UK will not tolerate Chinese spying, minister says after MI5 alert

Security Secretary Dan Jarvis has said the government will not tolerate “covert and deliberate” attempts to interfere in Britain’s sovereign affairs, after MI5 warned MPs about the threat from Chinese spies.

The alert issued by the security services to MPs, peers and parliamentary staff identified two LinkedIn profiles which it said were used on behalf of the Chinese Ministry of State Security (MSS).

It says they act as “civilian recruited headhunters”, targeting individuals working in British politics to gain “insider insight”.

A spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Britain said the spying allegations were “completely fabricated” and accused Britain of a “self-inflicted drama”.

“We strongly condemn such despicable actions by the UK side and have lodged strong representations with them,” the spokesperson said.

He urged Britain to “stop pursuing the wrong path of undermining China-UK relations”.

Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle and his counterpart in the House of Lords, Lord McFaul, broadcast the MI5 warning to MPs and peers on Tuesday.

The alert specifically identified two LinkedIn profiles set up under the names Amanda Qiu and Shirley Shen.

The BBC has contacted both for comment, although it is unclear whether the women named and featured on the networking site are the actual account holders.

Simon Whaleband, a researcher for Conservative MP Neil O’Brien, told the BBC that he had been contacted by one of the accounts.

After receiving the alert from Parliament, she searched her LinkedIn account and discovered a three-month-old message from a profile in the name of Shirley Shane.

The message, written in poor English, also included a possible job offer.

Mr Whaleband, who has reported the message to parliamentary authorities, said he found the incident “extremely worrying”.

“It makes me a little nervous, but I’m not surprised,” he said, noting that O’Brien, the MP he works for, is a vocal critic of China.

“I’ve worked around Parliament for about 10 years so I’m used to it.

“But if you were more junior, you don’t know what you’re looking for.

“You might think if it’s a real offer you’ve been given on LinkedIn, they might accept.

“If it was written in better English and looked more believable you might be fooled into thinking it was real.”

In his letter to MPs, Sir Lindsay said both profiles were being used “to carry out large-scale outreach” on behalf of the Chinese MSS.

He said Chinese state actors were “persistent” in trying to “interfere with our processes and influence activity in parliament”.

He said the Chinese MSS is “actively reaching out to individuals in our community”, and they want to “gather information and lay the groundwork for long-term relationships, using professional networking sites, recruitment agents and consultants working on their behalf”.

Other elements of espionage described in the MI5 alert included all-expenses-paid trips to China and payment for information through cash or cryptocurrency.

The targets are said to include “parliamentary staff, economists, think tank staff, geopolitical advisers and people working with (the government), including MPs and members of the House of Lords”.

Jarvis announced a package of measures in the House of Commons to deal with the dangers of espionage in Britain.

These include £170 million to upgrade encrypted technology for government business, as well as new protections against Chinese cybercrime and attempts to influence UK university research.

Jarvis told MPs: “Our intelligence agencies have warned that China is attempting to recruit and cultivate individuals with access to sensitive information about the Parliament and the UK government.”

He said: “This activity constitutes a covert and deliberate attempt by a foreign power to interfere in our sovereign affairs in favor of its interests, and this government will not tolerate it.”

He warned that China has a “low threshold” for what information is useful as it tries to build a comprehensive picture.

Jarvis highlighted a pattern of behavior around Chinese espionage efforts, saying he would take “all necessary measures” to protect, including updating and strengthening national security powers.

He said rules would be tightened to deal with secret funding of political parties, while the Election Commission would be given greater enforcement powers.

There will also be a security briefing for all parties and candidates standing in elections for the Scottish Parliament, Welsh Senedd and councils across England next May.

Stressing that China is still Britain’s third-largest trading partner, Jarvis said Britain would still use sanctions “as necessary.”

Conservative shadow Home Office minister Alicia Kearns urged the government to increase transparency of China’s activities in the UK by placing the country on an advanced tier of the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme (FIRS).

Currently only Iran and Russia are in the advanced level, which means that no one can work for these countries unless they have registered their activity with the government.

Kearns also said the government should cancel a planned visit to China and reject an application to build a Chinese embassy in a sensitive location in central London.

Jarvis said the government was “looking closely at whether it is necessary to add further to the increased level to FIRS”, but added that “no decision has been made yet”.

At the embassy he said the decision would be taken by the Housing Secretary.

Former Conservative Party leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith said the alert showed China was taking an “aggressive stance” that “highlights all the ridiculous nonsense” about whether China is a threat to Britain’s national security.

“We have to be very, very cautious,” he told BBC News.

“Why is the Government so unable to call China what it is, which continues to pose a threat to UK national security?

“It’s obvious to every single member of the public… but somehow the government thinks it’s not that obvious.”

Although it is accepted that all countries spy on each other, the scale of China’s activities has raised concerns in recent years.

Whitehall officials have warned of Chinese cyber attacks, intellectual property theft and attempts to recruit British individuals into Parliament and the technology sector.

In 2022, MI5 issued an “interference alert” regarding the activities of alleged Chinese agent Christina Lee, who was believed to have infiltrated Parliament. Ms Lee denied the allegations.

China is believed to be collecting bulk data on the UK population including accessing data sets containing financial, personal or health information.

Earlier this year, MI5 boss Ken McCallum warned that Chinese state actors pose a daily national security threat to Britain.

In September, a case involving two men accused of spying for China collapsed under controversial circumstances.

One of them was a parliamentary researcher. Both men denied wrongdoing.

The head of the Crown Prosecution Service said the case collapsed because he could not get evidence from the government showing China was a national security threat.

However, some legal experts have questioned whether the CPS would need this evidence to proceed with a prosecution.