Chinese Communist Party Agent Infiltrates Political Activities In Britain, MI5 Intelligence Service Issues Warning

Illustration of the British Parliament. (Wikimedia Commons/UK government)

JAKARTA - Britain's domestic intelligence agency MI5 warned lawmakers that the Chinese Communist Party had hired a woman to exert improper influence over lawmakers.

MI5 posted a warning and a picture of a woman named Christine Lee on Thursday, calling her "engaged in political interference activities" in Britain on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party.

Lawmaker Lindsay Hoyle, who circulated the MI5 alert to lawmakers, said MI5 had found Lee facilitated financial donations to serve and candidate MPs on behalf of foreign nationals based in Hong Kong and China, were involved with the disbanded group.

British Home Secretary Priti Patel told reporters Lee's behavior was currently below the criminal threshold for prosecuting him, but he said, by issuing a warning, the government could warn lawmakers about Lee's attempts to influence them improperly.

Patel said it was "deeply concerning" that an individual working on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party had targeted lawmakers, citing Reuters January 14.

Lee is the founder of the law firm, which has offices in London and Birmingham, according to a government official. A woman who answered the phone at the Birmingham office said: "We are not taking calls right now". A request for comment left at the London office went unanswered.

The law firm lists on its website one of her roles as legal adviser to the Chinese embassy in Britain.

The Chinese Embassy in London said in a statement that China does not interfere in the internal affairs of other countries.

"We do not need and have never attempted to 'buy influence' in any foreign parliament. We firmly oppose hoaxes of defamation and intimidation against the Chinese community in the UK," the embassy statement said.

Separately, Barry Gardiner, a lawmaker from the opposition Labor Party, said he had received hundreds of thousands of pounds in donations from Lee and said he had been in touch with intelligence services "for several years" about her.

"They have always been aware of, and made fully aware by me, of his involvement with my office and the contributions he has made to fund researchers in my office in the past," Gardiner said.

Gardiner hired Lee's son as a diary manager, but he resigned on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Iain Duncan Smith, the former leader of Britain's ruling Conservative Party who has been sanctioned by China for highlighting alleged human rights abuses in Xinjiang, called for urgent updates from the government on the issue.

He questioned why the woman was not deported and called for a tightening of the accreditation process for people gaining access to parliament, which he said was too lenient.

Lee is registered under the law firm Christine Lee & Co as a UK citizen in financial filings with Companies House, a UK company register.

Meanwhile, former defense minister Tobias Ellwood told parliament about his alleged activity: "This is the kind of gray zone disturbance that we now anticipate and expect from China."

To note, Britain's relations with China have deteriorated in recent years over issues including Hong Kong and Xinjiang. Last year MI5 urged Britons to treat spy threats from Russia, China, and Iran with as much vigilance as terrorism.

British spies say China and Russia are each trying to steal sensitive commercial data and intellectual property as well as meddling in domestic politics and sowing misinformation.

China's ambassador to the UK was barred from attending events in Britain's parliament last year, as Beijing imposed sanctions on lawmakers who highlighted alleged human rights abuses in Xinjiang.

China imposed sanctions on nine British politicians in March last year for spreading what it said was "lies and disinformation" over its treatment of Uighur Muslims in the far west of the country.