UK Parliamentary aide suspected of spying for China – The Observer

An aide to the UK Parliament was detained in March on suspicion of spying for China, the Metropolitan Police in charge of the London region revealed on Saturday.

“Officers of the Metropolitan Police Service arrested two men on March 13 on suspicion of offenses relating to the Official Secrets Act 1911”, police confirmed, one in the Oxford region in southeast England and the other in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland.

Both were released on bail.

According to the British press, the second person worked in the UK Parliament and was associated with representatives of the ruling Conservative Party.

They included Defense Minister Tom Tugendhat and Alicia Kearns, the chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Commons, the lower house of parliament.

The suspect has worked in international politics, particularly relations with Beijing, and has worked in China.

Agents from the Metropolitan Police’s Counter-Terrorism Squad are investigating the case.

The Inter-Parliamentary Coalition for China, which brings together dozens of MPs from a number of countries, said it was “shocked by news of the infiltration of the UK Parliament by a person allegedly acting on behalf of the People’s Republic of China”.

In July, the House of Commons Intelligence and Security Committee warned in a report that Chinese intelligence services were interfering with the United Kingdom “in a prolific and aggressive manner”.

China has successfully infiltrated all sectors of the UK economy and the document highlighted that Chinese state interference in sectors ranging from universities to nuclear energy was “not difficult to detect”.

Last year, British intelligence accused Christine Lee of “engaging in political interference activities on behalf of the United Front Department,” the body responsible for fostering links between the Chinese Communist Party and foreign entities.

According to MI5, he acted as an intermediary on behalf of citizens of China and Hong Kong by making financial donations to “political parties, MPs, aspiring MPs and people running for political office in the UK”.

Christine Lee is suspected of donating hundreds of thousands of pounds to former Labor leader Barry Gardiner and the party itself.

The accused agent was photographed with former Conservative prime minister David Cameron in 2015 and former Labor leader Jeremy Corbyn on another occasion.

In 2019, Christine Lee was knighted by Conservative Prime Minister Theresa May for her contribution to rapprochement between the United Kingdom and China.

In response, the Chinese Foreign Ministry pledged to uphold the principle of non-interference in the affairs of other countries.