"Recruited During 2015 UK Study Abroad"
Exposed Amid Western Countries' Criticism of Chinese Spies
The appearance of the British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) building. [Image source: British Secret Intelligence Service official website (www.sis.gov.uk)]
The Chinese government officially condemned the British government, accusing a couple of Chinese civil servants recruited by the British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) of espionage activities. This is seen as a retaliatory measure against the British government’s criticism of China after arresting a parliamentary researcher on suspicion of spying for China last April. With the upcoming European Parliament elections later this month, and heightened vigilance by the United States and European countries against Chinese spies, tensions between the two sides are expected to intensify.
On the 3rd, China’s Ministry of State Security announced via its official WeChat account, a social networking service (SNS), that “through meticulous investigation, a major espionage case was uncovered in which MI6 recruited a couple of Chinese central government officials, Mr. Wang and Mrs. Zhou.” It stated, “They succumbed to MI6’s overseas trips, persuasion, and coercion, were recruited as spies, and even received formal training.”
According to the Ministry of State Security, the Wang couple applied to study abroad in the UK in 2015 as part of an exchange program between China and the UK. Subsequently, an MI6 agent who covertly enrolled in the same school as Mr. Wang approached him, building a relationship and offering a high-paying consulting part-time job, which Mr. Wang accepted, marking the beginning of their connection.
The MI6 agent continued to win the favor of the Wang couple by inviting them to dinners and trips, proposed participation in public projects, and later requested that they provide core information from Chinese state institutions. The Ministry of State Security pointed out, “Mr. Wang was enticed with consulting fees far exceeding normal advisory payments.”
The British government has not issued an official statement regarding the espionage case disclosed by the Chinese government. The BBC reported, “The British government has stated it will neither confirm nor deny the matter,” and added, “Inside and outside the British government, this espionage case disclosure is viewed as retaliation for the arrest of a parliamentary researcher on suspicion of spying for China a few weeks ago.”
In April, two researchers affiliated with the China Research Group of the British Parliament were arrested on suspicion of spying for China. They were accused of contacting Conservative Party members and leaking sensitive national secrets and critical information to China. At the time, the Chinese government strongly opposed the allegations, calling them “completely fabricated malicious slanders,” and urged the UK to “stop anti-China political manipulation and cease this self-created political farce.”
With the European Parliament elections scheduled from the 6th to the 9th, vigilance against Chinese spies by Western countries including the US and Europe has intensified, and friction between the West and China over espionage cases is expected to worsen.
On the 7th of last month, the German Federal Prosecutor’s Office arrested Jian Guo, an aide to Maximilian Krah, a member of the European Parliament, on suspicion of passing internal European Parliament information to Chinese intelligence agencies, and conducted a search of his office. German prosecutors are reportedly investigating whether Krah received bribes from China or Russia. Earlier in April, in the Brest area, home to a French Navy nuclear submarine base, suspicions arose that China was employing honey trap tactics using female spies after a significant increase in marriages between Chinese female students and naval base personnel was observed.
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