The British Metropolitan Police, responsible for the London region, revealed today, Saturday, that an aide to the British Parliament was arrested in March on suspicion of spying for China.
“Officers from the Metropolitan Police Service arrested two men on 13 March on suspicion of offenses” relating to the Official Secrets Act 1911, one in the Oxford area of south-east England, and the other in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. The police confirmed.
The two men were released on bail.
According to the British press, the second man was working in the British Parliament and was in contact with deputies from the Conservative Party, which is currently in power. Among them were Security Minister Tom Tugendhat and Alicia Cairns, Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Commons, the lower house of Parliament.
The suspect worked in international politics, especially in relations with Beijing, and worked in China.
The case is being investigated by agents from the Metropolitan Police’s Counter Terrorism Command.
The Inter-Parliamentary Alliance for China, which includes dozens of MPs from several countries, said it was “shocked by the news that someone allegedly acting on behalf of the People’s Republic of China” had infiltrated the UK parliament.
In July, the House of Commons Information and Security Committee warned in a report that Chinese intelligence was interfering in a “prolific and aggressive manner” in UK affairs.
The document stressed that China had “successfully penetrated all sectors of the British economy” and that the Chinese government’s interference in various sectors, from universities to nuclear energy, was “not difficult to detect”.
Last year, British intelligence issued a warning about Christine Li, saying she was suspected of “engaging in political interference activities on behalf of the United Front Department,” an organization responsible for developing links between the Chinese Communist Party and foreign entities.
According to MI5, it played an intermediary role by making “financial donations to political parties, Members of Parliament, aspiring MPs and people standing for political office in the United Kingdom”, on behalf of Chinese and Hong Kong citizens.
Christine Lee is suspected of donating hundreds of thousands of pounds to Labor MP Barry Gardiner, as well as to the party itself.
The alleged agent was also photographed with former Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron in 2015 and, on another occasion, with former Labor leader Jeremy Corbyn.
In 2019, Kristen Lee was knighted by Conservative Prime Minister Theresa May for her contribution to good relations between the UK and China.
In response, the Chinese Foreign Ministry pledged to respect the principle of non-interference in the affairs of other countries.
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