U.K. intelligence agency warns lawmakers that Chinese spies are trying to reach them via LinkedIn

(JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP/AFP via Getty Images)

LONDON — Britain’s domestic intelligence agency on Tuesday warned U.K. lawmakers that Chinese spies were actively reaching out to “recruit and cultivate” them via headhunters or cover companies.

Writing to lawmakers, House of Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle said a new MI5 “espionage alert” warned that Chinese nationals were “using LinkedIn profiles to conduct outreach at scale” on behalf of the Chinese Ministry of State Security.

“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.

MI5 issued the alert because the activity was “targeted and widespread,” he added.

The Chinese Embassy in London dismissed the allegations as “pure fabrication and malicious slander” and warned the U.K. against further undermining bilateral relations.

The MI5 alert cited LinkedIn profiles of two women, Amanda Qiu and Shirly Shen, and said other similar recruiters’ profiles were acting as fronts for espionage.

Home Office Minister Dan Jarvis said that apart from parliamentary staff, others including economists, think tank consultants and government officials have been similarly targeted.

“This activity involves a covert and calculated attempt by a foreign power to interfere with our sovereign affairs in favor of its own interests, and this government will not tolerate it,” Jarvis told Parliament.

British intelligence officials have in recent years steadily ramped up their warnings about espionage threats from China, the U.K.’s third largest trading partner.

Jarvis said the government is rolling out a series of measures to tackle the risk, including investing 170 million pounds (US$224 million) to renew encrypted technology used by civil servants to safeguard sensitive work. Opposition parties say authorities are not doing enough and are too wary of jeopardizing trade ties with China.

Spying charges dropped in September

The latest warning came after critics widely questioned how the prosecution of two men charged with spying for Beijing in Britain collapsed just before they were due to stand trial.

Academic Christopher Berry and parliamentary researcher Christopher Cash were charged last year with providing information or documents to China that could be “prejudicial to the safety or interests” of the U.K. Their case was dropped in September.

The Director of Public Prosecutions Stephen Parkinson said it was because the government refused to testify under oath that China was a threat to national security at the time of the alleged offenses, between 2021 and 2023. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has denied claims of government interference in the case.

In January 2022, the Security Service issued a similar security alert to all lawmakers warning that a London-based lawyer was knowingly engaged in “political interference activities in the U.K.” in coordination with the Chinese Communist Party’s United Front Work Department, an organization known to exert Chinese influence abroad.

The lawyer, Christine Lee, was accused of facilitating covert donations to British parties and legislators “on behalf of foreign nationals.”

MI5 Director-General Ken McCallum told reporters last month that Chinese state actors present a national security threat to the U.K. “every day.”