My Take | Chinese spying? Maybe British MPs should keep their pants on

China’s information warfare has gone tabloid, if the British press is to be believed. But then, it’s Fleet Street where the line between the factual and the speculative is terribly blurred, if it exists at all.

Personally, I prefer accusations of foreign election tampering and hi-tech theft. That at least gives Chinese intelligence some class – more 007 and less Austin Powers.

The latest claim is that the Chinese honeytrapped a British member of parliament via “sexting” into sending photos of his nether regions. He was then blackmailed into sending contact details of fellow MPs, their staff, journalists and a serving minister. At least two of them were also tricked into sending intimate pictures of themselves.

Does it look to you more like a prank rather than a state-level intelligence operation? Regardless, the British electorate should perhaps be more alarmed by the type of people they elect to represent them than any alleged Chinese or Russian threat.

The scandal involves Tory MP William Wragg. The Independent strongly hints at a Chinese connection by running long passages about previous Chinese cyberattacks, which seem to have nothing to do with the Wragg case, other than having Tory MP and staunch China hawk Bob Seely saying the Wragg case was “crude enough to be the Russians” but “the Chinese tend to be more sophisticated”. Either Russians or Chinese, that should narrow it down.

The Times has likewise insinuated Chinese involvement. “[The scandal] comes at a time of heightened concern around the security of MPs, who are increasingly subject to hostile state activity,” it said. “This month, the government confirmed that Chinese hackers believed to be linked to the Beijing government had conducted a number of cyberattacks against MPs.”