MI5 has issued a “high alert” warning to the House of Commons as Chinese spies are attempting to “interfere with our processes and influence activity at Parliament.”
The Security Service has named two spies who are claiming to be headhunters, Shirly Shen, of Internship Union and Amanda Qiu, of BR-YR Executive Search.
Sir Lindsay Hoyle the House of Commons Speaker and his counterpart have sent a message to all MPs.
Sir Lindsay said, “It is of the utmost importance that we all understand how this activity happens and how to protect ourselves against it. We all have a responsibility to keep Parliament safe.”
Senior Tory MP Neil O’Brien said Shen and Qiu had tried to contact his staff, he wrote on X, “When are we going to wake up?”
Security minister Dan Jarvis told MPs that he has been warning that Chinese spies often use cover companies to try and “recruit and cultivate” Commons workers who have access to sensitive information.
Jarvis said, “I urge all parliamentarians and their staff to be wary that China has a low threshold for what information is considered to be of value, and will gather individual pieces of information to build a wider picture.
This activity involves a covert and calculated attempt by a foreign power to interfere with our sovereign affairs in favour of its own interests, and this Government will not tolerate it.
We will take all necessary measures to protect our national interests, our citizens, and our democratic way of life – including working with our allies and partners.”
Sir Lindsay wrote to MPs on Tuesday warning them there is an “espionage alert” issued by the Security Service about Chinese spies.
He said, “Their aim is to collect information and lay the groundwork for long-term relationships, using professional networking sites, recruitment agents and consultants acting on their behalf.”
The email to MPs saying, “The Chinese Ministry of State Security (MSS) seek to collect sensitive information on the UK to gain strategic advantage.
“Following recent examples of attempts to target UK Parliament for intelligence gathering, this espionage alert seeks to highlight typical MSS tradecraft and methodology from a specific group of highly active officers.
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