Chinese spies are posing as headhunters on LinkedIn to target MPs as part of a “widespread” operation to access information about the UK government, MI5 has warned.
The security service issued a new alert over Chinese espionage after it found two recruiters were using the online profiles to contact those in Westminster on behalf of the Chinese Ministry of State Security (MSS).
In a letter to MPs about the issue, Commons speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle said Chinese state actors were “relentless” in their attempts to “interfere with our processes and influence activity at Parliament”.
He said profiles under the names of Amanda Qiu and Shirly Shen were being “used to conduct outreach at scale” on behalf of China, will similar profiles also acting as fronts for espionage.
Security minister Dan Jarvis said the government would not tolerate “covert and calculated” attempts by Beijing to interfere with the UK’s sovereign affairs as he vowed to “disrupt, degrade and protect” against China’s “dangerous and unrestrained offensive cyber ecosystem”.
Addressing the Commons on Tuesday, Mr Jarvis said the government will “take all necessary measures to protect our national interests, our citizens and our democratic way of life”.
He said parliamentary staff, economists, think tank employees and government officials have all been targeted as he warned that China had a “low threshold” for what information is useful, as it attempts to build a wider picture.
The latest effort follows a pattern which includes the targeting of parliamentary emails in 2021 and attempted interference by Christine Lee in 2022, he told the Commons.
The Commons speaker claimed the Chinese MSS was “actively reaching out to individuals in our community”, arguing they seek to “collect information and lay the groundwork for long-term relationships, using professional networking sites, recruitment agents and consultants acting on their behalf”.
Mr Jarvis announced plans to coordinate a new Counter Political Interference and Espionage Action Plan to disrupt and deter spying, which would see the intelligence services deliver security briefings for political parties and issue new guidance to election candidates to help them recognise, resist and report suspicious activity.
The intelligence services will also work with professional networking sites to make them a more hostile operating environment for spies, while ministers will tighten rules on political donations through a new Elections Bill.
Some £170m will be invested in renewing the sovereign and encrypted technology that civil servants use to safeguard sensitive work, the government announced on Tuesday.
A further £130m will be put into boosting Counter Terrorism Policing’s ability to enforce the National Security Act, as well as funding the National Cyber Security Centre and National Protective Security Authority’s work with critical businesses to protect their intellectual property.
Mr Jarvis said the recent Cyber Security and Resilience Bill would provide safeguards and he did not rule out sanctions as a penalty against those involved in spying.
But MPs also heard that China is the UK’s third largest trading partner as the minister said it was in the UK’s “long-term strategic interest” to trade and work with China on shared interests, including the environment, research and crime.
It comes after the collapse of a case against two men accused of spying for China in September, sparking a row over Britain’s links with Beijing.
Christopher Cash and Christopher Berry were charged by the CPS in April last year with spying under the Official Secrets Act 1911, when they were accused of collecting and communicating information which could be “useful to an enemy”. Both denied the charges.
But the Crown Prosecution Service said the case could not progress because the government’s deputy national security adviser Matt Collins was unwilling to classify China as an active threat to national security – raising questions about Britain’s willingness to confront China as Sir Keir’s government looks to build closer ties with the country.
Mr Collins has said he had provided evidence of a “range of threats” posed by China but had not described the country as a “generic” threat because that was not the position of the then-Tory government.
The UK government has described China as a “challenge” but ministers have avoided using the single word “threat,” arguing it is unwise to sum up China in one word.
In the wake of the collapsed trial, there are growing calls for China to be classed as an enhanced-tier threat on the government’s foreign influence registration scheme (FIRS).
The scheme is designed to give Britain better tools to counter threats from hostile states, but currently only Russia and Iran have been designated as a particular risk on the “enhanced tier” – which requires those working on their behalf to declare any activity.
Tory MP Alicia Kearns, who previously employed Mr Cash as a parliamentary researcher, wrote to ministers to urge them to put China on the enhanced tier, while the Lib Dems said the higher tier has a “China-shaped hole”.
Speaking in the Commons on Tuesday, Mr Jarvis said: “We are looking closely at whether it is necessary to make further additions onto the enhanced tier, but I can say to her that no decision has yet been made.”
Sir Lindsay said the Chinese MSS has been trying to contact individuals in Parliament through two recruiters named as Amanda Qiu from BR-YR Executive Search and Shirly Shen of Internship Union, who had been “using LinkedIn profiles to conduct outreach at scale on behalf of MSS”.
“The alert also highlights that other similar profiles are acting as fronts for espionage. MI5 has issued this alert because the activity is targeted and widespread”, the letter adds.
In a statement to the Commons following the espionage alert, Mr Jarvis said: “Our intelligence agencies have warned that China is attempting to recruit and cultivate individuals with access to sensitive information about Parliament and the UK government.”
He added: “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.”
