Security Minister Dan Jarvis has said the Government will not tolerate “covert and calculated” attempts to interfere in the UK’s sovereign affairs, after MI5 warned MPs about the risk from Chinese spies.
An alert issued to parliamentarians, peers and parliamentary staff by the security services identified two LinkedIn profiles, which it says are used on behalf of China’s Ministry of State Security (MSS).
He says they act as “headhunters for civilian recruitment”, targeting people working in British politics for “inside information”.
Jarvis announced a package of measures in the House of Commons to tackle espionage threats to the UK.
These included £170 million to improve encryption technology for government businesses, as well as new protections against Chinese cybercrime and attempts to influence research at UK universities.
Jarvis told MPs: “Our intelligence agencies have warned that China is attempting to recruit and cultivate people with access to sensitive information about Parliament and the UK government.”
He added: “This activity involves a covert and calculated attempt by a foreign power to interfere in our sovereign affairs in favor of its own interests, and this government will not tolerate it.”
The Speaker of the House of Commons, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, and his counterpart in the House of Lords, Lord McFall, circulated the MI5 warning to MPs and peers on Tuesday.
Writing to MPs, Sir Lindsay said Chinese state actors were “relentless” in seeking to “interfere with our processes and influence activity in Parliament”.
He said the Chinese MSS was “actively reaching out to people from our community” and that they wanted to “gather information and lay the foundation for long-term relationships, using professional networking sites, recruiting agents and consultants acting on their behalf.”
Other elements of espionage outlined in the MI5 alert include all-expenses paid trips to China and payment for information in cash or cryptocurrency.
Targets are said to include “Parliament staff, economists, think tank employees, geopolitical consultants and those working alongside [the government] including MPs and members of the House of Lords.”
Jarvis highlighted a pattern of behavior around Chinese espionage attempts, which he would take “all necessary measures” to protect against, including updating and strengthening national security powers.
He said rules will be tightened to tackle covert financing of political parties, while the Electoral Commission will be given greater enforcement powers.
There will also be security briefings for all parties and candidates standing in next May’s elections to the Scottish Parliament, the Welsh Senedd and councils across England.
Jarvis highlighted that China remains the UK’s third largest trading partner and said the UK would use sanctions “as necessary”.
Conservative Home Office minister Alicia Kearns has urged the government to increase transparency of China’s activities in the UK by placing the country in the enhanced tier of the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme (FIRS).
Currently, only Iran and Russia are in the enhanced tier, meaning someone cannot do work for those countries until they have registered their activity with the government.
Kearns also said the government should cancel planned visits to China and reject an application to build a Chinese embassy in a sensitive location in central London.
Jarvis said the government was “looking closely at whether further additions to the enhanced tier” for FIRS need to be made, but added “no decision has been made yet”.
As for the embassy, he said the decision would be made by the Secretary of Housing.
Former Conservative Party leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith said the alert showed China was adopting an “aggressive stance” that “pokes a hole in all that ridiculous nonsense” about whether or not China was a threat to the UK’s national security.
“We have to be much, much more vigilant,” he told BBC News.
“Why is the government so unable to call out China for what it is, which is a persistent and continuing threat to Britain’s national security?
“That’s clear to all members of the public… but somehow the government seems to think it’s not so clear.”
