FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT
BRUSSELS – The news in Belgium caused a stir: Frank Creyelman, a former parliamentarian for the right-wing populist Flemish party Vlaams Belang, had been on the payroll for over three years of Daniel Woo, an official in the spy service of the Ministry of State Security. For years he has been involved in discussions in Europe swayed in Beijing's favor on issues ranging from China's suppression of democracy in Hong Kong to the persecution of Uyghurs in Xinjiang.
The case was solved by an investigation by Der Spiegel, Le Monde and the Financial Times. The relationship between the Chinese official and the Belgian politician is documented in text messages from 2019 to the end of 2022 that the three media outlets obtained from a Western security source. In a message, Woo wrote to Creyelman that “our goal is to divide relations between the United States and Europe.” The Financial Times reports: “When German Chancellor Olaf Scholz wanted to visit China in late 2022, Woo asked Creyelman to get two right-wing members of the European Parliament to say publicly that the US and Britain were undermining European energy security.” Creyelman was excluded from Vlaams Belang “with immediate effect”.
The article states: “The exchange reveals explicitly and in detail how Chinese intelligence is attempting to manipulate political discussion around the world in Beijing's favor – a concern that is increasingly being raised by Western security agencies.” It is also reported , that “the Chinese official was referring to previous attempts to target Martin Selmayr, the former secretary general of the European Commission, who was once among the most powerful officials in Brussels.” There was no evidence, the newspaper continued, that China The attempt was successful, and Selmayr, who now heads the EU Commission representation in Austria, “vehemently denied having any knowledge of the situation”. When he arrived at the European Council on Friday, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said he had known about the revelations for several weeks and was “shocked”. In his opinion, this shows that “the extreme right can pose a danger to our society.” In June, Belgium will take part in the federal, regional and European elections. According to the Flemish newspaper Het Nieuwsblad, Filip Dewinter, a member of Vlaams Belang, is also connected to Chinese spies and is part of the same network as Daniel Woo.