The Chinese Communist Party’s official media “Guangming Daily” resident journalist in Prague, Yang Yiming, has been indicted by the Czech prosecution for allegedly collecting information on Czech officials sympathetic to Taiwan for the Chinese intelligence agencies, a crime under the “engaging in unauthorized activities for foreign forces” clause, marking the first case under the new Czech National Security Law.
Experts point out that this case is just the tip of the iceberg, revealing not only the long-term use of journalists, students, and other non-traditional identities by the Chinese Communist Party for intelligence work but also signaling that Europe’s tolerance towards Chinese infiltration activities has reached a tipping point, with France and the entire Western world beginning to openly push back.
According to a report by Czech Radio Station iROZHLAS.cz on June 2nd, the Prague City Court will handle the case of Yang Yiming, the resident journalist of “Guangming Daily” in Prague.
Prague City Court spokesperson Kateřina Eliášová stated, “I can confirm that the court has received the indictment against the defendant. According to the indictment, the defendant is suspected of engaging in unauthorized activities for foreign forces. As the case is still in the trial phase, we cannot provide further information at this time.”
The prosecution of this case is overseen by the Prague High Public Prosecutor’s Office and the formal trial date has yet to be scheduled due to national security implications.
The charge of “engaging in unauthorized activities for foreign forces” falls under the Czech Penal Code section for “endangering the Republic, foreign states, and international organizations”, which carries a maximum prison sentence of 5 years.
Since 2020, the Chinese Communist Party’s “Guangming Daily” acquired a smaller Czech newspaper, “Literárnínoviny”, and began publishing rigid propaganda articles supporting the Chinese Communist Party.
The journalist Yang Yiming from “Guangming Daily” in Prague was found to be actually affiliated with the Chinese intelligence agencies, monitoring and gathering information on specific political and academic figures in Prague, such as attempting to collect damaging information on Taiwanese political figures like the Czech Senate President Miloš Vystrčil and former House Speaker Markéta Pekarová Adamová.
Yang Yiming’s indictment is based on Article 318a of the Czech Penal Code. This article, effective since February 2025, focuses on individuals gathering sensitive information for foreign forces, especially cases linked to Russian or Chinese intelligence activities.
Why is the Chinese Communist Party specifically targeting Czech officials sympathetic to Taiwan? This is closely related to Taiwan’s recent active promotion of diplomatic relations in the European Parliament.
Tang Jingyuan believes that although many European countries do not have formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Taiwan’s parliamentary diplomacy has produced significant results. He points out that this interaction not only helps Taiwan break diplomatic isolation but also gradually draws attention to the Taiwan Strait issue from the international community.
“Czech Republic is one of the most friendly European countries to Taiwan and one of the earliest to promote high-level parliamentary diplomacy. Beijing hopes to use pressure on the Czech Republic as a warning to other European countries,” Tang said.
Shen Mingshi shares the same view. He says, “Taiwan has been continuously developing parliamentary diplomacy with democratic European countries in recent years. Although not formal diplomatic relations, the actual effects are often significant.”
In his view, this interaction not only enhances Taiwan’s international visibility but also brings more international attention to the Taiwan Strait issue. He believes that China sees Czech Republic as a key target, which fundamentally is part of China’s external influence and diplomatic coercion strategy.
Martin Hala, a China influence expert at Sinopsis, said, “For decades, Beijing has used official media to cover up its intelligence personnel activities. ‘Guangming Daily’ is one of the most important newspapers of the Chinese Communist Party, with its chief editor holding a deputy ministerial level position, allowing them to send reporters abroad, many of whom engage in intelligence work. The former editor stated that up to half of the overseas journalists are intelligence personnel, and the rest may occasionally carry out intelligence missions as needed.”
Facing this groundbreaking case that shook Europe, two analysts pointed out to Epoch Times that the significance of this case goes far beyond the legal fate of a single journalist.
Tang Jingyuan, a current affairs commentator in the U.S., stated that this case is symbolic, as the first case after the implementation of the new National Security Law in the Czech Republic is a Chinese spy disguised as a journalist; indirectly reflecting that China’s infiltration in Europe may be far beyond what the public imagines, with this case being just the tip of the iceberg.
He said, “China’s special intelligence system not only includes professionally trained professional agents within the Security Bureau, but also the United Front system. Many non-professional agents under the United Front system appear to be civilian organization personnel, but also engage in intelligence gathering.”
Researcher Shen Mingshi from the Taiwan Institute of National Defense and Security pointed out that compared to traditional spies, the vast network of peripheral agents established by the Chinese Communist Party’s United Front system is larger in scale. These individuals easily integrate into local societies and are less likely to be detected by counterintelligence agencies.
“These individuals may not have received professional intelligence training. They could be journalists, scholars, students abroad, or individuals from various professional backgrounds. As long as there is an opportunity to access individuals, institutions, or information of intelligence value, China may establish contact with them and even request their assistance in gathering relevant intelligence.”
Shen Mingshi emphasized, “For many countries, this infiltration model is more covert, extensive, and has a greater long-term impact.”
The above case is not an isolated incident. In recent times, several European countries have successively disclosed the capture of Chinese spies, with two incidents occurring in Greece and France involving military intelligence, attracting wide attention from the international community.
In February, the Greek Ministry of Defense arrested a member of the Greek armed forces, accusing him of leaking “confidential information” to a “third party”. According to the Greek newspaper “To Vima”, the air force officer arrested admitted to engaging in espionage activities for China.
There have been confirmed instances of Chinese spying on Greek military assets. In July 2025, four Chinese citizens were detained for taking photos near the Tanagra Air Base of Greek fighter jets and facilities operated by the Hellenic Aerospace Industries. Among these four were a minor, all disguised as tourists.
Meanwhile, the Paris Prosecutor’s Office stated in February that four individuals were arrested for working as spies for China in France, including two Chinese citizens. Authorities are investigating the charge of attempting to use “Starlink” to steal sensitive data from the French government and military.
Since 2024, the disclosure of similar cases in Europe has been increasing, involving Germany, the UK, Sweden, Norway, Belgium, and the Netherlands.
Faced with this series of exposures, experts believe that European countries are undergoing a profound shift in their perception of China.
Tang Jingyuan pointed out that many European countries in the past tended to handle related cases discreetly due to significant economic ties with China. Even if some cases involving Chinese spies were investigated, they were mostly not publicly disclosed.
“The situation is changing now, with Czech Republic choosing to directly expose this incident, indicating that many European countries have reached an intolerable level of patience with China’s intelligence activities and infiltration behavior,” he said.
Shen Mingshi also stated that the article of law applied by Czech Republic in this case is similar to the U.S. Foreign Agents Registration Act, highlighting a shared legislative trend.
He pointed out that the threshold for traditional espionage crimes is higher, but in recent years, China has extensively used gray area individuals for influence operations, intelligence collection, and infiltration activities, necessitating new legal tools for counteraction by countries.
Apart from Europe, democratic countries like the United States and Australia have also consecutively exposed cases of Chinese infiltration.
The Australian Federal Police (AFP) and Australian Security Intelligence Organization (ASIO) on February 11 announced the indictment of two Chinese nationals on charges of foreign interference. The individuals are suspected of secretly collecting information about a Buddhist group in Canberra and allegedly receiving instructions from Chinese government agencies.
On Thursday (June 4th), American journalist Thomas Weir Pauken II appeared in the federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, confessing to acting as an agent for China and providing information to Beijing authorities.
Pauken had a long career with several Chinese official media outlets, including China Radio International, English news channel CGTN, and China’s major mouthpiece Xinhua News Agency.
The Jamestown Foundation in the United States published a report on February 11 titled “Control the People: Mapping China’s Overseas United Front Work in Democracies,” revealing that China has deployed over 2000 United Front organizations in the U.S., Canada, Germany, and the UK.
However, despite China’s sophisticated infiltration strategies, experts note that countermeasures in the Western world are accelerating.
Shen Mingshi said, “China is using a mode of unrestricted warfare, with many actions not necessarily fitting the traditional spy definition but still posing a threat to national security. Therefore, countries may expand the scope of law to regulate and combat such activities.”