British media: MI5 has secretly informed two parliamentary candidates that they may be Chinese spies
Source: Global Network
According to the British "Times" and Reuters reported on the 12th, the British domestic intelligence agency MI5 (MI5) once secretly warned the British ruling Conservative Party, claiming that there were two potential parliamentary candidates in the Conservative Party who may be "Chinese spies", and the Conservative Party then excluded these two people from the candidate list. The Chinese Embassy in the UK has long refuted the recent hype on the topic of so-called "Chinese espionage" in the UK, and the relevant incident is a political farce directed and acted by the British side.
The Times reported that the newspaper learned that British intelligence agencies had contacted the British Conservative Party in 2021 and 2022 about two suspected "Chinese spy" MPs candidates, and suggested that they should not appear on the central candidate list, claiming that the two men had ties to China. The report quoted a source as saying the two were subsequently excluded from the list of candidates without being told why. "It is very clear that they pose a risk," the source said.
The Times mentioned that a Conservative Party spokesman claimed that "when we receive credible information about a potential candidate's (national) security concerns, we take action." ”
Recently, the topic of so-called "Chinese espionage" has caused an uproar in British politics and public opinion. According to previous reports by British media, earlier, Chris Cash, a British Conservative parliamentary researcher, was arrested on suspicion of spying for China. The researcher denied the charges against him on Monday (11th) and said through his lawyer that he was completely innocent. At the regular press conference of the Chinese Foreign Ministry on September 11, a foreign media reporter asked China to respond to this matter. In this regard, Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning said that the so-called "Chinese espionage activities against Britain" are purely out of thin air, and China firmly opposes it. We urge the British side to stop spreading false information and stop anti-China political manipulation and malicious slander.
While the British media hyped up, some British politicians took the opportunity to engage in political manipulation and attack each other on the so-called "China threat" issue. In the House of Commons, former Conservative leader Ian Duncan Smith claimed that Chinese spy groups may be operating at the heart of British politics was "shocking news," according to the Associated Press. The Financial Times said that weeks after the so-called "spies" were caught, British Foreign Secretary Cleverley announced his foreign policy towards China, saying that China must be "strongly and constructively engaged" and refused to call China a "threat". Today, Cleverley's approach and advocacy are met with strong opposition from China hawks in the Conservative Party. According to the BBC, some lawmakers have called on the Sunak government to officially list China as a "threat"; Some lawmakers have also declared that under the UK's latest National Security Act, China will be listed as a country with "enhanced security review".
Gao Jian, director of the British Research Center of Shanghai Overseas Chinese University, said in an interview with the Global Times on the 12th that the British side's hype of the "Chinese espionage case" occurred shortly after the British Foreign Secretary's visit to China, which shows that the anti-China forces in the UK cannot accept the efforts to normalize diplomatic relations between China and the UK, deliberately undermining the normal development of bilateral relations, and even sacrificing the interests of their own country and people. "They have turned the so-called 'China espionage case' into a political weapon to satisfy their own political ambitions and selfish interests."