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BritainDomestic intelligence agency gave this warning to MPs on Tuesday Sugar Spies were actively reaching out to “recruit and cultivate” them through headhunters or cover companies.
Writing letters to MPs, House of Commons Speaker lindsay hoyle said a new MI5 The “espionage alert” warned that Chinese citizens were “using LinkedIn profiles to conduct mass outreach” on behalf of the Chinese Ministry of State Security.
“Their aim is to gather information and lay the groundwork for long-term relationships by using professional networking sites, recruitment agents and consultants working on their behalf,” he said.
MI5 issued an alert because the activity was “targeted and widespread”, he said.
The alert named two women, Amanda Qiu and Shirley Shen, and said the profiles of other similar recruiters were acting as espionage masks.
home office minister and jarvis Apart from parliamentary staff, others including economists, think tank consultants and government officials have also been similarly targeted, it said.
Jarvis told Parliament, “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.”
British intelligence officials have in recent years stepped up their warnings about the dangers of espionage from China, Britain’s third-largest trading partner.
Espionage charges were dropped in September
The latest warning comes after critics widely questioned how the trial in Britain of two men accused of spying for Beijing collapsed just before they were due to go to trial.
Academic Christopher Berry and parliamentary researcher Christopher Cash were accused last year of providing information or documents to China that could be “detrimental to the security or interests” of the UK. His case was dropped in September.
Director of Public Prosecutions Stephen Parkinson said this happened because the government refused to testify under oath that China was a national security threat at the time of the alleged crimes between 2021 and 2023. Prime Minister Keir Starmer denied claims of government interference in the case.
In January 2022, the Security Service issued a similar security alert to all MPs, warning that a London-based lawyer was knowingly involved in “political interference activities in the UK” in coordination with the Chinese Communist Party’s United Front Work Department, an organization known to exert Chinese influence abroad.
Lawyer Christine Lee was accused of facilitating secret donations to British parties and legislators “on behalf of foreign nationals”.
MI5 director general Ken McCallum told reporters last month that Chinese state actors pose a national security threat to Britain “every day”.
McCallum said Beijing-backed interference included cyber espionage, theft of technology secrets and “attempts to covertly interfere in British public life”.