MI5 claims about Chinese spying on British lawmakers

According to Isna, the UK’s counter-intelligence and internal security agency known as MI5 has warned parliamentarians and members of the House of Lords that they “face a significant risk of espionage by the Chinese government.”

The Speaker of the House of Commons, Lindsay Hoyle, and his counterpart in the House of Lords, John McFall, have released a new “spy alert” issued by the security services.

In a letter to British MPs, Lindsay claimed that Chinese government agents were “relentlessly” trying to “interfere with our processes and influence activities in Parliament”.

He claimed that China’s Ministry of State Security (MSS) is “actively communicating with people in our community” and that they want to “gather information and lay the groundwork for long-term relationships, using professional networking sites, recruitment agents and consultants acting on their behalf.”

Britain’s Counter-Intelligence and Homeland Security Agency claims that “bogus figures” are approaching their targets to “write geopolitical reports as freelance consultants.”

The report specifically identifies two LinkedIn profiles that it says are being used by China’s Ministry of State Security. Other elements described in the alert include free trips to China and payment for information via cash or digital currency.

The targets are claimed to include “parliamentary staff, economists, think tank staff, geopolitical advisers and those working alongside the government, including MPs and members of the House of Lords”.

British Home Secretary Dan Jarvis will soon give a speech in the House of Commons about the measures taken by the London government to combat the so-called “Chinese espionage”.

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