British parliamentarians warned against China-linked spying activity

London, Nov 18 (PTI) Britain’s parliamentarians were on Tuesday warned against activities by China-linked agents to spy on them, specifically naming two recruitment headhunters for them to watch out for as they are working for the Chinese government.

The MI5 domestic security service missive was circulated as an “espionage alert” by Speaker Lindsay Hoyle in the House of Commons for MPs and his House of Lords counterpart, Lord John McFall, for peers.

The alert identifies the LinkedIn profiles for Amanda Qiu of BR-YR Executive Search and Shirly Shen of the Internship Union, whose activities are being carried out on behalf of the Chinese Ministry of State Security (MSS).

“Their aim is to collect information and lay the groundwork for long-term relationships, using professional networking sites, recruitment agents and consultants acting on their behalf,” reads the spy alert.

The two women are not believed to be Chinese intelligence officers themselves, but collect and relay information to Beijing on behalf of the MSS.

In the wake of the revelations, UK Security Minister Dan Jarvis made a statement in the Commons on Tuesday to table government plans for a “comprehensive package of measures” to disrupt and deter threats posed by such “state-affiliated actors”.

“This activity involves a covert and calculated attempt by a foreign power to interfere in our sovereign affairs in favour of its own interests, and this government will not tolerate it,” said Jarvis.

China is seeking to “recruit and cultivate individuals with access to sensitive information about Parliament and the UK government”, the minister said, adding that this is being “carried out by a group of Chinese intelligence officers, often masked through the use of cover companies or external headhunters”.

“I urge all parliamentarians and their staff to be wary that China has a low threshold for what information is considered to be of value, and will gather individual pieces of information to build a wider picture,” he stated.

The security minister confirmed that ministers will launch “a series of protective security campaigns”, coordinated by the Defending Democracy Taskforce, to help those involved in politics “recognise, resist and report suspicious state threat activity”.

“I can confirm we are also working on new powers to counter foreign interference, including a proscription-type tool to disrupt proxy organisations undermining our security and an extension to maximum penalties for election interference offences,” added Jarvis.

The alert from MI5 called on parliamentarians and their aides to watch out for “false personas” that could approach their targets to “work as freelance consultants authoring geopolitical reports”.

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

Besides parliamentarians themselves, parliamentary staff, economists, think tank employees, geo-political consultants and those working alongside the government are among those believed to be vulnerable to such threats.

It follows a controversy around the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) dropping charges against Christopher Cash, 30, and Christopher Berry, 33, who were accused of passing information about the government’s foreign policy to a high-ranking member of the Chinese government.

While they both denied espionage charges, the prosecutors indicated a lack of clarity around China being seen as a threat to the UK’s national security for legal purposes had led to the case collapsing. PTI AK GSP GSP