Unassuming agent helped Beijing access British boardrooms
‘Questions must be asked about the lack of transparency in the access Lee secured via her work with British firms’
‘[Businesses] should be cautious about helping companies at the beck and call of the Chinese Communist Party’
The Soho shopfront of Christine Lee’s law firm, just a few blocks away from Chinatown, may have looked unassuming from the outside. But it was home to a spy who was mingling throughout the top levels of business and politics in the British capital, seeking to advance Beijing’s interests in boardrooms and the corridors of power.
Ms Lee’s legal work, the public face of her attempts to influence and agitate on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party, focused on the bilateral relationship between China and the United Kingdom.
On her website, she boasted of the experience of her firm, and its work with major investors, presenting herself as something of a sherpa for Chinese firms hoping to make their fortunes in Britain.
“We have over 30 years’ experience in all types of legal work for major investors and private clients in trade and relocation between the UK and China,” it told potential clients.
“We provide a one-stop service from your entry, purchases of properties and businesses, investments and settlement in the UK for you and your family.”
According to the The People’s Daily, the Communist Party newspaper, Lee’s position owning one of the few Chinese owned law practices in the UK meant that she was the first point of call for many businesses looking to trade between the nations.
Her legal practice ran the gamut of legal advice, immigration services and representation for firms looking to make investments or embark on buccaneering stock market listings.
Dutifully, her firm also trumpeted its support for Chinese president Xi Jinping’s “Belt and Road” initiative, which has been criticised as an attempt to lure developing nations into so-called debt trap diplomacy.
She was at one stage endorsed by UK Trade and Investment, a government agency that was later replaced by the Department of International Trade, now run by Anne-marie Trevelyan.
And speaking to a Chinese business publication, she proffered advice to Chinese firms seeking to swoop on their rivals in the UK.
One client who sought Ms Lee’s advice on its new venture in the UK was Guangdong Taienkang Pharmaceutical.
A major provider of medical goods to more than 1,000 hospitals at home, particularly personal protective equipment (PPE) such as masks, the firm wanted to break into the potentially lucrative market in Britain and win business from the NHS.
According to company filings, the Chinese firm enlisted Ms Lee for advice on compliance after setting up a UK subsidiary early in the pandemic.
It came as a shock to a spokesman contacted by The Daily Telegraph yesterday, who claimed to have no knowledge of the firm’s affiliation with Lee – now outed as a spy. And in spite of support from Ms Lee with regulatory matters, the company’s foray into Britain seems to have been met with little success ultimately.
“We’ve not had any contracts with the Government, or any with the NHS so far,” the spokesman confessed. “We’ve supplied a few media and film outlets but nothing more than that. In truth, we were a bit late to the party.”
Ms Lee was also an active figure in her local business community, sitting on the Leicester Square-piccadilly Circus property owner business improvement district. Through this forum, she would have rubbed shoulders with representatives from some of Britain’s biggest commercial landlords, including Shaftesbury, Landsec and the Crown Estate.
Other members include estate agent Savills, Westminster City Council and the billionaire Reuben Brothers, who are prominent Tory donors.
The unprecedented access to high-profile figures in politics and business has raised questions about her role in UK public life.
Johnny Patterson, Policy Director at Hong Kong Watch, said the unmasking of Ms Lee meant further investigation was needed to understand how much the CCP had infiltrated Britain’s corporate landscape.
“What is striking is that rumours about Christine Lee’s ties with the United Front and the CCP have been going around Westminster for a long time, and yet – presumably while she was under MI5 investigation – Lee’s law firm played a major role in Uk-chinese trade relations”, he says.
“Questions must be asked about the lack of transparency in the access Lee secured via her work with British firms, to what extent any corporate espionage has perforated the British market place, and where else the United Front has infiltrated the British establishment.”
Charles Parton, a former British diplomat in China, who is now a research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, warned that a key aim of the United Front Work Department was wooing influential business figures who could help improve China’s image. He said: “The Front answers to the Chinese Communist Party. It is about changing negative perceptions about China overseas to neutral ones and neutral ones to positive ones if possible.
“They want to stifle any negativity and influence British policy to be more favourable towards them.
“Of course, there are businesses with great interests tied up in China and some very senior people sit on boards. But they should be cautious about helping companies that are at the beck and call of the CCP, particularly in sensitive areas.
“If I were to say they were helping the CCP, I am sure those people might be outraged, but of course if you understand the way China works then you will see that they are.”
Ms Lee’s lobbying on politics also encroached into business often, as she looked to protect Chinese interests.
When MPS were weighing tougher immigration rules under a pointsbased system in 2008, she wrote to defend the interests of 150 Chinese restaurants.
She was also one of 600 guests who joined a virtual reception hosted by the Chinese Embassy last July, with other attendees including Lord Heseltine, the former deputy prime minister, former business secretaries Lord Mandelson and Sir Vince Cable, and business and City bigwigs.
Attendees agreed to “express the willingness to make positive contributions to the development of China-uk relationship”, according to a write-up by the embassy afterwards.
It is certainly advice that Ms Lee can say she followed, though perhaps more to Beijing’s benefit than London’s.