UK PM meets Chinese premier, slams alleged interference in parliament
- A British man, reported to be a parliamentary researcher with links to MPs including Security Minister, has been arrested accused of spying
- Rishi Sunak met Li Qiang during the G20 summit and raised ‘very strong concerns’ about ‘any interference … which is obviously unacceptable’
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British Prime Minister Rishi 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.
Sunak met Li Qiang at the G20 summit in New Delhi on Sunday, hours after news of two arrests in the UK under the Official Secrets Act emerged.
One is a researcher who has had links to several senior Tory members of parliament (MPs), including Security Minister Tom Tugendhat and the foreign affairs committee chairwoman, Alicia Kearns.
The Briton was arrested along with another man by officers on March 13 on suspicion of spying for Beijing, it was revealed by the Sunday Times newspaper.
UK police said on Saturday they had arrested a man in his 20s for spying, with the paper reporting he was a researcher in Britain’s parliament.
“Officers from the Metropolitan Police Service arrested two men on 13 March on suspicion of offences under section 1 of the Official Secrets Act, 1911,” the force said.
“A man in his 30s was arrested at an address in Oxfordshire and a man in his 20s was arrested at an address in Edinburgh.”
The man in his 20s is a Briton who has worked on international policy, including relations with Beijing, and previously worked in China, the Sunday Times said.
If proven, it would represent one of the most serious breaches of security involving a hostile state at the UK’s parliament.
Sunak, who has faced criticism from some senior Conservatives of seeking a relationship with a China they see as increasingly a threat, met Li on the margins of the international summit on Sunday morning.
A Downing Street spokesman said: “The prime minister met Premier Li Qiang and conveyed his significant concerns about Chinese interference in the UK’s parliamentary democracy.”
Sunak said his confrontation with Li over the “obviously unacceptable” allegations is an example of the benefits of engagement.
Speaking to broadcasters at the summit venue in India, Sunak said: “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.
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“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.”
The UK’s MI5 intelligence service last year warned that a female Chinese government agent called Christine Lee had been “engaged in political interference activities on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party, engaging with members here at parliament”.
In July the Commons intelligence and security committee claimed that China was targeting the UK “prolifically and aggressively” and that the government did not have the “resources, expertise or knowledge” to deal with it.
Tugendhat is reported to have only had limited contact with the suspect, and none while security minister.
Additional reporting by dpa
