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The suspect has been arrested but not charged yet. He’s in his 20s and before his arrest he was pretty well connected in the House of Commons where he worked as a parliamentary researcher.
Counterterrorism police swooped on the researcher and another man in his thirties on suspicion of espionage-related offences in March…
He previously spent time living and working in China, where security officials fear he may have been recruited as a sleeper agent and sent back to Britain with the intention of infiltrating political networks critical of the Beijing regime…
Paddy McGuinness, the government’s former deputy national security adviser, described China’s alleged actions as both “reckless” and a “serious escalation” of espionage activities. He said: “The mask has truly slipped. This isn’t about China objecting to interference in their internal affairs as they so often claim. Rather they are messing in ours, with a casual disregard for our democracy and our sovereignty.”…
“This won’t be a one-off but part of a wider strategy and there may be others to find,” he said.
British PM Rishi Sunak spoke directly to Chinese premiere Li Qiang about it at the recent G20 Summit.
At the same time, Britain appears hesitant to label China a threat.
