A parliamentary committee stated that China’s state intelligence apparatus has been consistently and aggressively targeting the United Kingdom, while criticizing the government’s response in London as “utterly insufficient.”
China’s state intelligence apparatus targets the UK “prolifically and aggressively” but the government in London’s response has been “completely inadequate”, a parliamentary committee said Thursday.
The committee’s “Report on China” looked into the national security threat from China broadly, and then specifically in relation to academia, industry and technology, and civil nuclear energy.
It concluded that China “seeks to influence elites and decision-makers” and “to acquire information and Intellectual Property using covert and overt methods”.
The report was published a day after computer giant Microsoft said Chinese-based hackers seeking intelligence information breached the email accounts of a number of US government agencies.
Earlier this week, Australian lawmakers were told that networks of fake Facebook accounts run from China were “evolving” and adopting new tactics to sow discord overseas.
Last year, Britain’s domestic intelligence agency MI5 warned that a Chinese spy had infiltrated parliament to interfere in UK politics.
This week, British media reported fears that a Chinese spy tried to infiltrate a meeting involving lawmakers and Hong Kong dissidents.
The ISC report highlighted China’s “whole-of-state” approach as a particular problem for the UK, whose government has been under pressure to take a tougher stance against Beijing.
Much of China’s impact on the UK’s national security had been overt, by leveraging its economic might, by takeovers and mergers and through its interactions with academia.
While some of its attempts to exert influence were legitimate, the ISC accused China of “overstepping the boundary”.
The committee, which oversees the UK intelligence community, called on the government to take more coordinated action against the threat.
Khalil Wakim, with AFP
