UK Warns of Chinese Attempts to Recruit MPs For Spying

The United Kingdom has warned that China has attempted to recruit several Members of Parliament (MPs) to work for them as spies, putting them on high alert.

The notice came from MI5, England's domestic security service, who pointed out two LinkedIn profiles that seemed to be linked to the Chinese Ministry of State Security (MSS). According to MI5, the LinkedIn profiles attempted to recruit people in British politics, especially MPs who help make decisions for the country in Parliament.

The profiles, under the names Amanda Qiu and Shirly Shen, particularly focused on outreach, "laying the groundwork for long-term relationships, using professional networking sites, recruitment agents and consultants acting on their behalf." Additionally, MI5 also confirmed that the alleged spies could also potentially offer all-expenses paid trips to China or ask for online money transfers through cash or cryptocurrency, according to the BBC.

China has strongly denied the claims, though, calling them "pure fabrication" and encouraging the UK to avoid making another such statement in the future to preserve UK-China ties.

Just after the announcement, Security Minister Dan Jarvis declared a slew of changes and investments to UK security to prevent future Chinese spying. His new plan, known as the Counter Political Interference and Espionage Action Plan, will see the government begin educating politicians on how to recognize spying and other suspicious activities, deliver security briefings directly to political parties, and work with networking companies like LinkedIn to make their websites less friendly to possible malicious activity.

Furthermore, he confirmed that the country will invest £170 million ($222 million) into updating technology that protects sensitive information in the UK government, and another £130 million ($170 million) will be invested into funding policing for counter-terrorism, cybersecurity, and national security as a whole.

He also stated that their government has removed Chinese-manufactured surveillance equipment from all UK-affiliated sites across the world that handle sensitive information, according to the official website of the UK government.

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