UK slammed as it sacrifices security to the 'siren call of Chinese investment'
British governments have sold out in the shadowy intelligence war against Beijing - sacrificing UK security to the “siren call of Chinese investment."
Our losing battle against “hundreds of thousands” of Chinese spies was revealed in a devastating Intelligence and Security Parliament report.
The long-awaited paper accuses the government’s approach to the long-term China threat of being “completely inadequate” and “slow.” It says: “The UK is of significant interest to China when it comes to espionage and interference, given our close relationship with the US… China’s state intelligence apparatus - almost certainly the largest in the world, with hundreds of thousands of civil intelligence officers - targets the UK and its interests prolifically and aggressively."
China President Xi Jinping is pictured at a press conference (AFP via Getty Images)But it added: “China’s economic power cannot be ignored when formulating the UK’s policy: the balance between security and prosperity requires dexterity and we understand that there are a number of difficult trade offs involved. However the Government needs to ensure that it has its house in order such that security concerns are not constantly trumped by economic interest?”
The committee’s chairman, Sir Julian Lewis warned against UK officials falling for the “siren call of Chinese money”. And he warned: “Successive governments have been so keen to take Chinese money that they failed to see China’s slight of hand.” Referring to Beijing’s massive and multi-faceted espionage and leverage attacks against the UK Sir Julian highlighted the government’s “glacial pace in dealing with it.”
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The Intelligence and Security Committee provides oversight to the UK’s intelligence agencies, MI6, MI5 and the listening station GCHQ.
Its four-year report highlighted China’s targeting of UK industry, trying to steal intellectual property, starting with stolen DVDs and counterfeit goods but now on cutting technology and multi-million pound research and development projects. Stealing research and development that has cost many millions means foreign countries save that money and then undermine the host country’s economy by releasing the invention as their own.
One security inside told the Daily Mirror: “The theft of aerospace RandD has become a huge risk. In the past two decades there have been a few incidents of foreign agencies penetrating a company’s security system and stealing new designs for, for example, a wing.
“Releasing this design by a country that did not pay for the research that went into it has a multi-faceted and devastating effect on the UK.”
Data is also being stolen to help in the intelligence war - analysing who to target, with a British MP as a major prize. But social and professional media sites are also being, with networking site LinkedIn also a major risk. In the report, someone from MI5 is quoted saying: “UK-based individuals have been the subject of a very light initial approach.” It then goes on to explain how individuals can be persuaded to do something without realising it will benefit Beijing.
One UK businessman was recruited by Chinese intelligence then was encouraged to write reports from inside the business and provide referrals for UK experts to travel to Beijing. Business visitors from China have even been found taking photographs in banned or sensitive areas. The report also tells how MI5 is supporting “economic espionage offence” being brought into law, since it is not currently a criminal offence to be a spy in the UK.
Currently the only sanctions MI5 can impose are: removing security clearance to Brits who are a risk and have access to secrets, expelling spies back to their original country, naming suspected intelligence officers in “espionage alerts” to industry and revoking visas of suspects.
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