ishi Sunak has warned the Chinese premier of his “significant concerns” about Beijing’s interference in democracy after the arrest of a parliamentary researcher on suspicion of spying.
The Prime Minister met Li Qiang on the G20 summit in New Delhi on Sunday, hours after news of two arrests within the UK beneath the Official Secrets Act emerged.
One is a researcher who has had hyperlinks to a number of senior Tory MPs, together with safety minister Tom Tugendhat and overseas affairs committee chairwoman Alicia Kearns.
The Briton was arrested together with one other man by officers on March 13 on suspicion of spying for Beijing, it was revealed by the Sunday Times.
Mr Sunak, who has confronted criticism from some senior Conservatives of looking for a relationship with a China they see as more and more a menace, met Mr Li on the margins of the worldwide summit on Sunday morning.
A No 10 spokesman stated: “The Prime Minister met Premier Li Qiang and conveyed his significant concerns about Chinese interference in the UK’s parliamentary democracy.”
Mr Sunak stated his confrontation with Mr Li over the “obviously unacceptable” allegations is an instance of the advantages of engagement moderately than “shouting from the sidelines”.
Speaking to broadcasters on the summit venue in India, the Prime Minister stated: “Well, I obviously can’t comment on the specifics of an ongoing investigation but, with regard to my meeting with Premier Li, what I said very specifically is that I raised a range of different concerns that we have in areas of disagreement, and in particular my very strong concerns about any interference in our parliamentary democracy, which is obviously unacceptable.
“And, actually, I think the right thing to do is take the opportunity to engage to raise concerns specifically, rather than just shouting from the sidelines.”
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