Security politicians from the Union and the Green Party have expressed deep concern regarding the allegedly problematic collaborations of the Saarbrücken Helmholtz Centre for Information Security (Cispa) with China.
Marc Henrichmann (CDU), Chairman of the Parliamentary Control Committee, told the “Handelsblatt” that if vulnerabilities, attacks on AI systems, and disinformation research-findings published at a top, state-funded cybersecurity institution-are associated with researchers connected to the Chinese military apparatus, this constitutes a security matter of the highest priority. Henrichmann pointed out that the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution has explicitly warned about Chinese interest in Cispa and potential knowledge transfer. He stressed that Germany’s domestic intelligence services have long painted a clear threat picture, noting that China is acting aggressively. He concluded by stating that absolute naivety تجاه Beijing is unacceptable, particularly for a key institutional body like Cispa.
Konstantin von Notz, Deputy Group Leader for the Greens, also pointed to significant oversights. He argued that institutions receiving major funding from federal and state sources, especially those operating in security-critical fields, require vastly greater sensitivity regarding such issues, and that multiple errors are evident. Von Notz asserted that the collaborations should have been scrutinized as soon as it became known how closely Chinese research institutions are intertwined with military bodies-and that some of those institutions are listed on US sanctions lists. Furthermore, he insisted that counter-espionage assessments needed to be consulted.
