MI5 HAS warned MPs and peers that Chinese intelligence agents are targeting their staff, contacts and associates with “large financial incentives”.
The Security Service named two recruitment “headhunters” it said were being used by China’s Ministry of State Security to approach people “one-step removed” from high priority targets, The Times reported.
Those contacted include advisers to former Tory ministers, including a former chancellor, advisers to Labour ministers, officials and staff at think tanks such as the Tony Blair Institute.
MI5 told MPs that China was trying to “cultivate” people close to them and urged them to watch for “unusual questions” that could indicate information-gathering.
The agency said China was offering “large financial incentives for seemingly low-level information” to build relationships and access non-public sensitive material. MPs were also warned about approaches for “off the record”, “sensitive”, and “insider information”.
In a letter to MPs, Commons speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle said it was of the “utmost importance” that parliament understood “how this activity happens and how to protect ourselves against it”. He said Chinese state actors were “relentless” in attempts to “interfere with our processes”.
The alert follows the collapse in September of the case against Christopher Cash, 30, and Christopher Berry, 33, who were accused of spying for China, The Times reported. Both denied the charges.
MI5 identified Amanda Qiu of BP-YR Executive Search and Shirly Shen of the Internship Union as recruitment agents using LinkedIn to “conduct outreach at scale”. Targets included a staff member for Tory MP Neil O’Brien. Shen also contacted former Tory adviser James Price.
Security minister Dan Jarvis told the Commons that China was attempting to “recruit and cultivate” individuals with access to sensitive parliamentary and government information. He said other sectors, including universities, were also being targeted.
The Chinese embassy rejected the claims as “pure fabrication” and “despicable”.
