Suspected Chinese agent in UK parliament
The British security services have warned that a suspected Chinese agent knowingly engaged in political interference activities inside parliament, authorities said Thursday.
The House of Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle said that it had emailed MPs to tell them of the incident, in consultation with the security services.
The Speaker takes the security of members and the democratic process very seriously, which is why he issued this notice in consultation with the security services, a spokeswoman for Hoyle said.
The Chinese embassy in London denies the accusations, saying we have no need and never seek to 'buy influence' in any foreign parliament.
It said that we strongly opposes the trick of smearing and intimidation against the Chinese community in the UK.
The suspect was identified as Christine Lee, who said she had knowingly engaged in political interference activities on behalf of the United Front Work Department of the Chinese Communist Party. A London-based solicitor reportedly donated 200,000 $275,000, 239,000 euros to former Labour shadow cabinet member Barry Gardiner and hundreds of thousands of pounds to his party.
The former prime minister Theresa May, whose Conservatives have been accused of benefiting from millions of Russian money - presented Lee with an award in 2019 to recognize her contribution to Sino-UK ties.
Lee was also photographed with May's predecessor David Cameron at an event in 2015, and separately with former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.
According to British media, Lee facilitated financial donations to serving and aspiring parliamentarians on behalf of foreign nationals based in Hong Kong and China.
The facilitation was done covertly to mask the origins of the payments. It added that this is unacceptable behaviour and steps are being taken to ensure it ceases.
Iain Duncan Smith, who was a former Conservative leader and vocal critic of Beijing, demanded strong action after Britain's MI 5 intelligence agency warned of Lee's activities.
As a member of parliament who has been sanctioned by the Chinese government, this is a matter of grave concern, he said.
China imposed sanctions on 10 UK organisations and individuals last year over what it called the spreading of lies and disinformation about human rights abuses in Xinjiang.
Lee has not been arrested or deported, merely barred from entering parliament, he complained.
The former defence minister, Tobias Ellwood, told the Commons that this is the kind of grey-zone interference we now anticipate and expect from China, but there must be urgency from this government, given the fact that it happened to this parliament. Gardiner said Christine Lee's son had been employed as his diary manager but had resigned on Thursday.
In a statement, he said all of her donations were properly reported and that he had been liaising with our security services for many years about her.