Revealed: China's LinkedIn spies targeting Britain's MPs - as MI5 issues ‘espionage alert’
China has rejected the accusations, calling the claims 'pure fabrication and malicious slander'
MI5 has issued a ‘high alert’ warning to MPs who are being targeted by spies acting for China.
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A message was circulated to MPs today about two known individuals in China trying to “interfere with our processes and influence activity at Parliament.”
The MI5 alert names two headhunters Amanda Qiu, of BR-YR Executive Search, and Shirly Shen, of Internship Union.
They are said to be using LinkedIn profiles to reach out on behalf of China's MSS.
Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle and his counterpart in the House of Lords, Lord McFall, have circulated a message to 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 the two named headhunters had tried to contact his staff. "When are we going to wake up?," he posted on X.
Security minister Dan Jarvis told the House of Commons he had been warned that Chinese agents, often masked through cover companies and head-hunters, had been attempting to “recruit and cultivate” individuals with access to sensitive information about Parliament and the UK Government.
His comments came after MPs, peers and parliamentary staff were warned by MI5 over spying threats from Chinese security services on Tuesday.
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Mr Jarvis said: "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."
In response, the minister announced a package of measures to disrupt the threat, as well as the upcoming launch of the Government's “espionage action plan”.
Commons Sir Lindsay Hoyle wrote to parliamentarians on Tuesday to alert them to the “espionage alert” issued by MI5 highlighting how the Chinese Ministry of State Security (MSS) is trying to reach out to those in Westminster.
“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,” he said.
The alert names two head-hunters, Amanda Qiu (BR-YR Executive Search) and Shirly Shen (Internship Union), who are both known to be using LinkedIn profiles to reach out on behalf of China’s MSS, the email said.
It detailed how the Chinese intelligence service may try to recruit a target, 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."
It warns that officers target political and economic information, particularly that which is classified or sensitive in nature.
People with direct access to information on the UK democratic system are high priority targets for MSS, and those close to potential access.
Parliament staff, economists, think tank employees and those working alongside the Government have been targeted for their networks, it said, including MPs and peers.
Mr Jarvis told MPs that his department would “stand ready to … disrupt, degrade and protect against the dangerous and unrestrained offensive cyber ecosystem that China has allowed to take hold”.
As part of measures to tackle the risk £170 million will be used to renew encrypted technology used by civil servants to safeguard sensitive work.
A further £130 million will be invested to help counter-terror police enforce the National Security Act and fund work to help businesses protect their intellectual property.
Ministers are also launching “a series of protective security campaigns”, co-ordinated by the Defending Democracy Taskforce, Mr Jarvis said, to help those involved in politics “recognise, resist and report suspicious state threat activity”.
This will include “tailored security briefings” for devolved governments and political parties by the end of the year, and new security guidance in January for all candidates for the upcoming May elections.
Responding to the allegations, a spokesperson for the Chinese embassy said: "These claims by the UK side are pure fabrication and malicious slander.
"We strongly condemn such despicable moves of the UK side and have lodged stern representations with them.
"We urge the UK side to immediately stop this self-staged charade of false accusations and self-aggrandisement, and stop going further down the wrong path of undermining China-UK relations."