Britain's security services have raised the alarm after Members of Parliament were systematically targeted by a sophisticated Chinese spying operation using fake headhunters.
Parliament Put on High Alert
Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle and Lord McFall from the House of Lords have circulated an urgent security warning to all MPs following an alert from MI5. The security service identified two individuals in China attempting to 'interfere with our processes and influence activity at Parliament'.
Sir Lindsay revealed that the Chinese Ministry of State Security has been 'relentless' in its approach, 'actively reaching out to individuals in our community' through professional networking sites, recruitment agents and consultants. The operation aims to 'collect information and lay the groundwork for long-term relationships'.
Escalating Espionage Tactics
This parliamentary alert follows recent warnings from MI5 about Chinese spies creating fake job adverts to compromise UK civil servants. Security officials have observed a significant escalation in Chinese espionage targeting Britain, with hundreds of thousands of suspicious job advertisements appearing on online platforms.
These offers feature bumper salaries and tempting fees in exchange for what are described as 'unique insight' reports. In some instances, British professionals have been offered up to £2,000 for a single report covering sensitive topics including foreign policy, defence and government insight.
The National Protective Security Authority (NPSA), an MI5 branch, had previously warned in October that foreign intelligence services are daily posing bogus job adverts to target government staff, academics, think tank employees and private defence contractors.
Government Response and Security Measures
Security Minister Dan Jarvis is scheduled to address the House of Commons regarding the government's countermeasures against Chinese espionage. However, it's understood he will not publicly name the two individuals involved, who remain in China.
MI5 chief Sir Kenneth McCallum hinted at this growing threat during a major security speech in October, cautioning Britons to be wary of any 'tempting online job advert in your sector [that] is just too good to be true'.
Security experts note that the operation involves false employment sites, bogus recruitment companies and spoofed legitimate companies, all offering a blizzard of suspicious opportunities. MI5 fears that scores of Britons may have already fallen victim to these sophisticated recruitment consultancies established by Beijing.
