸易伙伴，但长期以来一直受到怀疑。

Prosecutors said on Tuesday that Jian G., as he was identified in keeping with German privacy rules, had worked for a German member of the European Parliament since 2019.

检察官周二表示，Jian G.（按照德国隐私规定隐去姓名）自2019年以来一直为欧洲议会的一名德国议员工作。

Calling him an “employee of a Chinese secret service,” prosecutors accused Mr. G. of repeatedly passing along information about parliamentary deliberations and decisions to Chinese intelligence in January. Mr. G., a German citizen, also was accused of spying on Chinese opposition groups in Germany, according to a statement from the prosecutor’s office.

检察官称其为“中国情报机构工作”，指控G.先生在今年1月多次向中国情报部门传递有关议会审议和决策的情报。G.先生是德国公民，根据检察官办公室的一份声明，他还被指控为中国的情况机构搜集在德国的中国异议人士的信息。

The Chinese government denied any involvement in the case.

中国政府否认与此案有任何牵连。

“We have taken note of the relevant reports and related hype,” a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry, Wang Wenbin, told a news conference in Beijing on Tuesday. “In reality, everyone has seen very clearly in recent times that the so-called ‘Chinese espionage threat theory’ is not new in European public discourse,” he added.

“我们注意到有关报道和相关炒作，”外交部发言人汪文斌周二在北京的例行记者会上表示。“实际上，大家都看得很清楚，所谓‘中国间谍威胁论’在欧洲舆论场并不新鲜，”他还说。

Nancy Faeser, who as Germany’s interior minister is responsible for homeland security, called the allegations “extremely serious.”

负责国土安全的德国内政部长南希·费泽称这些指控“极其严重”。

“If it is confirmed that the European Parliament was spying for Chinese intelligence services, then this is an attack on European democracy from within,” she said in statement on Tuesday morning.

她在周二上午的声明中表示：“如果证实中国的情报部门正在欧洲议会进行间谍活动，那么这就是从内部发动对欧洲民主的攻击。”

Maximilian Krah, a lawmaker with the far-right Alternative for Germany, or AfD, party confirmed that the man arrested was one of his employees.“Should the allegations prove to be true, this would result in the immediate termination of employment,” Mr. Krah wrote on X.

极右翼德国另类选择党的议员马克西米利安·克拉证实，被捕的男子是他的一名雇员。“如果指控被证明属实，我们将立即解除雇佣关系，”克拉在X上写道。

A spokesman for the Belgian prosecutor’s office, which would be responsible for any investigations at the aide’s workplace inside the European Parliament in Brussels, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A spokesman for the European Parliament also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

比利时检察官办公室的发言人没有立即回应置评请求。该办公室将负责对这名助手在布鲁塞尔欧洲议会内的工作场所展开调查。欧洲议会的一位发言人也没有立即回应置评请求。

A spokesman for the European Parliament said that Mr. G had been suspended from his job as a staff parliamentary assistant, effective immediately.

欧洲议会发言人表示，G.被立即停职，不再担任议会助手一职。

The fourth arrest of a German accused of working for Chinese intelligence in two days, Mr. G.’s case risked further straining the tense relationship between Germany and China, just days after Chancellor Olaf Scholz returned from a trip to Beijing.

这是两天内第四名被控为中国情报机构工作的德国人被逮捕，就在德国总理肖尔茨结束访华行程回来几天后，G.的案件可能会进一步加剧德中之间的紧张关系。

China is Germany’s fourth-largest export market and Mr. Scholz had signed several bilateral trade agreements during his three-day visit to China. But Germany is also mindful of China’s aggressive trade practices: In a national strategy paper presented last year, the German government called China a “systemic rival.”

中国是德国第四大出口市场，在为期三天的行程中，肖尔茨签署了多项双边贸易协议。但德国也注意到了中国咄咄逼人的贸易行为：在去年提交的一份国家战略文件中，德国政府称中国为“系统性竞争对手”。

At the same time, if the allegations against Mr. G. prove true, they would reveal China’s efforts to influence and extract information from the European Parliament at a critical moment for the E.U.-China relationship.

与此同时，如果对G.的指控属实，这将揭示中国在中欧关系的关键时刻试图影响欧洲议会、从中获取情报的努力。

The European Union has not followed the United States in confronting Beijing over tensions in the South China Sea, but it has been directly at odds with China over its support for Russia since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The bloc of 27 countries has also been experiencing escalating tensions with Beijing over trade, a sizable economic relationship that hinges on mutual reliance but also deep rivalry.

在南海紧张局势问题方面，欧盟并没有像美国那样与北京对抗，但在俄罗斯全面入侵乌克兰以来，欧盟与中国在支持俄罗斯的问题上一直存在直接分歧。这个由27个国家组成的集团与中国在贸易问题上的紧张关系也在不断升级，这一规模庞大的经济关系建立在相互依赖的基础上，但也存在深刻的竞争。

And while the European Parliament has limited executive powers, it is a high-profile institution that approves all new legislation for the bloc while also serving as a forum for debate and the exchange of sensitive information pertaining to European policies.

虽然欧洲议会的行政权力有限，但它是一个备受瞩目的机构，负责批准欧盟的所有新立法，同时也是辩论和交换与欧洲政策相关敏感信息的论坛。

But Mr. G.’s case was not the first to suggest an attempt at foreign interference in the European Union’s only directly elected body: The Parliament has been roiled since late 2022 by an ongoing investigation into an alleged cash-for-favors scheme involving Qatar.

但是，G.的案件并不是第一个表明外国试图干涉欧盟唯一直选机构的案件：自2022年底以来，议会一直在接受一项所谓以现金换取支持计划的调查，该计划涉及卡塔尔。

Mr. Krah, who has served in the European Parliament since 2019, has positioned himself on the right wing of the AfD. He is considered to be the party’s top candidate in the European Parliament election in June.

克拉自2019年以来一直在欧洲议会任职，他将自己定位为德国另类选择党的右翼。他被认为是该党在6月欧洲议会选举中的头号候选人。

The arrest of his aide was not the first time Mr. Krah’s name has come in contact with accused spies for foreign countries. According to internal records reviewed by The New York Times, Mr. Krah secured an access badge to the European Parliament for a Polish man later accused of spying for Russia.

这次助手被捕并非克拉的名字第一次与被指控为外国间谍的人联系在一起。根据《纽约时报》查阅的内部记录，克拉曾为一名后来被指控为俄罗斯从事间谍活动的波兰男子取得进入欧洲议会的通行证。

Mr. Krah has said he was questioned by the F.B.I. about possible payments from Russia last December, when he was in the U.S. to attend an event hosted by the New York Young Republican Club. However, he denied taking money from Russian interests.

克拉曾说，去年12月，他在美国参加纽约青年共和党俱乐部举办的活动时，曾就是否接受过俄罗斯支付的款项接受过FBI的质询。然而，他否认接受了俄罗斯利益集团的资金。

When the magazine European Conservative suggested last year that one of his aides was lobbying on behalf of China, Mr. Krah hit back at what he called a smear piece.

去年，当《欧洲保守党》杂志表示他的一名助手在代表中国进行游说时，克拉回击称这是诽谤。

“They are merrily lying,” he said at the time.

“他们大说谎话，”他当时说。