Chinese spying? Maybe British MPs should keep their pants on

Beijing is probably less interested than UK tabloids in the sexual proclivities of members of parliament and health status of royals

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.”

Former Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith told the Daily Mail the attacks were likely Russian. That led the paper to run the headline: “MPs link Westminster honeytrap plot to Russia and China.”

So now it’s a joint spy operation.

While offering no evidence, Alicia Kearns, fellow Conservative backbencher and chairwoman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, said it was “almost certainly a foreign hostile state” behind the plot and called for more protection for parliamentarians like herself.

Hmm, how about telling your male colleagues not to send pictures of their genitals to strangers – and save the taxpayers some money?

Last year, Kearns claimed the Chinese had threatened her family and demanded extra protection. It must be déjà vu for Kearns. In March last year, a Tory parliamentary researcher for a think tank Kearns helped set up was arrested under an obscure section of the Official Secrets Act that dated from 1911. He too was found flirting on a dating app. Instead of accusing China, maybe she should ask why Westminster tends to attract such individuals.

Wragg got into trouble on an LGBTQ dating app, Grindr, which at one point was owned by Chinese video-game developer Kunlun Tech. Washington forced the firm to sell to a US company in 2020 because its Chinese ownership posed a national security threat. TikTok, anyone?

It’s not clear why having the Chinese owning a US-based gay dating app should be a national security threat, other than that anything linked to China is in some way a threat by definition.

Perhaps that’s why the Anglo-American media have jumped onto the Chinese conspiracy story over Wragg.

The New York Times claimed: “Some experts worry that the [sexting] messages may be part of a spear-phishing operation – designed to elicit compromising information – by a hostile foreign power such as China or Russia.”

CBS News also cited “previous claims of espionage against [UK] lawmakers by Beijing”. No evidence offered, but it’s either China, Russia or both!

It’s just like the recent front-page story by The Telegraph that China could be behind malicious online stories about Kate Middleton’s medical status.

I am inclined to think her fight with cancer is more interesting to fellow Britons than Chinese.

Instead of accusing China, maybe she should ask why Westminster tends to attract such individuals