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China’s security agency has accused British intelligence services of using a foreign national to spy on the country, highlighting rising tensions between Beijing and western countries over espionage.
The Ministry of State Security said on Monday that the UK’s Secret Intelligence Service, known as MI6, instructed the head of a foreign consultancy to enter China multiple times since 2015, gather information and help recruit people.
The alleged spy, surnamed Huang, was from a “third country”, the statement said.
The Financial Times was not able to independently verify the ministry’s claims. The British embassy in Beijing did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The MSS has levelled a series of accusations against western intelligence services amid rising geopolitical tensions. In the past the powerful Chinese spy agency rarely discussed such cases publicly, but it has increasingly publicised them since setting up a presence on social media platform WeChat last year.
Beijing has also cracked down on foreign consultancies and due diligence firms operating in China over the past year amid concerns that international businesses sharing sensitive information to clients could pose a national security threat.
Companies including Bain & Company, Mintz Group and Capvision have been targeted by raids and investigations, which have sparked fears among investors and business figures about their personal security while operating in China.
The FBI and US justice department have also publicised recent cases of alleged Chinese espionage by Chinese nationals and American citizens, among them military personnel and former intelligence officers.
The Financial Times reported last month that an MSS office ran a far-right Belgian politician as an intelligence asset for more than three years.
The case demonstrated how Beijing conducts influence operations abroad in an effort to shape politics in its favour, including on issues such as its crackdown on democracy in Hong Kong and persecution of Muslim Uyghurs in Xinjiang.
It also underscored concerns over the EU’s vulnerability to Chinese espionage efforts as ties between Brussels and Beijing have become more fraught.
Last year the chair of the UK’s intelligence and security committee raised the alarm over “increasingly sophisticated” Chinese spying operations, calling Britain’s response “completely inadequate”.
A parliamentary researcher was arrested last year on suspicion of spying for Beijing, an issue Prime Minister Rishi Sunak raised with Chinese premier Li Qiang at the G20 summit in New Delhi in September.
However, western authorities have also been accused of exercising undue suspicion of people of Chinese background or with personal connections to China.
Separately on Sunday the MSS released a cartoon series promoting its counter-espionage efforts. The series, state media said, tells the “magical story” of Chinese security officers outsmarting overseas spies.
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