Two suspected Chinese spies, accused of using a sleepy village in south-western France to gather information, have been arrested.
Residents of Camblanes-et-Meynac, about 15 miles (9km) from Bordeaux, grew suspicious when – after letting a house through rentals giant Airbnb – the Chinese pair erected a large parabolic antenna in the garden.
The dish was directed at the sky and locals noticed that its installation coincided with a spate of cuts to their own internet service.
Intelligence experts believe south-western France is being increasingly targeted by Chinese and other espionage because of the region’s proximity to defence, aerospace and telecommunication sites.
Last Saturday, officers from France’s General Directorate for Internal Security (DGSI) agency raided the house and seized a large quantity of computer equipment.
The men – Chinese nationals aged 27 and 29 – were questioned at DGSI headquarters in the suburbs of France’s capital Paris, and have now been charged with “delivering information to a foreign power… likely to damage the interests [of France]”.
They are being held in custody.
The prosecutor’s office said the men had arrived in France last month under work visas which said they were engineers at a company specialising in wireless communications.
Two other men of Chinese origin, but living in France, have been charged with providing assistance.
According to the prosecutor’s office, the suspected spies were trying to “capture satellite data from [X owner Elon Musk’s] Starlink network, as well as data from vital entities, notably military, in order to retransmit them to their country of origin, China”.
