China’s spy agency yesterday said it detained the head of a foreign consultancy for spying for the British Secret Intelligence Service, commonly known as MI6.
The Chinese Ministry of State Security said in a WeChat post that MI6 had since 2015 been cooperating with a foreign national with the surname Huang (黃) to establish an “intelligence cooperation relationship.”
Huang, who headed a foreign consulting agency, “entered China several times under instructions to use their public profile as a cover to collect China-related intelligence for Britain ... and seek other personnel whom MI6 could turn,” it said.
Photo: AP
Huang, who is a citizen of a third nation, allegedly passed 17 pieces of intelligence, including confidential state secrets, to MI6 before he was identified, it said.
The ministry also claimed he had received “professional intelligence training” in the UK, and had used “specialist spying equipment” to send communications.
An investigation had “promptly discovered criminal evidence that Huang was engaged in espionage activities, and took criminal coercive measures in accordance with the law,” it said.
The statement did not provide further details of Huang’s identity or employer, or describe their current condition or whereabouts.
The British government has yet to comment on the allegations, but they follow a deterioration of relations between the sides sparked in part by British opposition to Chinese investments in the UK, especially in the power and communications industries where the Chinese Communist Party exercises strong influence.
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs declined to provide further comment when asked about the case at a regular news briefing.
China and the UK have traded barbs in the past few months over allegations of perceived espionage and its resulting effect on national security.
London has warned that Chinese spies are increasingly targeting officials, allegations that Beijing has denied.
A researcher at the British parliament was arrested last year under the Official Secrets Act and subsequently denied spying for Beijing.
China, which has a broad definition of state secrets, has publicized several other alleged spying cases in the past few months.
In May last year, authorities sentenced 78-year-old American John Shing-wan Leung (梁成運) to life in prison for espionage, although Beijing has not provided substantial details of his case.
In October last year, the Chinese Ministry of State Security published the story of another alleged spy, surnamed Hou (侯), who was accused of sending several secret and classified documents to the US.
China last year also raided a string of big-name consulting, research and due diligence firms.
LEVERAGE: China did not ‘need to fire a shot’ to deny Taiwan airspace over Africa when it owns ‘half the continent’s debt,’ a US official said, calling it economic warfare The EU has raised concerns about overflight rights following the delay of President William Lai’s (賴清德) planned state visit to the Kingdom of Eswatini after three African nations denied overflight clearance for his charter at the last minute. Taiwanese allies Paraguay and Saint Kitts and Nevis, as well as several US lawmakers and the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) condemned China for allegedly pressuring the countries. Lai was scheduled to fly directly to Taiwan’s only African ally from yesterday to Sunday to celebrate the 40th anniversary of King Mswati III’s accession and his 58th birthday, but Seychelles, Mauritius and Madagascar suddenly revoked
The final batch of 28 M1A2T Abrams tanks purchased from the US arrived at Taipei Port last night and were transported to the Armor Training Command in Hsinchu County’s Hukou Township (湖口), completing the military’s multi-year procurement of 108 of the tanks. Starting at 12:10am today, reporters observed more than a dozen civilian flatbed trailers departing from Taipei Port, each carrying an M1A2T tank covered with black waterproof tarps. Escorted by military vehicles, the convoy traveled via the West Coast Expressway to the Armor Training Command, with police implementing traffic control. The army operates about 1,000 tanks, including CM-11 Brave Tiger
China on Wednesday teased in a video an aircraft carrier that could be its fourth, and the first using nuclear power, while making an allusion to Taiwan and vowing to further build up its islands, as it looks to boost maritime power, secure resources and bolster territorial claims. The video, issued on the eve of the 77th founding anniversary of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy, featured fictional officers with names that are homophones of three commissioned aircraft carriers, the Liaoning (遼寧), Shandong (山東) and Fujian (福建). Titled Into the Deep, it showed a 19-year-old named “Hejian” (何劍) joining the group, sparking
BIG YEAR: The company said it would also release its A12 chip the same year to keep a ‘reliable stream of new silicon technologies’ flowing to its customers Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday said its newest A13 chip is to enter volume production in 2029 as the chipmaker seeks to hold onto its tech leadership and demand for next-generation chips used in artificial intelligence (AI), high-performance-computing (HPC) and mobile applications. TSMC, the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, also unveiled its A12 chip at its annual technology symposium in Santa Clara, California. The A12 chip, which features TSMC’s super-power-rail technology to provide backside power delivery for AI and HPC applications, is also to enter volume production in 2029, a year after the scheduled release of the A14 chip. The technology moves
RSS