The Czech police on Thursday (January 22) stated that they have detained an individual suspected of cooperating with the Chinese Communist intelligence agency, but did not provide further details. Local media reports suggest that this person is a resident journalist of the “Guangming Daily.”
According to a post on social media platform X by the police on Thursday, the individual detained last Saturday (17th) is now undergoing criminal prosecution. The Czech counter-intelligence agency and the Czech Counter Terrorism Police Agency are involved in the investigation of this case.
The Czech Security Intelligence Service (BIS) has only issued a general comment on this case. In a brief statement, the department mentioned, “Early Saturday morning, the police detained an individual suspected of belonging to the Chinese Communist intelligence agency. Subsequently, this individual was accused of engaging in unauthorized activities on behalf of a foreign power.”
The news website “Czech News” (Seznam Zpravy) later confirmed, citing multiple informed sources, that the arrested individual is Yang Yiming, a reporter in Prague for the Chinese media “Guangming Daily.”
The Czech news website Denik N also confirmed that the detainee is a Chinese citizen who has been collecting information on Czech political figures, primarily related to exchanges and visit details between politicians and Taiwan, some of which were conducted outside the Czech Republic.
This indicates that Yang Yiming is the first target in the Czech Republic to be prosecuted for engaging in unauthorized activities on behalf of a foreign power. The law came into effect in February 2025, and he could face up to five years of imprisonment.
The Prague Prosecutor’s Office responsible for this case has not responded to inquiries. The Chinese Embassy in Prague has also not responded to media requests for comments.
According to “Czech News,” three independent sources familiar with this case confirmed Yang Yiming’s identity. Informants revealed that Yang Yiming had established connections with some Czech and Slovak political figures, attempting to obtain intelligence from them for espionage activities.
Due to the detailed disclosure of counter-espionage and police surveillance in this criminal prosecution case, it has attracted significant attention from the public.
In 2020, the “Guangming Daily” acquired a smaller Czech newspaper “Literární noviny,” which subsequently began publishing stiff Chinese Communist Party propaganda articles.
Yang Yiming has worked in the Czech Republic for many years and has repeatedly received extensions to his journalist visa from the Czech government. He maintained contacts with some Czech and Slovak political figures for interviews. Czech security agencies suspect that he was trying to collect information from these individuals.
According to “Czech News,” from the published textual interviews by Yang, it is evident that he systematically selected to interview so-called China-friendly political activists, often contrary to the mainstream EU stance towards China.
For instance, Yang’s first interview was with current “Motorists” diplomatic policy expert and former Member of the European Parliament Jan Zahradil. In the interview, Zahradil warned against confronting Beijing, emphasizing the interdependence of the world economy. He underscored the necessity of trade, stability, and dialogue between the Czech Republic and China, while avoiding issues such as security threats, human rights, or political repression.
After Yang’s arrest, Zahradil mentioned that since he informally alerted by some government entities in the summer of 2025 that Yang Yiming was a high-risk individual, he had not seen Yang again and had cut off contact with him.
Reports suggest that apart from the Czech Republic, Yang Yiming’s activities in Slovakia seemed more extensive. He directly contacted pro-Russian rhetoric European Parliament members, conveying discourse favoring the abandonment of values and embracing China and Russia.
Martin Hala, a China influence expert at Sinopsis website, expressed no surprise at this arrest of a Chinese spy. He told “Czech News,” “For decades, Beijing has been using official media to cover its intelligence personnel (export). The ‘Guangming Daily’ is one of the most important newspapers of the Chinese Communist Party, with its chief editor having a deputy ministerial level position, able to dispatch reporters abroad, many of whom engage in intelligence work. Its former editor stated that as many as half of the foreign correspondents are intelligence personnel, while the remaining staff may occasionally carry out intelligence missions as needed.”
Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš referred to this case as unique. He stated that the typical practice would be to expose spies and send them on a plane for deportation.
“Since the arrest has happened, the relevant departments certainly know the reasons,” he said.
Daniel Drake, the spokesperson for the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stated, “The security services have informed the minister about this matter, but as the chief prosecutor retains the right to provide all case information, we will not make any further comments.”