What the UK’s ‘spy’ saga says about its complex ties with China

Links to China

The case concerns Christopher Cash, 30, a former director of the think tank China Research Group and parliamentary researcher, and Christopher Berry, 33, a teacher who had earlier worked in China. They were accused of “gathering and providing information prejudicial to the safety and interests of the state between December 2021 and February 2023,” the BBC reported.

Both men pleaded not guilty, and the Chinese Embassy in London called the charges “entirely fabricated and malicious slander”. The men were arrested and charged under the Official Secrets Act.

Labelling ‘enemy’

In September, the charges were dropped, leading to accusations that the government did not want to offend China. Last week, Director of Public Prosecutions Stephen Parkinson wrote in a letter that a 2024 court ruling in a separate case about alleged Russian spies altered the trajectory of the China case.

That court decision ruled that under the 1911 Official Secrets Act, an “enemy” meant a country “which represents at the time of the offence, a threat to the national security of the UK.”  This led to efforts to gather relevant evidence, but none of the witness statements showed China posing a threat to national security, Parkinson said.

Starmer blamed the previous Conservative government’s handling of relations with China, stating, “You have to prosecute people on the basis on what was the state of affairs at the time of the offence.” However, this claim has been criticised. After attacks on election data came to light in 2024, then Conservative PM Rishi Sunak did call China “the greatest state-based challenge to our national security”.

Larger conundrum

While relations with China, as the world’s second-largest economy, hold importance for the UK, they have been plagued by a sense of mistrust of late, with allegations of high-level espionage being a recurring issue.

In December 2024, a businessman with links to the Chinese government was alleged to have enjoyed an “unusual degree” of trust from Andrew, the younger brother of King Charles.

As recently as Monday, the official intelligence agency MI5 issued guidance for politicians, outlining threats from “elements of the Russian, Chinese and Iranian states” who sought “to further their economic and strategic interests and cause harm to our democratic institutions.”

A plan for China to establish its largest embassy in Europe in London has also led to opposition, with local residents raising privacy and security concerns.

These issues come amid moves to engage with China on trade. In September, the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, Peter Kyle, visited China and used the first UK-China Joint Economic and Trade Commission since 2018 to discuss trade issues.