Parliamentary researcher arrested for ‘spying for China’

Two males have been arrested below the Official Secrets Act amid reviews {that a} parliamentary researcher spied for China.

The researcher has hyperlinks to a number of senior Tory MPs and has been arrested on suspicion of spying for China, in accordance with The Sunday Times.

He was arrested together with one other man by officers on 13 March, the newspaper reported.

The researcher, who’s in his 20s, is known to have had hyperlinks to safety minister Tom Tugendhat, international affairs committee chairwoman Alicia Kearns and different senior Tory MPs.

The MPs he’s linked to are aware about categorized or extremely delicate data.

A senior Whitehall supply informed The Sunday Times: “This is a major escalation by China. We have never seen anything like this before.”

Officers from the Metropolitan Police’s Counter Terrorism Command, which oversees espionage-related offences, are investigating.

One of the lads, in his 30s, was arrested in Oxfordshire on 13 March, whereas the opposite, in his 20s, was arrested in Edinburgh, Scotland Yard stated.

“Searches were also carried out at both the residential properties, as well as at a third address in east London,” a press release from the power stated.

Both males had been held at a south London police station till being bailed till early October.

Mr Tugendhat is alleged to not have had any contact with the researcher since earlier than he grew to become safety minister in September final yr.

Ms Kearns declined to remark, including: “While I recognise the public interest, we all have a duty to ensure any work of the authorities is not jeopardised.”

The Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China strain group stated it was “appalled at reports of the infiltration of the UK Parliament by someone allegedly acting on behalf of the People’s Republic of China”.

Downing Street stated it doesn’t touch upon safety issues.

The House of Commons has been contacted.

Conservative MP Iain Duncan Smith has tweeted: “If true, this is very serious and of great concern. It shows that we cannot afford to be complacent about the threat that the CCP [Chinese Communist Party] poses to the function of Parliament and our democratic way of life.”

China has ‘penetrated the UK financial system’

In July, the Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) stated China targets the UK “prolifically and aggressively” in a means that poses a “challenge” for British intelligence companies.

The ISC, made up of cross-party MPs, printed a report saying China had managed to “successfully penetrate every sector of the UK’s economy”.

In a separate case in January 2022, MI5 warned MPs that a Chinese government agent has been working in parliament “to subvert the processes”.

A letter was despatched to MPs by Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle who stated MI5 warned him a girl referred to as Christine Lee has been “engaged in political interference activities on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party, engaging with members here at parliament”.

Lee, 59, who denies wrongdoing and is suing MI5, had donated nearly £500,000 to Barry Gardiner, Labour’s former shadow worldwide commerce secretary.