Cross-Party Committee Warns of "Serious Failure" in UK's Response to Chinese Interference

The Intelligence and Security Committee, which oversees the work of the UK's intelligence community, said the resources dedicated to tackling security threats posed by China are "completely inadequate" and accused the government of being too slow to develop policies to protect key British assets from Chinese interference.

The report is the result of an inquiry launched by the committee in 2019 to probe national security issues relating to China, including the controversial role of Huawei in British telecoms infrastructure.

The committee found that the British intelligence apparatus had previously focused its efforts on tackling terrorism but failed to recognize the need to counter Chinese interference activity in Britain.

China represents a "risk on a pretty wide scale" for Britain, the committee warned, as Beijing "is increasingly thinking of a future in which it could be the world power." The report argues that Beijing's ambition to become a technological and economic superpower, on which other countries are reliant, represents the greatest risk to the UK.

The committee accused the government of putting the economy over national security by welcoming Chinese investment in British tech and singled out the UK's business department, arguing it would be "unacceptable" for ministers to accept Chinese involvement in British critical national infrastructure, including the UK's civil nuclear sector.

China has stepped up its espionage efforts in Britain, the committee found, with civil intelligence officers "prolifically and aggressively" collecting human intelligence and carrying out "highly capable and increasingly sophisticated" cyber-espionage.

The report calls on the government to take a longer-term approach to security policy and to put in place independent oversight of investment decisions.

While the government has recently introduced legislation giving ministers the power to block investment decisions on national security grounds, it has failed to put in place independent oversight of those decisions.

In response to the report, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak acknowledged that the government needs to do more A recent report by the UK's Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) has warned that British academic institutions are being used by China to gain political influence in the UK and economic advantage over the country.

The report also highlighted the widespread targeting of UK parliamentarians by Chinese cyber operations.

The ISC's findings were based on evidence from GCHQ, the UK's spy agency, which noted that China frequently targets UK parliamentarians with its cyber operations.

The committee also cited the case of John Suffolk, a former government chief information officer who was recruited by Huawei as its global head of cyber security, as an example of China's efforts to influence former British officials.

In response to the report, the government has been criticized for taking over a month to reply to the report's findings, leading to accusations that the government has sat on the report.

However, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has replied to the report, acknowledging that the government has taken actions to address China's interference in the UK's society and values.

The ISC has recommended a rethink of government revolving door guidelines covering intelligence and security-adjacent rules, with particular reference to China.

The committee also called for the government to improve its understanding of interference in UK society and to take further action to address it.

The UK government has acknowledged that there is more work to be done to address China's interference in the country's affairs and has promised to take further action to protect against such interference.