Alternative Headline: Covert Outreach: Chinese Intelligence Using Professional Sites to Target British Lawmakers and Officials
LONDON, U.K.: The U.K.’s domestic intelligence agency, MI5, issued a new espionage alert on Tuesday, warning members of Parliament and their staff that Chinese security services are actively using the professional networking site LinkedIn to recruit and cultivate British politicians and government-linked individuals.
House of Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle relayed the MI5 alert to lawmakers, noting that Chinese nationals are using profiles on the platform to “conduct outreach at scale” on behalf of China’s security services, primarily the Ministry of State Security (MSS).
The core aim of this activity, according to the alert, is twofold: to “collect information and lay the groundwork for long-term relationships,” often using recruitment agents and consultants as cover. MI5 issued the alert because the campaign was deemed “targeted and widespread.”
Security Minister Dan Jarvis addressed Parliament, confirming the seriousness of the threat. He stated that the campaign targeted a wide range of individuals with access to sensitive information, including Parliamentary staff, Economists, Think tank consultants and Government officials.
Jarvis stressed that the government views the activity as a “covert and calculated attempt by a foreign power to interfere with our sovereign affairs in favour of its own interests,” vowing that the government “will not tolerate it.”
The latest warning aligns with increasingly urgent public pronouncements from British intelligence officials regarding espionage threats from China, which remains the U.K.’s third-biggest trading partner.
MI5 Director-General Ken McCallum stated just last month that Chinese state actors present a national security threat to the U.K. “every day.” The agency previously warned of similar tactics, where spies posed as recruiters to lure professionals into handing over sensitive information.
This alert follows the collapse two months prior of a high-profile case against two British men who had been accused of spying for Beijing, a result that drew criticism and concerns regarding the legal framework for prosecuting foreign interference.