Call for change in law to halt growing threat of Chinese espionage
A CHANGE in the law to deal with the “huge problem of Chinese espionage” is expected to be recommended to the Prime Minister by a powerful Parliamentary committee.
The revelation comes after Westminster was rocked last week when MI5 accused a Chinese lawyer of trying to gain influence on behalf of Beijing by funding MPS.
And last night Australian academic Clive Hamilton, who named Christine Lee in his book Hidden Hand in 2021, warned: “We’re just seeing the tip of the iceberg of these Chinese influence operations in Britain.”
Lee gave former Labour frontbencher Barry Gardiner, who employed her son, a £500,000 political donation. £Lib Dem leader Ed Davey received £5,000.
She has also been pictured with many former party leaders, including Jeremy Corbyn, Theresa May and David Cameron.
Members of the Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC), a crossparty group that reports directly to the Prime Minister, held four hour-long meetings on Thursday, which focused on the role of so-called “influencers”, the Sunday
‘We’re just seeing
the tip of the iceberg of these Chinese influence operations in
Britain’
Express has learned. The committee, chaired by Dr Julian Lewis, is already holding an inquiry into Chinese espionage in the UK, with special attention being devoted to the infiltration of universities.
The committee source said: “The problem of Chinese espionage is huge. The further we go into it the more we find.”
Last night Bob Seely MP, a member of the Inter-parliamentary Alliance on China, said: “We need a foreign lobbying act, like the one the US introduced in 1938.
“This has to be done in parallel with a new Espionage Act to replace current legislation, which is no longer fit for purpose.”
The reason for MI5’S unusually public alert over Lee is that, under current legislation, she has broken no laws and cannot be arrested.
But Prof Hamilton said the UK must go further, and introduce a robust Australian-style Espionage and Foreign Interference Act.
He said from his home in Canberra:
“Britain needs to go well beyond
US lobby law.
“It needs a foreign inter
ference law modelled on Australia’s, designed to tackle exactly the kind of activity that Christine Lee has been engaging in.”
“In Australia, she would be prosecuted for the activities she has been practising and, if convicted, would face up to 10 years in jail.”
The fact Beijing expressed outrage at the law when it was introduced in 2018 shows it is highly effective, Prof Hamilton claimed.
“It has had a chilling effect on sovereign interference.
“My observation is that the Chinese Communist Party became much more circumspect in how they carried out their interference
businesses in Australia,” he said. “It made it substantially more difficult for Chinese actors in Australia to operate.”
Prof Hamilton has warned of the pervasive reach of operatives working for China’s United Front Work Department (UFWD), which targets key individuals in foreign countries to gather information and influence policy.
China has been steadily building up its cadre of influence since 2000.
Though it is difficult to obtain up-to-date figures, more than 11,000 young overseas Chinese had participated in training camps
to learn how to identify targets abroad in 2006.
Prof Hamilton said: “When you start to understand the role of the
UFWD, you see there’s something sinister going on. Most of the talk concerning Lee has focused on political influence, but the UFWD also targets business and academic elites.
“There have been honey traps set that have resulted in blackmail.”