By Li Jie, He Shenquan, Wang Tianmi, Su Jing, Gao Ying, Liu Yupeng

“We are deeply shocked by such hearsay.” Mission of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to the European Union (EU) issued a statement on its official website homepage on February 10, refuting German media reports on Chinese espionage in Brussels.

On February 9, the report published on German newspaper Die Welt claimed that the European External Action Service (EEAS) estimated 450 Chinese and Russian spies spreading across “Heart of Europe” and urged European officials to be vigilant. Last week, Lithuania, a small European country, hyped up the “Chinese spy threat” in its annual report. In addition, some French media said that the spy espionage has become a big concern for the EU members.

“We attach great importance to the EU and China-EU relations and are committed to maintaining and promoting the healthy and stable development of China-EU relations.” said the Chinese Mission to the EU on February 10. China urged relevant parties to treat China and China-EU relations objectively and fairly, and not make irresponsible remarks.

Many foreign media quoted statements from Die Welt that China had increasingly strong ambitions for North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and EU member states such as Lithuania, and the Chinese intelligence agency had taken more invasive actions, as suggested by the Lithuanian intelligence agency in its annual report last week.

The report claimed that Chinese intelligence personnel recruited Lithuanian citizens to act as their spies by means including giving presents and offering all-expenses-paid tours to China, for the purpose of' obtaining information about NATO, the EU, and Lithuania in terms of internal affairs, diplomacy and national defense, and preventing Lithuania from proposing Taiwan question and Tibet issue on international stage.

The Lithuanian security agency issues similar reports on an annual basis, often regarding its two neighboring countries Russia and Belarus as the major security threats. The Voice of America (VOA) said that it was the first time that Lithuania regarded China as a security threat since its independence over 20 years ago.

“It is ridiculous and absurd on the part of the Lithuanian intelligence and security department to produce such groundless reports purely based on their speculation and imagination.” China’s embassy in Lithuania said on February 8 local time. The embassy stressed that the shocking report was totally unacceptable, and China has never ever posed any security threat to Lithuania.

Reporters have once gone to Lithuania for interview and experienced the profound sense of insecurity throughout this small country. Lithuania does not maintain a healthy relationship with Russia, the giant neighbor, and almost every Lithuanian mentioned the threat from Russia during interviews.

In fact, not only in Lithuania, but throughout Europe that Russia is considered as a major worry. A Russian media once said that hyping Russian spy threat in the West is to maintain anti-Russian sentiment in Western countries.

Cui Hongjian, director of the Department for European Studies, China Institute of International Studies, told reporters on February 10 that European countries have issued security assessments annually, and without exception, Russia is always listed as the biggest threat. However, things have changed in the past two years due to China’s growing presence in Europe. Some people interpret this as China’s influence, and some confuse the influence with espionage.

There is a line on the outer wall of the Vilnius Town Hall, capital of Lithuania, reading that “Anyone who would choose Lithuania as an enemy has also made an enemy of the United States of America.” When reporters came to interview in Lithuania, the accompanying staff also specifically mentioned the statement which was made by the US President George W. Bush during his visit in Lithuania in 2002. Bush's “vow” drew “thank you” from hundreds of thousands of Lithuanian people. According to CNN, a poll in 2016 showed that the US favorability ratings on the part of Lithuanians have been up to about 85%.

The United States acts as a giant hand drawing European countries to prevent threats from China and Russia. This week, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will visit Hungary, Slovakia and Poland, expressing his concern about the growing presence of Huawei.

Cui Hongjian told reporters that since last year, the United States has been stepping up pressure on Europe and wooed them to follow the United States in many aspects, particularly in suppressing Chinese enterprises in 5G construction. Now some European countries also tend to denounce China. It seems that considering China and Russia threats is a good way to show their closer relationship with the United States.

In the view of Jin Canrong, professor with School of International Studies at Renmin University of China, both the hype of Chinese spies by German media and the Chinese tech giant Huawei incident, are gimmicks applied by the West countries to demonize China.

Professor Jin told reporters on February 10 that Brussels is an international city with half of foreign-born population, mainly Europeans and Americans. Therefore it is a bit far-fetched to accuse China of large-scale spy activities there. Not to mention, the history of modern spies is written by Westerners. “We are still like schoolchildren in this field, but Westerners are already Doctors.” However, once the Western countries intend to demonize you, they can come up with billions of bitter and eccentric ideas, Jin said.

Cui Hongjian said that European countries should firstly distinguish normal activities of Chinese people from the so-called espionage. If Chinese commercial, cultural and political activities in Europe are affected due to the falsely accusation, the ultimate consequences will be on European countries. It is better for China to communicate with the respective European countries in a fair and targeted manner according to the local specific situation, and China will not stop or reduce its activities simply due to its deteriorating public opinion in Europe. The economic and trade data between China and the EU are still growing, indicating that both sides still have vast common interests.