France Accuses 4 of Spying for China, Trying to Capture Starlink Data

Two Chinese nationals are among those the Paris prosecutor’s office accused of trying to capture satellite data from Starlink and transfer it back to China.

The sun sets on the Eiffel Tower and the Champ de Mars in Paris on April 24, 2022. Julien de Rosa/AFP via Getty Images

Two Chinese nationals are among four people who have been arrested in France on suspicion of spying for China and trying to capture Starlink data, the Paris prosecutor’s office said on Feb. 4.

In a statement emailed to The Epoch Times, the prosecutor’s office said its cybercrime division had opened a judicial investigation into the allegations.

It said two Chinese nationals had entered French territory with the aim of capturing data from a satellite network—believed to be Starlink—and transfer it back to China.

They were renting an Airbnb in Gironde, a region in the southwest of France.

“On January 30, 2026, the police were notified that two people of Chinese nationality were suspected of carrying out satellite capture operations from accommodation rented by Airbnb ... the locals having noticed the deployment of a parabolic dish of about 2m [6.6 feet] in diameter, correlated with an internet disconnection,” the statement said.

The prosecutor stated that two other people were arrested when they arrived at the apartment, as they were suspected of illegally importing equipment.

“A used Starlink antenna and a device for displaying satellite reception were discovered in their shop,” the prosecutor stated. “Their statements indicated that the two occupants of the apartment were trying to understand Starlink technology.”

The prosecutor’s statement said the two Chinese nationals had declared in their visa applications that they worked for a company focused on the research and development of wireless communication systems, offering products for education, mobile communications, and other sectors.

The prosecutor said the company, which it did not identify, “focuses its technological development on smart beams, signal recognition, and satellite networks, and collaborates with universities on projects with military applications.”

Charged With Data Capture Offenses

The four individuals have been charged with a series of offenses, including “unauthorized possession of a technical device designed to capture computer data” and “unauthorized manufacture” of such a device.

They were also charged with “fraudulent data extraction from an automated data processing system (ADPS) committed by an organized group” and “delivery of information to a foreign power, a foreign company or organization ... of a nature to harm the fundamental interests of the nation.”

The four arrested people—none of whom has been named—have been brought before an investigating judge for the charges to be filed, and two of them will be detained before trial.

The Paris prosecutor’s office said its cybercrime unit has now handed over the investigation to the DGSI, France’s internal intelligence service.

China’s foreign ministry said on Feb. 5 that it rejected “malicious slander and smear” and called on the French authorities to protect the rights of Chinese nationals.

This is the latest of multiple instances in which the authorities in a Western country have accused China’s communist regime of carrying out international espionage.

On Sept. 15, 2025, the trial of two men accused of spying for China was dropped by prosecutors in Britain, which led to a political dispute. A month later, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer published witness statements that revealed details of the Chinese Communist Party’s espionage operations in the UK.

Last month, authorities in the Czech Republic announced that a person suspected of working for the Chinese intelligence agency had been detained under a new espionage law.

“On Saturday, January 17, in the early morning hours, a person suspected of affiliation with the Chinese intelligence service was detained by the Czech Police,” the Czech intelligence agency known as the Security Information Service (BIS) said on X.

The person, who was not named, had been formally charged with engaging in “unauthorized activity for a foreign power,” according to the BIS.

Starlink, a subsidiary of Elon Musk’s SpaceX company, uses low Earth orbit satellites to provide cheaper and faster communications than satellites in a higher geosynchronous orbit.

In July 2025, three men were found guilty by a jury at the Old Bailey in London in connection with an arson attack on a business that supplied Starlink satellite equipment to Ukraine, in what prosecutors said was a plot linked to Russia’s Wagner Group.

Reuters contributed to this report.