MI6 recruited foreign spy to steal secret documents, China alleges

CHINA has accused MI6 of recruiting and training a spy to steal secret government documents, in the latest claims of espionage between Beijing and London.

The British Secret Intelligence Service tasked a foreigner, known only by his surname, Huang, to collect secrets and information, China’s Ministry of State Security (MSS) claimed. It alleged Mr Huang was tapped by MI6 in 2015 and had used his position in an overseas consulting agency to gather intelligence in China. The British government has not commented on the claims.

It comes as Beijing steps up efforts to root out spying by dramatically expanding its counter-espionage laws to give authorities more power to track and detain suspects.

“After careful investigation, the state security organs promptly discovered evidence of Huang’s involvement in espionage activities, and took criminal coercive measures against him,” said the MSS, which detained Mr Huang.

“Huang provided nine classified state secret documents, five secret-level state secret documents, and three intelligence documents to the British government,” it added.

The MSS said Mr Huang was in charge of an overseas consulting agency but did not name the company. The MSS statement alleged MI6 instructed Mr Huang to enter China several times and to use his job as a cover for spying missions. It said the British agency had offered him professional training in the UK and other places, and had provided him with special espionage equipment for intelligence cross-linking.

China’s recent measures against spies has already affected advisory and due diligence companies that have long conducted research for clients mulling investments in China. Several American consultancy giants were raided last year and their staff questioned.

Earlier this year, China warned its citizens of the dangers of becoming embroiled in espionage and encouraged them to report suspicious activity.

In August, the MSS said it wanted to make it “normal” for the general public to participate in counter-espionage. The call followed an expansion of China’s counter-espionage, which permitted authorities carrying out an anti-espionage probe to gain access to data, electronic equipment and information on personal property.

Mr Huang’s arrest follows a diplomatic spat between Beijing and London in September on accusations that a British national working as a parliamentary researcher in Westminster had been spying for China. The man in his 20s was arrested last March in Edinburgh under the Official Secrets Act, along with another man, in his 30s, who was detained in Oxfordshire. Both were bailed pending further investigation.