12/09/23
Suspected Chinese spy in Parliament claims he is working against Beijing
A parliamentary researcher accused of spying for China has said that he is “completely innocent” and had dedicated his career to exposing the “threat” posed by the ruling Communist Party.
The British national, who was arrested in March and has been released on bail, said that he has been “forced” to respond to the accusations because of public speculation over his links to Beijing.
The researcher, in his late 20s, has links to senior Conservative MPs who have access to highly sensitive or classified material, including Tom Tugendhat, now the security minister, and Alicia Kearns, the chairman of the foreign affairs select committee.
After news of his arrest broke at the weekend there have been questions over the Government’s approach to China and security at the Houses of Parliament, where he had undergone security vetting in order to obtain a pass.
In a statement released through his lawyers, the privately educated researcher, who has not been officially named by police, said: “I feel forced to respond to the media accusations that I am a ‘Chinese spy’.
“It is wrong that I should be obliged to make any form of public comment on the misreporting that has taken place.
“However, given what has been reported, it is vital that it is known that I am completely innocent.
“I have spent my career to date trying to educate others about the challenge and threats presented by the Chinese Communist Party.
“To do what has been claimed against me in extravagant news reporting would be against everything I stand for.”
Lawyers used by Assange
He is being represented by Birnberg Peirce, one of Britain’s leading human rights law firms whose clients have included Julian Assange, the Wikileaks founder, and Shamima Begum, the east London schoolgirl who joined Islamic State.
The researcher has previously lived and worked in China. He has been working with Parliamentarians for a number of years.
He was arrested in Edinburgh on March 13, while a second man, in his 30s, was detained in Oxfordshire, Scotland Yard said. Searches were also carried out at an east London property.
Both were held on suspicion of offences under Section 1 of the Official Secrets Act 1911, which punishes offences that are said to be “prejudicial to the safety or interests of the state”. They were bailed until early October.
In his role with MPs, the man may have had access to “highly sensitive” documents as well as private briefings from ministers, senior officials, and dissidents critical of the ruling Communist Party.
‘Serious allegations’
Ms Kearns, who he is known to have links to, is likely to have had access to private documents but not classified material through her role as chairman of a backbench committee.
She has refused to comment on the case owing to the ongoing police operation. Mr Tugendhat is said not to have had any contact with the researcher since before he became security minister in September last year.
Making a statement in the Commons on the arrest, Oliver Dowden, the Deputy Prime Minister, said: “These are serious allegations and it is right that they are being thoroughly investigated by the police and relevant agencies.
“We must not hamper their work or prejudice any future legal processes by what we say today.”
A Scotland Yard spokesman said: “The investigation is being carried out by officers from the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, which has responsibility for investigations relating to allegations of Official Secrets Act and espionage-related offences. Enquiries continue.”
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