UK arrest of suspected spies fuels call for tougher stance on China
Allegations that a Parliament researcher was a foreign agent have intensified a fiery debate over Britain's relationship with Beijing.
Even by the standards of China's prolific foreign influence operations, this would represent a sensational case of infiltration.
A 28-year-old British man who worked as a researcher in the British Parliament was arrested in March on suspicion of working for the Chinese government. The man, who denies being a spy, has worked with prominent lawmakers on China policy, raising fears of possible security breaches and widening the divide within the ruling Conservative Party over how London should act. engage with an increasingly assertive Beijing. ="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">“The Chinese are infiltrating everywhere; they do anything and everything,” said Steve Tsang, director of the SOAS China Institute in London. “What is new is their effectiveness and how far they have managed to go.”
The Metropolitan Police said two men were arrested under of the Official Secrets Act and that they had been arrested. released on bail until October. The men, whose identities have not been released by police, have not yet been charged, and lawmakers have been asked not to harm the investigation by naming them. (News agencies have not done so either, with the exception of the Sunday Times, which was first to report the news of the researcher's arrest on Saturday and has since given his name.) Not much have been disclosed about the second man, except that he is said to be in custody. in his 30s.
In a statement released Monday by a law firm, the researcher said he was "completely innocent" and had passed his career "in trying to educate others about the challenge and threats presented by the Chinese Communist Party. The process of getting a job at the heart of one of Britain's most sensitive political debates. The man had previously lived and worked in China, according to the Sunday Times.
The newspaper said the man may have been recruited there by Chinese agents to return to London with an L The aim is to disrupt the work of Parliament's China Research Group, a circle of lawmakers who have long warned of China's efforts to influence British universities, think tanks and government ministries - and have urged British leaders successive to adopt a tougher line towards Beijing. /p>
One of the lawmakers with whom the man had limited contact is Tom Tugendhat, founder and co-chairman of the China Research Group, who is now security minister in the government of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. Mr Tugendhat is pushing internally to declare China a threat to Britain's security and interests - a cry that has been echoed by Chinese hardliners outside the government.
“China now sees us as the soft underbelly of the NATO alliance,” wrote Iain Duncan Smith, former leader of the Conservative Party, in the tabloid The Daily Express. “Our policy seems to be not to antagonize China.” He called the arrest "a slap in the face of the UK's weak policy towards China."
In 2021, China placed Mr. Duncan Smith, Mr. Tugendhat and several other blacklisted individuals and organizations claiming, among other things, to have spread lies about human rights violations in Xinjiang province.
Yet for all that - concerns and demands for a harder line, analysts said...
Allegations that a Parliament researcher was a foreign agent have intensified a fiery debate over Britain's relationship with Beijing.
Even by the standards of China's prolific foreign influence operations, this would represent a sensational case of infiltration.
A 28-year-old British man who worked as a researcher in the British Parliament was arrested in March on suspicion of working for the Chinese government. The man, who denies being a spy, has worked with prominent lawmakers on China policy, raising fears of possible security breaches and widening the divide within the ruling Conservative Party over how London should act. engage with an increasingly assertive Beijing. ="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">“The Chinese are infiltrating everywhere; they do anything and everything,” said Steve Tsang, director of the SOAS China Institute in London. “What is new is their effectiveness and how far they have managed to go.”
The Metropolitan Police said two men were arrested under of the Official Secrets Act and that they had been arrested. released on bail until October. The men, whose identities have not been released by police, have not yet been charged, and lawmakers have been asked not to harm the investigation by naming them. (News agencies have not done so either, with the exception of the Sunday Times, which was first to report the news of the researcher's arrest on Saturday and has since given his name.) Not much have been disclosed about the second man, except that he is said to be in custody. in his 30s.
In a statement released Monday by a law firm, the researcher said he was "completely innocent" and had passed his career "in trying to educate others about the challenge and threats presented by the Chinese Communist Party. The process of getting a job at the heart of one of Britain's most sensitive political debates. The man had previously lived and worked in China, according to the Sunday Times.
The newspaper said the man may have been recruited there by Chinese agents to return to London with an L The aim is to disrupt the work of Parliament's China Research Group, a circle of lawmakers who have long warned of China's efforts to influence British universities, think tanks and government ministries - and have urged British leaders successive to adopt a tougher line towards Beijing. /p>
One of the lawmakers with whom the man had limited contact is Tom Tugendhat, founder and co-chairman of the China Research Group, who is now security minister in the government of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. Mr Tugendhat is pushing internally to declare China a threat to Britain's security and interests - a cry that has been echoed by Chinese hardliners outside the government.
“China now sees us as the soft underbelly of the NATO alliance,” wrote Iain Duncan Smith, former leader of the Conservative Party, in the tabloid The Daily Express. “Our policy seems to be not to antagonize China.” He called the arrest "a slap in the face of the UK's weak policy towards China."
In 2021, China placed Mr. Duncan Smith, Mr. Tugendhat and several other blacklisted individuals and organizations claiming, among other things, to have spread lies about human rights violations in Xinjiang province.
Yet for all that - concerns and demands for a harder line, analysts said...
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