Former BND director arrested on espionage charges maintained prolonged contacts with Chinese general
August Hanning, former head of Germany's foreign intelligence service, arrested on espionage and treason charges, is said to have maintained long-term relations with a retired Chinese general.
Hanning and his contacts with China: what Der Spiegel revealed
German magazine "Der Spiegel" reports, cited by Reuters and taken up by Gândul, that August Hanning — the former director of Germany's Federal Intelligence Service (BND) — is said to have maintained prolonged contacts with a retired Chinese general of high rank, before and after the end of his mandate leading the agency.
Hanning led the BND from December 1998 to November 2005, after which he held the position of state secretary in the Federal Ministry of the Interior until 2009. According to "Spiegel", he made several trips to China, where he knew a former official who had worked at the Chinese embassy in the German Democratic Republic.
The person in question was identified as Wang Jianzheng, a retired major general considered an expert on German affairs, who had translated several books published in Germany into Chinese.
Hanning's lawyer rejected the accusations, declaring to "Spiegel" that the former BND director had not prejudiced German interests and that the criminal prosecution was unjustified.
Arrest and criminal case
Hanning was detained on Tuesday under suspicion of attempted treason and espionage, in one of the most serious security scandals in Germany since the Cold War. The following day, Wednesday, 7 October 2026, a judge at the Federal Court of Justice ordered his placement in preventive detention.
Along with Hanning, Manfred D., the former head of his office within the BND, was also detained, accused of complicity in attempted treason and espionage.
According to prosecutors, the two are said to have agreed no later than spring 2010 that Manfred D. would supply his former superior with classified internal information from the intelligence service in exchange for sums of money. Documents obtained in this manner are said to have been used to draw up an analysis intended for an officer of a foreign intelligence service — whose identity has not been disclosed publicly.
Prosecutors have not specified what materials may have been transmitted, nor to whom exactly.
Connection to Azerbaijan denied
Shortly after Hanning's placement in preventive detention, "Der Spiegel" published that German investigators are also investigating possible connections between the former BND director and intelligence services in Azerbaijan. Azerbaijani authorities have denied any involvement in the scandal.
Source: Gândul