By PBS News
Publication Date: 2025-11-18 19:16:00
LONDON (AP) — Britain’s national intelligence agency warned British lawmakers Tuesday that Chinese spies were actively seeking to “recruit and cultivate” them through headhunters or covert companies.
Writing to lawmakers, Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle said a new MI5 “espionage alert” warned that Chinese nationals were “using LinkedIn profiles to conduct outreach activities at scale” on behalf of China’s Ministry of State Security.
“Their goal is to gather information and lay the foundation for long-term relationships, using professional networking sites, recruiting agents and consultants to act on their behalf,” he said.
MI5 issued the alert because the activity was “targeted and widespread”, he added.
The Chinese Embassy in London dismissed the allegations as “pure fabrication and malicious slander” and warned the UK not to further undermine bilateral relations.
The MI5 alert cited LinkedIn profiles of two women, Amanda Qiu and Shirly Shen, and said the profiles of other similar recruiters acted as fronts for espionage.
Home Secretary Dan Jarvis said that as well as parliamentary staff, others including economists, think tank consultants and government officials have been similarly targeted.
READ MORE: How China used a mid-level government aide in New York to influence US policy
“This activity involves a covert and calculated attempt by a foreign power to interfere in our sovereign affairs in its own interests, and this government will not tolerate it,” Jarvis told Parliament.
In recent years, British intelligence officials have steadily stepped up their warnings about espionage threats from China, the UK’s third-largest trading partner.
Jarvis said the government is implementing a series of measures to address the risk, including investing 170 million pounds ($224 million) to revamp encrypted technology used by civil servants to safeguard sensitive work. Opposition parties say authorities are not doing enough and are too cautious about jeopardizing trade ties with China.
Espionage charges were dropped in September
The latest warning came after critics widely questioned how the prosecution of two men accused of spying for Beijing in Britain collapsed just before they were to go on trial.
Academic Christopher Berry and parliamentary researcher Christopher Cash were charged last year with providing information or documents to China that could be “detrimental to the security or interests” of the United Kingdom. His case was dropped in September.
Director of Public Prosecutions Stephen Parkinson said this was because the government refused to testify under oath that China was a threat to national security at the time of the alleged crimes, between 2021 and 2023. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has denied allegations of government interference in the case.
In January 2022, the Security Service issued a similar security alert to all lawmakers warning that a London-based lawyer was knowingly involved in “political interference activities in the United Kingdom” in coordination with the United Front Work Department of the Chinese Communist Party, an organization known for exerting Chinese influence abroad.
Lawyer Christine Lee was accused of facilitating covert donations to British parties and legislators “on behalf of foreign nationals”.
MI5 director general Ken McCallum told reporters last month that Chinese state actors pose a threat to the UK’s national security “every day”.
McCallum said Beijing-backed meddling has included cyberespionage, theft of technological secrets and “efforts to covertly interfere in the public life of the United Kingdom.”
