House of Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle addressed the threat directly in a letter to MPs.Credit: House of Commons
This masthead approached Qiu and Shen for comment but did not receive a reply before publication.
Neither of the individuals appeared to have significant profiles outside LinkedIn, the social media site often used for business and recruitment.
The Speaker’s letter to MPs was reported by London’s Telegraph and has not been issued publicly, although a parliamentary spokesperson confirmed the communication was issued to MPs.
“We provide advice to members and staff to make them aware of potential risks, however we cannot comment on our security processes, measures or advice,” the spokesperson said.
In its written advice, MI5 said the Chinese spies targeted politicians and sought to cultivate parliamentary staff, economists, think tank employees, consultants and others with access to government.
The MSS used legitimate and fake recruitment companies, it said, and might commission a target to write a report in return for payment.
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“The MSS offer large financial incentives for seemingly low-level information in an attempt to build a relationship and encourage the target to gain access to more non-public sensitive information,” it said in the circular, also published by the Telegraph.
Australian politicians have also been warned that spies are targeting MPs and staff, with ASIO boss Mike Burgess revealing last year that a former politician had “sold out” the country by aiding a foreign security service.
The Chinese embassy in London told the British media the claims of espionage were “pure fabrication” and would undermine relations, but the government reinforced the warnings after the MI5 document leaked to the media.
Security Minister Dan Jarvis announced a £170 million ($343 million) plan to protect government businesses from cyberintrusions, and named China as a source of concern and confirmed the MI5 alert.
‘Let me speak plainly: this activity involves a covert and calculated attempt by a foreign power to interfere with our sovereign affairs in favour of its own interests, and this government will not tolerate it.’
Dan Jarvis, minister of state for security
“Our intelligence agencies have warned that China is attempting to recruit and cultivate individuals with access to sensitive information about Parliament and the UK government,” he told the House of Commons.
“I urge all parliamentarians and their staff to be wary that China has a low threshold for what information is considered to be of value, and will gather individual pieces of information to build a wider picture.
“Let me speak plainly: this activity involves a covert and calculated attempt by a foreign power to interfere with our sovereign affairs in favour of its own interests, and this government will not tolerate it.”
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Attacks by Russian agencies have made headlines in Britain, including arson at a warehouse with aid bound for Ukraine, but anxieties about China have deepened after an attempt to prosecute two British men accused of collecting secrets for Beijing.
Prosecutors weighed up whether to launch court proceedings against the two men, Christopher Cash and Christopher Berry, but dropped the charges in September due to doubts about the strength of the case.
One key problem in the case was that the two men were accused of passing on information that was “useful to an enemy”, but public officials were not willing to name China as a national security threat.
Cash was a researcher involved with the China Research Group set up by British MPs. He and Berry rejected the accusations against them and welcomed the decision to drop the charges.
Starmer met Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro last year, in the first leader-level meeting between the two countries in six years, and said at the time he wanted a relationship that would “avoid surprises” whenever possible.
In one example of the friction between the two countries, Starmer and his ministers are moving slowly on Chinese plans for a huge new embassy near the Tower of London.
Security experts have warned that the building in Royal Mint Court could be used for espionage, given its key location near government offices. It would be one of the biggest embassies in Europe, occupying about 20,000 square metres.
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