China slams UK spying reports as ‘political farce,’ after Sunak raises issue with PM

China has lashed out at media reports alleging a man who was arrested on suspicion of espionage was gathering intelligence for Beijing, labelling the claim a “political farce.”

UK police said over the weekend that they had arrested a man in his twenties at his home in Edinburgh for spying, with the Sunday Times reporting he was a researcher in Britain’s parliament.

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Officers from the Metropolitan Police Service arrested him, and another man in his thirties, in March on suspicion of offences under the Official Secrets Act and both have been bailed until October.

The arrests led British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to tell Chinese Premier Li Qiang at the G20 summit in New Delhi that he had “very strong concerns” about Beijing’s “interference” in democracy.

Sunak said he was limited in what he could say about an ongoing investigation but told reporters he had raised “his very
strong concerns about any interference in our parliamentary democracy, which is obviously unacceptable,” with Premier Li.

The allegations potentially undermine Sunak’s bid for more dialogue with China, illustrated by a visit by foreign minister
James Cleverly to Beijing last week.
Sunak’s Conservative government has sought a thaw in relations with China, engaging with Beijing on matters such as climate change but also criticizing it in several areas including human rights.
Sunak said he raised areas where there are disagreements, but the meeting showed the value of the strategy of engaging “where it makes sense”.
“I think the right thing to do was take the opportunity to engage, to raise concerns specifically, rather than just shouting from the sidelines,” he said.
A Chinese readout from the meeting did not mention the spying allegation but welcomed Britain’s expanded practical cooperation with China, adding Li had said that “the two sides should properly handle their differences.”
Asked about the media reports that the British pair were “arrested on suspicion of providing intelligence to China,” a spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in London said it was “malicious slander.”

“The claim that China is suspected of ‘stealing British intelligence’ is completely fabricated and nothing but malicious slander,” the spokesperson said in a statement published late Sunday.

“We firmly oppose it and urge relevant parties in the UK to stop their anti-China political manipulation and stop putting on such self-staged political farce.”

Iain Duncan Smith, Conservative lawmaker and China critic, said Beijing’s attitude seriously questioned Sunak’s approach.
“I don’t think it’s a dialogue. I think it’s a kind of pathetic monologue,” Duncan Smith, who has been sanctioned by China, told Times Radio. “What’s actually going on is China is ignoring much of what we say.”

Read more: UK ‘clear-eyed’ about disagreements with China, Cleverly says during Beijing trip