Espionage accusations again strain relations between China and the United Kingdom: the diplomatic impact of the scandal

A scandal over alleged spies operating in the British Parliament has written a new chapter in the already tense relations between China and the United Kingdom.

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This Sunday the 10th, the newspaper “The Sunday Times” revealed that the British intelligence services arrested two men in March accused of spying for the Beijing regime and that they were subsequently released on conditional release until their trial in October. .

The revelation generated a storm of criticism against Rishi Sunak’s government, coming from his own party, demanding that he consider China officially as a “threat” to the country.

According to the newspaper report, two men – between 20 and 30 years old – were detained in March by the intelligence services when they detected that they were operating inside Parliament, collecting information that they then sent to the Chinese Government.

According to the British newspaper, one of the detainees was quite close to the ruling Conservative Party and maintained “close ties” with the Secretary of State for Security, Tom Tugendhat; In addition, he “was employed as a researcher” by Alicia Kearns, president of the parliamentary Foreign Affairs committee.

The descriptions led Chris Cash, a 28-year-old young man who until March of this year was part of the Research Group on Chinaa team headed by conservative parliamentarians and led by Secretary Tugendhat, was identified as one of those detained by the local press.

Due to his position, which was mainly focused on working on social networks, Cash did not have access to confidential information. However, he maintained close ties with influential political figures.

At least one of the alleged spies would have been a worker in the British Parliament, according to the newspaper report.

This Monday the 11th, through his lawyers, Cash rejected the accusations against him and claimed to be “completely innocent”, as stated after his arrest in March.

“I should not be forced to make a public statement about this misinformation that is circulating. However, given what has been said, it is essential that it be known that I am completely innocent“, assured the young man through his defense.

“To date, I have dedicated my career to trying to educate others about the challenge and threats posed by the Chinese Communist Party. To do what has been alleged against me in crazy news would be to go against everything I stand for”he added.

The identity of the other detainee remains unknown, but it emerged that he was an academic.

On the other hand, Cash would not be the only one who raised his voice to deny the allegations. The Chinese embassy in the United Kingdom described “political farce” the espionage accusations and called on the British authorities to put an end to “anti-China manipulation”.

“When something like this happens, the usual thing would be for those involved to be expelled. This, in turn, would cause the other country to take a similar retaliation. To understand it better, if this case were like most, the United Kingdom would expel three Chinese diplomats and Beijing would order the expulsion of three other British officials in response. But here the two investigated are British and the Chinese Government has denied any link, so we will have to wait for the case to develop.“, he comments to Trade the internationalist Francisco Belaunde Matossian

The analyst also highlights that the scandal comes in the midst of a change in diplomatic stance by the British government towards the Asian giant.

“It comes at a time when the United Kingdom was beginning to change its policy towards China. After years of cooling we had seen new approaches recognizing that although China is a challenge, lines of contact with them need to be maintained. It is something that is replicated in different European countries, with visits by prime ministers or other authorities to China. In some way, this scandal puts that new policy at risk”, he assures.

A clear sign of how this scandal affects relations between both governments was Sunak’s complaint to Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang last Sunday during COP 20 in India, where he described “unacceptable“his attempt to interfere in”british parliamentary democracy”.

China and the United Kingdom maintain divergent positions on the repression of the pro-democracy movement in the former British colony Hong Kong, as well as on the fate of the Uighur Muslim minority in the Xinjiang region and accusations of human rights violations in Tibet. (PETER PARKS/)

In the ranks of the Conservative Party, however, such a reaction is insufficient and one wing considers it necessary for the government to declare as a “threat” to Beijing.

“Among the Tories there are those who seek to maintain a tough stance towards China. The government, however, would be resisting that internal pressure. If it occurs, it would return to a complicated relationship, with dialogue reduced to a minimum, but even then there would not be a breakup. The British government would never completely sever relations with China”says the analyst.

For the moment, the Sunak Administration ruled out a change in the classification that London maintains for China, which is defined as “challenge that defines an era” in diplomatic terms, and will maintain open communication channels to collaborate on issues of common interest such as climate change, according to the government spokesperson.

It remains to be seen, however, what impact the trial against the alleged spies will have when it begins next month.

Source: Elcomercio