Norwegian analyst accused of spying for China sees case dropped over lack of secret data

In July 2024, PST stopped a Norwegian in his thirties at Oslo Airport, accusing him of conducting "gross intelligence activity" for China. He had previously travelled to Shanghai, earned a doctorate, and later ran a consultancy selling geopolitical analyses to two Chinese clients identified only as "Andy" and "Kevin". Over several months he delivered reports that included publicly available material and some private meeting notes, for which he was paid around $500 per document.

The Defence Security Department examined the submissions and judged them to be of no value to Norway’s security, as they were derived from open sources. Consequently, prosecutor Anne Karoline Bakken Staff dropped the charges, citing insufficient proof that the information was secret or damaging. The case underscores ongoing debate over Norway’s espionage legislation, which requires both secrecy and potential harm, and raises questions about how to regulate the so-called "puzzle doctrine" of aggregating public data.