The ‘China spy’ in my office, by top Tory… who fears she was secretly filmed or bugged in hotel room by Beijing
A parliamentary investigator accused of spying for Beijing is ‘at the heart of government policy towards China’, it emerged today.
Chris Cash received high-level briefings from former MI6 spies, ambassadors and ministers and gained extraordinary intelligence on China-related policies before he was dramatically arrested on suspicion of passing on secrets.
But the case against him and a fellow English teacher collapsed last month after the government refused to classify Beijing as a threat to national security.
Keir Starmer claimed their hands were tied, accusing the previous Tory administration of failing to identify China as an enemy at the time of the alleged crimes.
But the Daily Mail has discovered that then Foreign Secretary David Lammy did not hesitate to brand Beijing an ‘enemy’ of Britain during a debate in the House of Commons, as the Government refused to assist the Crown Prosecution Service by providing a witness statement to the same effect.
His comments came almost a year before the case against Mr Cash and Chris Berry collapsed because the Government’s national security adviser refused to say the same in court. Both men vehemently denied any wrongdoing.
Today, shadow national security secretary Alicia Kearns revealed she was told she was a target in an alleged spying operation and her resulting fears.
An alleged spy dossier contained details of the hotel where he stayed in Taiwan during a fact-finding trip as chairman of the foreign relations committee. Ms Kearns, 37, told in an exclusive interview how she was concerned she was being wiretapped during her 2022 trip after China threatened her visit would cause “repercussions”.
Chris Cash (pictured) received high-level briefings from former MI6 spies, ambassadors and ministers and gained extraordinary intelligence on China-related policies before he was dramatically arrested on suspicion of passing on secrets
Shadow national security secretary Alicia Kearns (pictured) has revealed she was told she was a target in the alleged spying operation
He said: ‘They could have entered that room at any time. You can’t be sure there aren’t bugs or cameras somewhere in the room. ‘There may be photos of you walking around naked in your hotel room.’
The fears of others Cash, a mother of three, met during her parliamentary work may have been revealed; these include Chinese dissidents, victims of ‘transnational repression’ and those intimidated in secret Chinese police stations in the UK.
He said Mr Cash, with whom he worked for more than a year, had received input from the Foreign Office, the Home Office, the Treasury and the Department of Business and Trade and was at the center of government policy on China.
In 2022, he was appointed director of the China Research Group, set up by Conservative MPs to shape government policy on China, amid concerns about Beijing’s attempts to expand its influence in Britain.
The 30-year-old worked on major decisions such as banning TikTok on government devices and exposing secret Chinese police stations in the UK.
During the year he was accused of espionage until February 2023, Mr Cash spoke to “every senior China expert in the UK”, from academics and think tanks to intelligence officials, civil servants and industry leaders, about what Ms Kearns believed would be “gold dust” for Beijing.
The extraordinary revelations will raise further questions about why the case was canceled on the eve of trial despite multiple government ministers branding Beijing an enemy.
The Prime Minister sought to blame China for the last government’s conduct, saying the Conservatives did not identify China as a threat to national security at the time of the alleged crimes.
Keir Starmer claimed his hands were tied when he refused to classify Beijing as a national security threat and accused the previous Tory administration of failing to identify China as an enemy at the time of the alleged crimes.
But his current deputy described the Chinese as ‘enemies’ of Britain and the US in a House of Commons debate last year in defense of Labor handing over the Chagos Islands.
Yesterday, Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper admitted: ‘We know that China poses a threat to the national security of the United Kingdom’ and added: ‘I am deeply disappointed about this case because, of course, I wanted it to start.’
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp told the Daily Mail: ‘The Labor Government describes China as an enemy and at the same time refuses to hand over documents from 2021 to 2023 to the Crown Prosecution Service showing the threat posed by China.
‘By refusing to do so, they caused the collapse of an espionage investigation, undermined our national security and gave China the green light to spy on the UK.’
He added: ‘It is an absolute disgrace that Mr Lammy is happy to describe China as an enemy of Britain to defend the surrender of the Chagos Islands, but that Labor is unwilling to do the same when it comes to defending our own national security.’
Mr Cash and Mr Berry, 33, deny any wrongdoing and their lawyers describe the evidence against them as ‘loose’.
