Beijing hacked Prague
02 June 2025
Online, nothing is guaranteed to stay confidential. The Czech foreign ministry learned that the hard way last week when the national secret service uncovered a long-lasting Chinese cyber attack.
The infamous hacker group APT31, linked to the Chinese Government, has been spying on the ministry's emails, databases and documents since 2022 when Czechia chaired the EU presidency.
The APT31 group has been operating for at least 10 years and is well known in the West for its sneaky espionage on public institutions. In the last couple of years, the group cyber-attacked internal communications in Norway, Finland, and the UK, as well as the email inboxes of different EU ministers.
Chinese relations with Czechia have been relatively hostile in recent years. That's because Czech representatives repeatedly expressed support for independent Taiwan – a deal breaker for Chinese leaders who insist on the unshakable policy of "One China".
 | Eli Volencová Cyber-attacks and espionage scandals in Europe are nothing new. It is well known that all the big players like to keep an eye on other countries – whether they are allies or enemies. China, Russia, the US, and others have been involved in espionage in Europe, even though their motivation might differ. Still, Chinese interference is not something to take lightly. In the words of the Czech interior minister, Vít Rakušan: "China is comparable with Russia in its effort to weaken Western democracies. Our dependency on Chinese technologies is similarly dangerous as our previous dependency on Russian fossil fuels." |
Welcome to The European Correspondent
Europe lacks true European media: in Germany alone, there are more media devoted exclusively to football than news outlets specialising on Europe. The established players mainly focus on Brussels and European institutions. The European Correspondent aims to change that. We cover the whole of Europe and write for a community of citizens who want to look beyond their own national borders. Without European journalism, there is no European civil society.
〉Read our manifesto
〉The stories we would like to write for you
Become a donor!
The European Correspondent is fully funded by its readers. We can only produce the newsletter with your support - and work towards the bigger project: building true European media. Donate now!
With your help, we can create true European journalism. Thank you!
We are non-profit. Every donated € goes directly into The European Correspondent.