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Britain’s domestic security agency, MI5, sent an unusual alert Thursday to lawmakers warning that an agent of the Chinese government was actively working to subvert the political processes of Parliament.
This is the sort of interference “we now anticipate and expect from China,” said Tobias Ellwood, a Conservative lawmaker. “But the fact that it has happened to this Parliament — there must be a sense of urgency from this government.”
It comes as tensions have heightened between the two nations, with Britain in recent years taking an increasingly firm stance against China. It has revoked the license of a Chinese-backed broadcaster, suspended an extradition treaty with Hong Kong and granted visas to tens of thousands of Hong Kong residents in the aftermath of a security law from Beijing that stifles political dissent. In a much-watched case in 2020, Prime Minister Boris Johnson largely banned Chinese telecommunications company Huawei from providing equipment for Britain’s 5G network.
In response, China has sanctioned several British lawmakers and groups for their public criticisms of the government.
The notice from MI5 warned that a woman identified as Christine Ching Kui Lee had “acted covertly” through the United Front Work Department, a branch of the Chinese Communist Party devoted to furthering the government’s agenda in the world. The branch had sought to “cultivate relationships with influential figures in order to ensure the U.K. political landscape is favorable to the CCP’s agenda,” the notice said.
Lee had been involved in the “facilitation of financial donations to political parties,” lawmakers and potential candidates for public office in Britain and to “political entities” on behalf of foreign nationals, the statement said. She had “extensive engagement with individuals across the U.K. political spectrum,” and she had been involved in informal cross-party groups run by lawmakers known as All-Party Parliamentary Groups, the statement added.
“I know it will be deeply concerning to many that an individual who has knowingly engaged in political interference activities on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party has targeted” lawmakers, Priti Patel, Britain’s home secretary, said in a statement.
Nevertheless, she added, the revelation was a sign of the structures Britain had in place to identify foreign interference or any potential threats to democracy.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
Isabella Kwai and Stephen Castle c.2022 The New York Times Company
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