Report finds UK response to Chinese spying ‘grossly inadequate’

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The government’s response to China’s “increasingly sophisticated” espionage campaign targeting the UK and its interests has been “grossly inadequate”, according to a scathing parliamentary report.

Sir Julian Lewis, chairman of the Intelligence and Security Committee, said at the report’s launch on Thursday that experts had made a “damaging assessment” of the government’s approach to the threat posed by Beijing.

He concluded that the UK “has no strategy on China, let alone an effective strategy” and that it would be “whole of government” to try to intervene “absolutely and aggressively” on the China problem. Totally failed to deploy the approach.” Lewis said.

The report comes days after Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden described China as the “biggest state-based threat” to Britain’s economic security, although he said he did not want Britain to isolate itself from the country.

The ISC inquiry, which was launched in 2019 to investigate the threat posed by China in education, industry and technology, found that Beijing “seeks to influence elites and decision makers to gain information and intellectual property”. And Chinese companies, academic institutions and citizens were liable to engage in espionage and interference.

The committee found that the UK is of “significant interest to China” when it comes to espionage and interference because of its close ties to the US, but fell “well below China’s highest priority goals”, Lewis said.

He called on the government to “adopt a long-term planning cycle” and “put its house in order” to ensure Britain’s future security is not harmed by by-election cycles and that “security concerns continue to outweigh economic interests”. Don’t get affected”.

The committee, which consists of nine MPs and peers and investigates UK intelligence agencies, also called for an urgent review of China’s continued involvement in the nuclear industry.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who received the committee’s report in May, has tried to strike a complex balance between trying to neutralize the security threats posed by China – notably by banning certain technologies – and opening up certain areas such as trade, investment between maintaining and increasing participation in and climate change.

In response to the report, Sunak said the committee “took most of its evidence in 2020” ahead of its 2021 Integrated Review in Security and Foreign Policy and an update to the review in 2023. along with several recommendations of the committee,” said the Prime Minister.

Britain has also come under increasing US pressure to toughen its stance against China, as tensions between Washington and Beijing escalate over growing protectionism and espionage fears.

The report found that China’s size, ambition and capacity have enabled it to “successfully penetrate every sector of the UK economy” and that it is “looking to enter or buy into the education sector to ensure its international narrative”. has been particularly effective in using his wealth and influence.” advanced”

Britain used its relatively new national security powers to “call in” eight transactions involving Chinese-linked investments in British companies last year, according to figures published earlier this week, seeking to gain influence over Beijing. The government’s concern about capacity was underlined. important industry.

Ministers used powers conferred by the National Security and Investment Act to call for 65 investments during the 12-month period to April, more than 40 percent of which were linked to China.

However, in its report, the ISC criticized the government for not having any independent monitoring of the decisions being made under the Act.

Earlier this year, the UK government updated its foreign and defense policy to describe China as an “era-defining challenge”, though it stopped short of calling the largest Asian nation a “threat”.