MI5 alleges in an alert that Christine Ching Kui Lee has “acted covertly in coordination” with the United Front Work Department (UFWD), of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and is “judged to be concerned in political interference actions within the UK.”
The MI5 “interference alert,” obtained by CNN on Thursday, mentioned: “We choose that the UFWD is looking for to covertly intrude in UK politics via establishing hyperlinks with established and aspiring Parliamentarians throughout the political spectrum.”
The alert additionally added that Lee has been facilitating “monetary donations to political events, Parliamentarians, aspiring Parliamentarians and people looking for political workplace within the UK, together with facilitating donations to political entities on behalf of overseas nationals.”
The UK Company Register lists Lee as a British citizen.
MI5 mentioned that whereas Lee has mentioned her UK-based actions are “to signify the UK Chinese group and improve variety,” that these actions have “been undertaken in covert coordination with the UFWD, with funding offered by overseas nationals positioned in China and Hong Kong.”
CNN has contacted Lee for remark however has not obtained a reply.
When CNN visited Lee’s places of work Thursday, they have been empty and appeared so for a while. A observe on the door mentioned the workplace had been shut as a result of pandemic. No one answered the door or telephone quantity posted on the door and an e-mail to the generic workplace deal with marketed was not replied to.
Ian Duncan Smith, a senior British lawmaker and former chief of the ruling Conservative Party, raised the alarm in Parliament on Thursday, saying that MI5 had warned House Speaker Lindsay Hoyle that an “agent of the Chinese authorities” has been actively working to “subvert” the processes of Parliament.
“This is a matter of grave concern,” Duncan Smith mentioned.
Lee is extensively related to “people throughout the UK political spectrum, together with via the now-disbanded All-Party Parliamentary Chinese in Britain Group, and so they could aspire to determine additional APPGs to additional the CCP’s agenda,” MI5 mentioned.
CNN has reached out to the Chinese embassy in London for remark.
Duncan Smith requested that, in gentle of the incident, parliament take into account beefing up safety and deport the Chinese agent. Duncan Smith mentioned he heard the person wouldn’t be deported and questioned why additional motion wouldn’t be taken towards “an agent of a overseas despotic and despicable energy.”
Duncan Smith is a vocal critic of the Chinese authorities. He was sanctioned by Beijing final 12 months for his feedback on the remedy of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang and is barred from coming into the nation. Chinese companies and residents are additionally prohibited from doing enterprise with him.
“This is definitely not ok,” Duncan Smith mentioned on Thursday.
MI5 mentioned that anybody who has been contacted by Lee “needs to be conscious of her affiliation with the Chinese state and remit to advance the CCP’s agenda in UK politics,” and to contact the Parliamentary Security Director in the event that they obtained “regarding or suspicious contact.”