Belgium: Former Belgian senator accused of spying for China

The newspapers Le Monde, The Financial Times and Der Spiegel revealed on Friday that a former Belgian senator had become an informant for China between 2019 and 2022. The journalists had access to hundreds of telephone messages exchanged between Frank Creyelman, a politician from the far-right Flemish party Vlaams Belang, and a certain "Daniel Woo" who is believed to be a Chinese agent.

The façade of the Belgian Parliament (illustrative image). © EmDee, CC BY-SA 3.0

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With our correspondent in Brussels, Laure Broulard

Report on the political opinions of the President of the Council of the EU, Charles Michel, information on meetings in the European Parliament and, above all, the dissemination of pro-Beijing language... The messages reveal that Frank Creyelman carried out assignments for a man identified as an agent of the Chinese Ministry of State Security and seeking to influence discussions in Europe about China.

These missions were carried out for a fee, via cryptocurrency. At that time, Frank Creyelman had completed his terms in the Flemish Parliament and the Belgian Senate. He is a simple far-right elected official in the city of Mechelen, but he prides himself on having a very extensive address book.

His Chinese contact, Daniel Woo, for example, asked him to use it to attack the reputation of the German academic Adrian Zenz, known for his criticism of violations of the rights of the Uyghurs.

For Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, these revelations "demonstrate the danger of the far right". For its part, the respondent's party, Vlaams Belang, expelled Frank Creyelman from its ranks.

Read alsoChina's Alibaba in the sights of Belgian authorities for suspicions of espionage

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