Finland’s public broadcaster YLE aired an investigative documentary titled “Spy/Journalist” on November 20, 2024. The documentary has drawn significant attention in Finland, revealing how the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) intelligence network operates in Nordic countries.
One case covered was that of Guangjun Zhao. Zhao arrived in Finland at the end of 2011 and worked there from 2011 to 2015 as a correspondent for Guangming Daily. Operating under cover as a journalist, Zhao was in fact an intelligence officer for China’s Ministry of State Security. In a related Swedish legal case from 2018, a Swedish spy working for the CCP was convicted of surveilling Stockholm’s Tibetan community. This spy made several trips to Finland between 2013 and 2015 to meet with Zhao and received payments from Zhao.
Another case involved Estonian lawyer and businesswoman Gerli Mutso. Mutso was initially recruited by a Chinese businessman who resided in Finland and held Finnish citizenship. The Chinese businessman acted as a bridge connecting Mutso with Chinese intelligence agencies. Mutso provided the Chinese military with intelligence services and with updates on the tunnel project between Finland and Estonia’s capital, Tallinn. She used a Gmail account shared with Chinese clients (CCP intelligence agents), communicating with them via saved email drafts (a method widely adopted by Chinese and Russian intelligence agencies).
Mutso also introduced these Chinese agents to Estonian oceanographer Tarmo Kõuts, who had access to classified files from Estonia and NATO’s research center in Italy. Mutso and Kõuts met with Chinese clients in locations such as Hong Kong and Bangkok to exchange intelligence. Kõuts admitted to his crimes and served a three-year prison sentence. Mutso was sentenced to eight and a half years in prison.
Source: Epoch Times, December 23, 2024
https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/24/12/23/n14396551.htm