China said it had arrested a foreign national who heads a foreign consultancy firm for allegedly spying for the UK. China's Ministry of State Security (MSS) said in a statement that it had arrested an individual named Huang who was working with Britain's MI6 while heading a foreign consultancy firm. The agency identified the alleged spy only by his surname, that he was the head of a consultancy agency abroad and that he is from a “third country”.
According to the MSS, Huang began collaborating with MI6 in 2015 on intelligence matters, and the British agency instructed the “spy” to travel to China several times under the guise of a public identity, to gather information and recruit individuals for MI6. The British spy agency provided Huang with professional training and equipment for exchanging information and communications, according to the MSS. Huang allegedly provided Britain with 17 pieces of information, including several “national secrets”.
The news comes after China has been cracking down on international consultancy firms for months. Last May, state security authorities said they raided several offices of Capvision, a consultancy network with offices in Shanghai and New York. The announcement came after Chinese officials closed the Beijing office of the Mintz Group, a U.S. corporate due diligence firm, and questioned employees of the local branch of consultancy Bain.
The measures are part of a broader effort by Beijing to increase surveillance over what it considers sensitive national security information.
Capvision later said in October that it had successfully completed a national security inspection overseen by the Chinese government and had taken new compliance measures to address concerns. The MSS, which oversees intelligence and counterintelligence both within China and abroad, is usually known for keeping a low profile. But it recently expanded communications with the public, even launching an account on WeChat, China's ubiquitous social networking platform.
The agency used the social platform to invite “all members of society” to join the fight against foreign spies, particularly after the passage of an anti-espionage law that came into force last July. The enactment of this law has also frightened businesses, which are concerned that the broadening of its scope could lead to greater legal risks. The MSS statement did not identify any firm or Huang's nationality. “We urge the United Kingdom to stop spreading disinformation and put an end to political manipulation and slander against China,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning said during a press briefing.
Meanwhile, the FBI and the US Department of Justice have also disclosed recent cases of alleged Chinese espionage by Chinese and American citizens, including military personnel and former intelligence officers. The Financial Times reported last month that an MSS office had operated a far-right Belgian politician as an intelligence asset for more than three years. The case demonstrated how Beijing conducts influence operations abroad in an attempt to shape policy in its favor, including on issues such as its crackdown on democracy in Hong Kong and the persecution of Muslim Uyghurs in Xinjiang. He also highlighted concerns about the EU's vulnerability to Chinese espionage efforts as ties between Brussels and Beijing have become more strained.
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