China’s ‘LinkedIn’ spies targeted senior Home Office, NATO and Foreign Office officials ...Middle East

Two people linked to a Chinese intelligence operation targeting MPs on LinkedIn are connected to senior officials within the Home Office, Foreign Office and NATO, The i Paper can reveal.

MI5 has issued an espionage alert to MPs and peers in the House of Lords warning that Chinese intelligence services were “relentless” in trying to “interfere” and “influence” Parliament.

Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle and his counterpart in the House of Lords, Lord McFall, circulated the “espionage alert” to MPs claiming that the Chinese Ministry of State Security (MSS) was “actively reaching out to individuals in our community”.

The alert said Chinese spies were using “false personas”, posing as headhunters and connecting with individuals in Parliament to “collect information and lay the groundwork for long-term relationships”.

MI5 named the accounts of Amanda Qiu, from BR-YR Executive Search, and Shirly Shen, who describes herself as the co-founder of Internship Union.

Their LinkedIn profiles are connected to senior officials working on EU policy at the Home Office, staff at the UK’s embassy in Beijing, senior Foreign Office officials, and individuals working at the highest level within NATO. 

Other connections to the pair include leading voices from UK think tanks as well as key policy makers among UK government departments on China, leading to serious concern among intelligence officials.

Several of the individuals connected with the Chinese intelligence operatives said they had either not engaged or were not aware of the connection when asked by this newspaper.

In one approach from Shen to an official researching money laundering for the Dutch Ministry of Justice, the fake Chinese recruiter claimed to be offering a consultant role with a “global famous research center” and wanted to chat further about the opportunity. The official replied asking for a phone call but the conversation went no further.

Qiu and Shen used the professional social networking site to obtain “non-public and insider insights”, MI5 said, also targeting economists, think tank staff and civil servants due to their access to politicians.

Qiu’s profile on LinkedIn says she is based in Beijing as the chief executive of BR-YR Executive Search. Her listed interests include the UK’s Department for Transport and the Tony Blair Institute.

Shen’s profile describes herself as “a positive Asia girl” who welcomes people to “get a magic Chinese experience”. Her profile says she is the co-founder of Internship Union, based in Hangzhou, eastern China.

The UK spy agency said the pair targeted “Parliament staff, economists, think tank employees, geo-political consultants and those working alongside [the government] including MPs and members of the House of Lords”.

MI5’s alert said that the recruitment methods included all-expenses paid trips to China, and payment for information through cash or cryptocurrency.

The UK intelligence warning comes just weeks after The i Paper revealed that cyber criminals based in Iran, Russia and Belarus were targeting UK defence personnel on Linkedin with fake job advertisements which trick applicants into downloading malicious software.

In response to the MI5 alert, Security Minister Dan Jarvis announced a package of measures to tackle espionage threats to the UK, including £170m to upgrade encrypted technology for government business, and new protections against Chinese cybercrime and attempts to influence UK university research.

He told MPs in the Commons on Tuesday: “Our intelligence agencies have warned that China is attempting to recruit and cultivate individuals with access to sensitive information about Parliament and the UK government. 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.”

A spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy described the allegations of espionage as “pure fabrication and malicious slander” that risked “undermining China-UK relations”.

The Government is due to make a decision over a Chinese proposal to build a “super embassy” at the old Royal Mint Court site in London – weeks after the case against two men accused of spying for China collapsed over Labour’s inability to label Beijing as a threat.

Tory MP Alex Burghart, the shadow chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, said “the time for complacency is over”.

“After months of Labour burying their heads in the sand when it comes to China, I hope the Government has now got the message about the real nature of this threat,” he said. “Now is the moment for them to take the threat seriously, including by vetoing the proposed mega-embassy and putting China on the enhanced tier of the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme.”

Lord David Alton said “there’s not much point” in the MI5 alert “if ultimately the Government doesn’t act on these threats.”

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The cross-bench peer told The i Paper: “It starts to look like a paper tiger. The Government should urgently reconsider its mistaken decision not to put China into the top tier of the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme.”

Luke De Pulford, the founder of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) said: “Another week, another Chinese espionage scandal. Yet we are still in the absurd situation where our most acute security threat – China – is not named in the only legislation we have to categorise state threats.

“This has real world impact. It means the police and security services have fewer tools to address the influence and inference activities of actors like the two individuals named today. This is untenable. The Government must include China in the Enhanced Tier of the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme without delay.”

A No 10 spokesman said the Government’s new Counter Political Interference and Espionage Action Plan – set out by Jarvis – would see the intelligence services deliver security briefings for political parties and issue new guidance to election candidates “to help them recognise, resist and report suspicious activities”.

They added: “Our approach to China is consistent, we will cooperate where we can and challenge where we must, and that means tackling the threats posed by China and also pursuing and maximizing the opportunities it poses.”

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