Chinese journalist accused of espionage to face Czech court in mid-October

The High Court in Prague granted the state prosecutor’s appeal, overturning an earlier decision to return the file to police and ordering the municipal court to conduct the trial. The defendant, Jang, arrived in the Czech Republic in January 2024 and was officially listed as a correspondent for the state-run Guangming Daily, a role prosecutors claim concealed his activities for Chinese intelligence. He is accused of systematically surveilling individuals in political and academic networks across the Visegrád Four region and relaying the collected intelligence to the Chinese embassy in Prague.

Among his contacts was former MEP Jan Zahradil, who provided an interview and analysis at Jang’s request but cut ties after security warnings in the summer of 2024. Jang was detained by the National Counter-Terrorism, Extremism and Cybercrime Centre in January and is now scheduled for a three-day trial beginning 14 October. If convicted, he faces one to five years in prison and expulsion from the Czech Republic.