British lawmakers have voiced their outrage over the arrest of two people suspected of spying on the Houses of Commons for China on Monday.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has expressed his concern about the situation and reported that he had confronted Chinese Premier Li Qiang on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in India. He said, “actions which seek to undermine our British democracy are completely unacceptable and will never be tolerated.”
The accused, both men in their 20s and 30s, were arrested by the Metropolitan Police in March but the news was only made public over the weekend. The younger of the two had reportedly worked for Foreign Affairs Committee Chairs Alicia Kearns and Tom Tugendhat, who is currently the security minister. It’s unknown what their security clearance was or what kind of documents they have access to.
The younger suspect has expressed his innocence through his lawyers, stating, “I am completely innocent. I have spent my career to date trying to educate others about the challenges and threats presented by the Chinese Communist Party. To do what has been claimed against me in extravagant news reporting would be against everything I stand for.”
China has denied the accusations, with Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning saying “we urge the U.K. to stop spreading false information, anti-China political manipulation and malicious slander.”
The news has spurred a wave of questioning in Parliament, with the Leaders of the opposition Labour Party, Keir Starmer, asking when the British government first challenged China to no clear response from Sunak. Speaker of the House of Commons, Lindsay Hoyle confirmed the two arrests and spoke of an ongoing, sensitive investigation before asking for the discussion to end as members of Parliament have the responsibility of protecting its confidential information.
Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden did however confirm that the men were facing “serious allegations” and reassured the public that the government has already taken steps to protect its secrets including the banning of Chinese IT companies from government offices and TikTok from all government computers and mobile phones.
Several lawmakers have argued for a harder line against China, citing the spying allegations as an example. Former Prime Minister Liz Truss noted that this was “extremely worrying” and asked why the government would not recognize China as “the largest threat, both to the world and the United Kingdom, for freedom and democracy?”.
The government’s official spokesman said that they were being “clear-eyed” about the risks presented by China, but believes it is best to engage with China instead of shouting from the sidelines. Former head of MI6, Alex Younger agreed, “we need to, geopolitically, be capable of chewing gum and walking at the same time, engaging with China, competing with China, and sometimes confronting China”.
