cast a Chinese spy who formed a close relationship with Prince Andrew It is just the “tip of the iceberg” of Beijing’s efforts to infiltrate the UK, a leading China-sceptic MP has warned.
Iain Duncan Smith, a former Conservative leader who will press a Commons question on Monday to quiz ministers on the issue, said Keir Starmer’s efforts to improve ties with Beijing involved the UK “showing a huge amount of China’s weakness”.
If Smith is asked a question by the Speaker, Lindsay Hoyle, it is speculation other MPs, potentially from UK Reform, could name the alleged spy who, under UK court order, can only be officially referred to H6.
Asked whether the man’s becoming known to security services and being banned from the UK meant he was at risk in this case, Smith rejected this argument.
“We are dealing with the tip of the ice,” said Beijing’s so-called United Front Work Department, which was developed to establish links with powerful people in other countries and had about 40,000 employees globally.
“That is, many are more like it in the UK. There are many works he has done, and the fact that he left for the UK tells you that he understood that one day he would be caught.
“There are many things, many things are involved in this type of accident that is happening now. The matter is very simple for us. China is the most obvious threat.”
Ministers are coming under pressure to set a deadline to reduce the impact of the foreign registration scheme (FIRS), which had been delayed until next year, and put China in the category of increased threats.
Smith denied that the last government was sufficiently prepared to account for the delay, saying: “No one with half a brain will believe a word of that. It is an excuse not to upset China.
Reset as part of partial relations with Beijing, Starmer He met the president of ChinaXi Jinping, at the G20 summit in Rio, the first meeting between UK and Chinese leaders in six years. Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, is expected to visit Beijing soon.
Smith said ministers had turned a “blind eye” to the use of slave labor in Chinese-made solar infrastructure it bought in the UK, saying the government: “It shows the huge extent of China’s weakness, and they are stuck. Where are Europe and the United States.”
It also stops the approach of the Chinese government among some on the Labor benches and among the trade unions. Five new job MPs China-sceptic group conjun – Inter-parliamentary Alliance in China (IPAC).
Jim McMahon, the local government minister, said the decision to name the alleged spy was “a matter for the courts” and MPs should beware of this pre-eminence.
“We have a privilege in parliament, which is that we have a parliamentary privilege, and it must be exercised carefully, and the public interest must be preserved, of course,” he told Times Radio.
He added: “From a personal point of view, there is nothing that can be done today in the context of the person known to the authorities and the matter in question.”