Britain is worried over Chinese spies

The president enjoyed all the pomp and protocol that traditionally come with a state visit, reflecting the importance of the man, and the emerging superpower that he represents. But as China's Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) tucked into his filet de sole pompadour during the banquet at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday, and again as he left for Germany on Wednesday after his three-day visit, Britain's security services were left pondering a more delicate issue: How many of the president's entourage had been left behind?

While on the diplomatic and commercial level relations between the two nations appear to be flourishing, with British ministers and businesses eager to cash in on China's booming economy, the security services are concerned about what is happening under the surface.

MI5, the counter-intelligence service, has become increasingly anxious about an increase in spying by the Chinese. Officials are unsure how widespread it is, and what impact it is having. The agency believes that "at least 20 foreign intelligence services are operating to some degree against UK interests," but it is the Chinese and Russians that concern them most.

The Chinese, according to security sources, have become supreme opportunists, vacuuming up information on the "grains of sand" principle: picking up the smallest pieces of information whether relating to business, industry or security and closely analyzing them back home.

Justin King, managing director of C2i, a UK counter-espionage consultancy, said on Wednesday that businesses were all too aware of what is happening, particularly when they hire Chinese staff.

"The Chinese are desperate to find out everything about how Western companies operate and how they are structured. It is old-fashioned human intelligence gathering -- it's thousands of years old and it works. Employers should plan for the fact that there is a strong likelihood information, even if it is low-level stuff, will be fed back to China," he said.

British officials cited some examples to support their claims.

After the deaths last year of 21 Chinese cockle pickers at Morecambe Bay, the Chinese government sent over what was described as a "police delegation" to help identify the dead men and offer any other assistance to their British counterparts. However, the delegation was suspiciously big, leaving MI5 worried that it contained spies.

"MI5 took certain measures to counter them," said a well-placed source.

After 58 Chinese stowaways were found dead in the back of a lorry in Dover, Beijing again sent a large delegation to help Kent police identify the men before the trial last year. A member of the team was later found logging on to the police national computer. It is unclear what he found out.

One British firm anxious to develop its business with China recently invited a delegation to visit its UK factory. The Chinese authorities sent a delegation, but only a few of them turned up. The rest were believed to have traveled around Britain inviting themselves to defense and research establishments.

Security sources say if a British company creates a fuss about visitors who fail to turn up, the Chinese threaten to cancel the company's license to trade.

The Chinese are interested in particular in scientific and high-tech developments.

"The Chinese economy is booming but what they are short of is information technology and modern processing, manufacturing and design skills," King said.