Revealing a new round of American spying on Germany

The US Department of Defense (Pentagon) is still spying on the German Department of Defense with electronic equipment. Die Zeit and state broadcaster ARD said the US Department of Defense was listening in on secret conversations between German and Chinese military officials.

The documents mention a meeting and conversation between German military leaders and a Chinese delegation that took place in February in Berlin. Two German media outlets insist on the authenticity of their documents, although Washington has not officially confirmed them. The German government informed the American embassy in Berlin of a meeting and discussion between officials from Berlin and Beijing, who are mentioned in these documents.

The "Top Secret" label on the leaked Pentagon documents suggests that the information was collected using electronic eavesdropping equipment. This means that American spy agencies have studied the emails of the German Defense Ministry or hacked into the computer systems of this ministry.

Earlier in 2013, former National Security Agency official Edward Snowden, in his first exposure in a televised interview broadcast after asylum in Russia, revealed that the US National Security Agency was spying on its European allies as well as ordinary citizens. He released documents related to the wiretapping of the American security agency, as well as the British security agency.

At the same time, the disclosure of large-scale espionage activities by US intelligence agencies from various countries and even from Washington's closest allies has caused tension in relations between the US and these countries, including Germany.