British Parliament worker arrested for alleged Chinese espionage.
British Parliament Staffer Arrested on Suspicion of Spying for China
A shocking report from The Sunday Times revealed that a staffer in the British Parliament was arrested earlier this year on suspicions of spying for China.
The suspect, a man in his late 20s who worked as a Parliamentary researcher, was allegedly “linked” with several Members of Parliament from the Conservative Party who had access to highly sensitive information. The arrest took place in mid-March, along with another suspect in his 30s.
“The mask has truly slipped,” said Paddy McGuinness, the U.K.’s former deputy national security adviser. “This isn’t about China objecting to interference in their internal affairs as they so often claim. Rather, they are messing in ours, with a casual disregard for our democracy and our sovereignty.”
Both suspects were charged with violating Section One of Britain’s Official Secrets Act 1911, which prohibits sharing information or communications that may be “prejudicial to the safety or interests of the state” and “calculated to be or… intended to be directly or indirectly useful to an enemy,” respectively.
According to reports, some Conservative MPs that were reportedly linked to the researcher include the U.K.’s minister of state for security, Tom Tugendhat, and the chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, Alicia Kearns. However, it’s believed that the alleged spy only worked with Tugendhat prior to his role as security minister.
“It is inevitable the Chinese Communist party (CCP) would target and seek to undermine parliament’s leading voices who have demonstrated the ability to constrain the CCP’s ambitions,” a source close to Kearns said.
The researcher had a parliamentary pass and reportedly worked on international relations policies with various MPs – including China-centered policies. Officials suspect that during his time working and living in China, he may have been recruited by the Chinese government as a sleeper agent with the goal of infiltrating political groups critical of Beijing.
According to a government source, the suspect may have even influenced the opinions of some legislators. “I’m pretty sure he turned some backbenchers from China hawks into being apathetic about Beijing,” the source revealed.
U.K. Prime Minister Raises Concerns with China
U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak addressed the revelation during the G20 summit in India, where he expressed “very strong concerns about any interference in our parliamentary democracy, which is obviously unacceptable.”
“We discussed a range of things and I raised areas where there are disagreements,” the British PM stated. “And this is just part of our strategy to protect ourselves, protect our values and our interests, to align our approach to China with that of our allies like America, Australia, Canada, Japan, and others, but also to engage where it makes sense.”
A government source described the news as a “major escalation by China,” emphasizing that the U.K. has “never seen anything like this before.”
Chinese Espionage Concerns Extend to the U.S.
In a recent report from The Wall Street Journal, over 100 instances of alleged Chinese tourists attempting to gain access to U.S. military bases and installations were outlined. These so-called “tourists” were suspected of performing espionage activities, such as taking photographs and gathering information about security practices.
“The advantage the Chinese have is they are willing to throw people at collection in large numbers,” explained Emily Harding, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “If a few of them get caught, it will be very difficult for the U.S. government to prove anything beyond trespassing, and those who don’t get caught are likely to collect something useful.”
" Conservative News Daily does not always share or support the views and opinions expressed here; they are just those of the writer."
*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases
Now loading...