MI5 warns UK academics to cut ties with Chinese group over alleged spying

UK intelligence agency accuses Chinese institute of funding academic research to strengthen Beijing’s espionage capability.

Britain’s domestic intelligence agency has told academics to stop working with a Chinese organisation funding research in United Kingdom universities, accusing it of having “very strong ties” with China’s spy agency.

In a rare public espionage alert on Wednesday, MI5 alleged the ⁠⁠”primary purpose” of the China General Technology Research Institute (CGTRI) is to finance academic work that improves the espionage capability of the Ministry of State Security (MSS), the Chinese intelligence agency.

There was no immediate response from Beijing, which has previously strongly denied such accusations.

MI5 said the CGTRI targeted more than 100 UK-based academics working in areas such as artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, covert communications systems and steganography.

It said many academics and institutions would have engaged in good faith with the organisation, unaware of its close ties to the MSS. But it added those who continued to take grants from or work with the CGTRI now risked prosecution under the UK’s National Security Act, a law passed in 2023 that gave the government greater powers to target foreign espionage and hostile state activities.

“This activity supports MSS espionage, which poses a threat to UK national security,” MI5 said.

‘Robust action’

UK Security Minister ⁠⁠Dan Jarvis said he had written to all university leaders in Britain to ensure staff ended any relationship with the CGTRI.

“This alert exposes attempts by Chinese intelligence to covertly benefit from the expertise and research of our academics, undermining our national security, and that of our allies,” he said in a statement.

“International ⁠⁠partnerships are vital to ensure our universities and research institutes continue to thrive, but we will take robust action to defend against the threats we face.”

The UK’s relationship with China, its third largest trading partner, has become ⁠⁠increasingly complex in recent years.

The government in London has sought ⁠⁠better relations with Beijing to improve trade ties and earlier this year approved plans for China to build its largest embassy in Europe in the UK capital. But it has also repeatedly warned of Chinese spying efforts and attempts to undermine the UK’s democratic system.

Last year, Ken McCallum, MI5’s director-general, said Chinese spies were creating fake job adverts to try to dupe British professionals into handing over data.

His agency also issued an alert to UK lawmakers last November that Chinese agents were targeting them to collect information and influence their activity by posing as headhunters or companies.

In ‌‌June, ‌‌security agencies from the Five Eyes intelligence alliance – the US, Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand – published a warning about Chinese spies aggressively using online job platforms to recruit people with access to sensitive information.

China’s London embassy said the warning was “entirely fabricated and constitutes malicious slander”.